Why Will Smith turned down Django role

Will Smith turned down a role in Django Unchained. Picture: Splash Source: news.com.au

Christoph Waltz as Schultz and Jamie Foxx as Django in the film Django Unchained, directed by Quentin Tarantino. Picture: AP Source: Supplied

IT was nominated for five Oscars, grossed over $413 million in theaters worldwide and was Quentin Tarantino's most successful film to date, but Will Smith didn't want to be a part of it.

Smith has revealed he turned down the part of Django Freeman - played by Jamie Foxx - because it was not the lead role in the film.

"Django wasn’t the lead," he told Entertainment Weekly, "so it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character was the lead!"

The "other character" he was referring to was the bounty hunter - and Django's mentor - Dr. King Schultz played by Christoph Waltz.

Smith said he tried to convince director Quentin Tarantino to give Django a more central role in the film.

"I was like, 'No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!'"

While Django is the "emotional core" of the film, it is Waltz's character who kills the evil slave owner, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, in the end.

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