In 1997, Will Smith cemented his transition from television actor and rapper to movie star in Men in Black opposite Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of Smith’s first major films as a leading man, but he made another impression on director Barry Sonnenfeld. According to Sonnenfeld, one fart from Smith was enough to cause the entire crew to temporarily evacuate the set of Men in Black.
Sonnenfeld shared this anecdote while a guest on Kelly Rippa’s SirusXM podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera. In the scene where Smith’s Agent J and Jones’ Agent K reverse through the Midtown tunnels, they had to be sealed in fake cars on set. Just then, Smith and Jones were trapped inside and accidentally farted.
“I heard Will Smith say, ‘Oh, my God, I’m so sorry. Tommy, I’m so sorry. Buzz, get the ladder,'” Sonnenfeld recalled. “You hear Tommy say, ‘It’s okay, Will. Don’t worry, Will. Don’t worry, Will.'”
Although Jones was polite to his co-star, Sonnenfeld said the actor ran down the stairs after being released. This resulted in the entire stage being evacuated for three hours.
“What happens is, Will Smith is a farter,” Sonnenfeld said. “It’s just that some people are like that, you really don’t want to be in a very small sealed space with Will Smith farting. You don’t even want to sit next to him at Disney Ranch… He’s a lovely guy, It’s just that some people fart and some people don’t fart.
In addition to “Wild Wild West” with Smith, Sonnenfeld also worked on two other “Men in Black” movies with Smith and Jones. The director shared his story about Smith to promote his new book, “Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time,” which will be released this week.
