I got struck some days back about an interesting little event in the life of Will Smith. Will Smith, also known as Fresh Prince, is a wonder to this generation. Few human beings have been privileged to make indelible marks in television, music and film industries. He not only featured, but starred in all three industries. Will Smith is also a top notch nominee for any movie that bothered on needing a lead masculine role for a sci-fi movie. Will Smith has featured in Men in Black, I, robot, Wild wild west, e.t.c. Will smith turned down his admission in MIT (he says he would have studied computer engineering) for his rap career.
What struck me particularly was the fact that he was first approached for the role of Neo in Matrix. He turned it down!
He was interviewed long after the film had become a big hit, wether or not he regretted turning down Matrix down. In his response, he mentioned that he didn’t have any regrets as he feels that he would have messed up some of the scenes in comparism to how Keanu Reeves performed. What caught me the most however, was a statement I read, that read like this, “Keanu was born for that role!” Wow!
I don’t know about you, but I feel like that at times. I engage in certain activities and I feel a deep connection with myself. I feel as though, I was born for times like that.
Every human being is unique! We all have different finger prints, all 6 billion plus of us. We all have different retina scans. We exist for different reasons, we are here to meet unique needs. We are all actors in life’s daily unfolding drama, and like Neo, we all have roles we were born to act. What makes us award winning actors, the delight of the audience and the thrill of future generations, is that we play roles that match our reason for being.
Nobody can be you like you can. You are number 1 at being you, nobody can beat you at being yourself. I have read quite a number of forums discussing about what Matrix would have looked like with talented, Will Smith in it. Many can’t picture it, it looks like it won’t work. You know why? Because it’s so difficult to imagine Matrix without Keanu Reeves in it. It’s an interesting phenomenum, but it sure contains a lot of food for thoughts.
1. The Matrix, launched Keanu into limelight in one blast – Start where you are, and find an opportunity to play your part in the drama of life. Key into your passion, talent, values and activity that gives you a sense of destiny, you will soon be heard!
2. It’s difficult to imagine another person in that role – When you function as you in the role you play at work, you become irreplaceable. Imagining someone else in your office becomes a comparism with you, not with the script.
3. Keanu is not as likeable as Will – When you function in your function, it won’t matter whether you are loved or not, Will is more popular and more loved than Keanu, but 98% of his fans will not agree that he would have acted Neo better than Keanu. If you are the one, you are the one (even the oracle will tell you that)
4. The Matrix revolutionalized some aspects of film production – When you play the role you were born to play, the world pays in hard currency to see you perform.
What role are you born to play, and what effort are you making to audition for it?
