Spielberg Sent Helicopter to Pitch 'MIB' to Will Smith

Will Smith is sharing the great lengths that Steven Spielberg took in order to convince the actor to star in "Men in Black."

During an appearance on Kevin Hart's "Hart to Heart" show, the actor, who had just wrapped up filming "Independence Day" at the time, admitted he was reluctant to take on a role in "Men in Black" because he did not want to make two alien movies "back to back." Spielberg, who had been producing the movie, was very convincing though.

"Steven Spielberg sent a helicopter for me. I was in New York. [He sent it] to talk to me. It landed at his house, and he had me at hello," Smith recalled, according to People.

"I get off the helicopter at his house, and it was the first time I ever had lemonade with carbonated water," the actor continued. "You can't say no to that."

Smith then described his conversation with Spielberg, noting that the Oscar-winning director was a tough negotiator

"He said the coldest s—," Smith said. "He said, 'Tell me, tell me why you don't want to make my movie … And he put the ellipsis at the end, it was the dot, dot, dot 'Tell me why you don't want to make my movie?'

"If he had continued, he would have said, 'Joker, you know I made 'Jaws,' right? You know I made 'E.T.' " he added.

In the end, Smith ended up taking the role of Agent J in "Men in Black" and its two sequels "Men in Black 2" (2002) and "Men in Black 3" (2012) alongside Tommy Lee Jones.

Looking back at his success, Smith attributed it to his team behind him.

"You cannot build a career … And you probably can't do much of anything in this life at a high level without a rock-solid team," he said.

"I knew I had to be the tip of the spear in discipline. I knew I had to be the tip of the spear in terms of direction," he noted. "But I always knew that I needed my squad."

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