Barry Sonnenfeld Reveals Hilarious Will Smith Fart Story From “Men In Black”
It turns out Will Smith brought more than just laughs to the set of Men in Black — he brought a little gas too! According to director Barry Sonnenfeld, Will, now 56, had a rather “explosive” moment during the filming of the 1997 sci-fi blockbuster that left the crew in fits of laughter.
Barry, 71, recently appeared on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast on October 2, where he shared a hilarious behind-the-scenes story involving Smith and his co-star Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Agent K. The pair were filming a scene where their characters, Agent J and K, are locked in a high-speed pod. The director explained that the actors were “hermetically sealed” inside to get the shot just right.
However, as the camera was about to roll, Smith had an unexpected moment. “I say, ‘Roll camera,’ and I hear Will Smith go, ‘Oh Jesus, so sorry. Tommy, so sorry. Baz, get the ladder.’ And you hear Tommy saying, ‘That’s fine, Will. No worries, Will. Don’t worry, Will,’” he recalled.
“So we race the ladder over. Yeah, Tommy reaches his leg out as the ladder is coming over, races down the stairs. And what happened was, Will Smith is a farter,” Barry joked.
According to Barry, being stuck inside a very small, hermetically sealed space with a Will Smith fart is not something anybody wants to experience.
In fact, the stage had to be evacuated for nearly three hours because of the situation, according to the director.
“And that’s incredible,” he continued. “No, he’s, you know, a lovely guy. Just, he farts. Some do, some don’t.”
But no hard feelings here! Will’s on-set gas certainly didn’t stink up the movie’s success. Men in Black went on to gross a whopping $584 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing movie of 1997. Barry and Will went on to work together on several more projects, including Wild Wild West and two more Men in Black sequels.
Barry’s stories don’t end there — his new book Best Possible Time, Worst Possible Place, released on October 1, includes even more behind-the-scenes tales from his illustrious directing career.
And while Will’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-stars might not have any fart stories to share, they’ve spoken fondly of him as a friend and brother. Alfonso Ribeiro, who played the Bad Boys actor cousin Carlton on the hit 1990s show, told PEOPLE in June that their bond has lasted for decades.
“There’s so many relationships that were created then that still are incredibly impactful in our lives today,” he said to PEOPLE.
