I, Robot star hints at drama on Will Smith film after claiming his cyborg role ‘tested higher’ with audiences

In simpler terms, about 20 years ago, a colleague of Will Smith suggested that Will may have leveraged his influence to reduce his role in a movie, which potentially affected his career trajectory.

In the 2004 movie iRobot, Alan Tudyk, aged 54, took on the character of Sonny, while Will Smith, who was 56 at the time, played Del Spooner in the leading role.

In simpler terms, Tudyk mentioned that he was unexpectedly removed from promotional content as his character’s popularity among test viewers started to surpass Smith’s.

On Toon’d In with Jimmy Cummings, Tudyk discussed the sequence of events that resulted in his reduced presence in the marketing campaign for the movie.

Tudyk mentioned that they were conducting focus groups for the film, during a recent episode of the podcast that’s been gaining popularity.

Tudyk mentioned that he received feedback saying, “Alan, your character scores are surpassing those of Will Smith.

In his words, he stated, “Then, I vanished – I truly vanished, without any fanfare or mention of my name in the media.

In a surprising statement, Tudyk expressed his worry that audiences might not realize he had a significant part in the film due to his shock at the situation.

On one occasion before now, Smith has publicly disagreed with a costar in a high-profile manner – this happened back in 1993 when he was embroiled in a well-known dispute with Janet Hubert, his co-star from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The root cause for their falling out was her departure from the show.

Hubert did reunite with Smith and the cast during a 2020 reunion that aired on HBO Max.

Smith acknowledged during a private conversation that he failed to be empathetic and tuned-in to the challenges Hubert was experiencing, given that she was pregnant while they had their disagreement.

After having three children, I’ve picked up some insights I didn’t have initially. If given a chance to repeat, I would approach things differently. It’s clear now how challenging I made life for Janet in the process.

After the incident at the 2022 Oscars where he slapped Chris Rock, the actor who won an Academy Award for King Richard has been working diligently to restore his tarnished image for over three years now.

On March 27, 2022, the well-known incident occurred where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock following a joke about Smith’s spouse, Jada Pinkett Smith.

The humor was centered around Jada’s bald head, implying “Jada, I adore you, G.I. Jane 2, I can’t wait for its release!” in reference to the 1997 film where Demi Moore sported a shaved head. (This is a nod to the fact that Jada has been dealing with alopecia, an condition causing hair loss.)

Subsequently, Smith strode onto the stage, struck Rock, and afterwards retreated to his seat where he yelled at him twice, “Leave my wife’s name out of your filthy mouth!” in disbelief before the astonished crowd.

In the course of his acceptance speech following his win for Best Actor at the Oscars, honored for portraying tennis matriarch Richard Williams in King Richard, Smith expressed apologies towards the Academy and fellow nominees, however, he did not mention Rock during his speech.

After several apologies regarding the incident, Smith chose to step down from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prior to receiving a 10-year suspension from the Oscars.

During his apology in July 2022 regarding the online video incident, Smith clarified that his spouse played no part in his altercation with Rock.

He stated that his decision was personal, influenced by his past interactions with Chris. He expressed regret for any turmoil he caused to his children and family.

He mentioned: ‘I contacted Chris, and the response I received was that he’s not prepared to discuss things at the moment, but when he is, he will get in touch. So, Chris, I want to express my apologies to you. My actions were unacceptable, and I am available whenever you decide to talk.’

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2025-08-12 05:03