Will Smith Redid His Entire Performance for ‘Shark Tale’ After His Son Criticized His Acting
Will Smith once shared that he isn’t above taking acting advice from his own family if he needs to. But one time he took his son’s advice so seriously that it motivated him to redo an entire movie.
Will Smith once shared the film that his son helped change
Smith did the kind of film he wasn’t used to starring in when he was recruited for the animated feature Shark Tale. The film came Smith’s way after it was written with him in mind for the lead role. The fish was even intentionally designed to look like Smith to further his connection to the character.
“They brought it and Jeffrey Katzenberg from DreamWorks already – already had the picture of Oscar and the fish. And it looked like me and all of that. So it was – he said that it was – I was first choice,” Smith once told Today.
The Aladdin star did Shark Tale in an era where animated features like Shrek and The Incredibles were dominating the film industry. He noticed the genre’s unique ability to connect to the mainstream, and wanted to be a part of that trend.
“It’s so perfectly, exactly what people are feeling and thinking at the moment. It’s the pop culture references, all of that, and there’s such an opportunity for perfection. And it’s a cast that you could never put together in a live action film. So it’s great all around,” Smith said.
But just because it was an animated feature didn’t mean Smith stopped taking his job seriously. After doing some voice work for the film, he went to his son Jaden to receive some feedback. His son’s criticism would actually lead to a significant change.
“My son thought my voice was too goofy. And I always listen to what he says. So I went back and re-recorded the whole film,” Smith once said according to Female First.
Will Smith blew his co-star’s mind when she saw him as a talking fish
Shark Tale boasted an impressive A-List cast of celebrities. Smith did the feature with the likes of Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and filmmaker Martin Scorsese. But out of all his co-stars, perhaps it was Renee Zellweger who he shocked the most as the talking fish. Like many of the film’s stars, Zellweger enjoyed how much more relaxed voice acting was compared to being on a film set.
“I would schlep in in the morning and it was so exciting not to have to worry about having gotten enough sleep, or the big pimple that’s taking over the left side of your face,” Zellweger once told IGN. “It’s so exciting not to have to think about these things, because you’re just going in and playing to a microphone, you know? The limitations were non-existent in terms of what was possible. And it’s about the imagination and having a really good time in the room.”
But her first real shock came when she saw the blockbuster superstar in all of his animated glory.
“It’s hilarious to me! Just unbelievable!” she said. “They had animated about a minute of dialogue that was taken from an interview that Will Smith had done, and it was clearly Will Smith, this fish. It was unmistakably Will. They had completely captured his idiosyncrasies and his mannerisms so precisely. It was just delightful to see. And, of course, Martin Scorsese, he’s unmistakable. And De Niro. All of them. Angelina Jolie, with the lips and her hair, I mean, unmistakable.”
Will Smith only worked with 1 cast member doing ‘Shark Tale’
Although the feature would see the Fresh Prince alum acting alongside several stars, he didn’t actually perform with them in person. The only other A-lister that Smith personally exchanged lines with was Jack Black, and even that didn’t last too long.
“Jack Black and I worked together for – we probably have 10 hours that we worked together. But for the most part everything is individual in a booth by yourself,” Smith said.
