Given the 70 evergreen movies that Will Smith has given us

Why Oscar Winner Will Smith Was Fearful to Play Genie and How Hip Hop Helped Him in ‘Aladdin&#8217;

Not playing the greatest boxer of all time, but playing the madly intriguing
blue genie in Aladdin made Will Smith fearful. The actor has since the 90s made
not one but two prestigious award-winning careers in the showbiz industry. He is
both a Grammy Music award-winning rapper and an Oscar-winning actor. While the
latter title did not age well, with three decades in the acting industry, Smith
has played a rich variety of characters that would definitely put the rainbow to
shame.

[data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==]

A boxing champion, a spy, a hard-working father, and a crazy marksman, Smith’s
filmography could very well be used to teach children different kinds of
occupations. However, as brilliant as an actor as he is, he had never done a
Disney movie until Aladdin in 2019.

So the stakes were high for Smith, not only because this was a live remake of
one of the best Disney movies. But also because Robin Williams left the shoes
too big to fit in. This is where Will Smith put his hip-hop days to use. And the
result was a $1 Billion dollar box office breakthrough.


HOW DID HIP-HOP HELP WILL SMITH PLAY THE ROLE OF GENIE?

The gorgeous and empathetic Disney princess, a petty thief turned fake prince,
and a power-hungry minister, are all intriguing aspects of Disney’s Aladdin. But
nothing beats the effortlessly hilarious Genie. While the movie is based on
Aladdin, we are sure no one would mind if the title is changed to something more
centered around Genie. Definitely not after Will Smith’s heart-stealing
performance. Although the result was great, the actor admitted at a Log Angeles
press conference that he was ”terrified.’‘

[data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==]

”What Robin Williams did with this character- he just didn’t leave a lot of room
to add to the Genie,” said Smith. It was when they started recording Friend Like
Me in the studio that the Fresh Prince was reminded of his hip-hop days.

ALSO READ: Will Smith Oscar Slap-Gate Incident Inspires a Controversial
Halloween Costume
[https://netflixjunkie.com/netflix-news-will-smith-oscar-slap-gate-incident-inspires-a-controversial-halloween-costume/]

Experimenting with the 94/96 BPM range, in particular, is what made the
Oscar-winning actor feel at home with his character. ”The Genie was really born
in my mind from the music,” Smith said as reported by Rachel Paige
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/rpaige/2019/05/21/will-smith-aladdin-robin-williams-genie/?sh=45de521577d5].
You can watch this magical Will Smith performance on Disney+
[https://movies.disney.com/aladdin-2019].

Did you like his performance in Aladdin? Let us know in the comments below.

Aliza Siddiqui

Comment

Why Oscar Winner Will Smith Was Fearful to Play Genie and How Hip Hop Helped Him in ‘Aladdin&#8217; - Netflix Junkie

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Meet Aliza Siddiqui, a Hollywood News reporter at Netflix Junkie. Her love affair with Hollywood began with Anne Hathaway and The Princess Diaries, but it was the thrilling climax of Don’t Look Up that cemented her infatuation with the industry and its filmmaking. Aliza's journey into entertainment reporting began with her time at Otakukart, where she wrote over a thousand articles. Her writing style is cheeky and engaging, as seen in her report "Somewhat Alarmed," where she narrates Jimmy Kimmel's hilarious story of how Jason Bateman tricked him into gecko-sitting. Aliza's ultimate dream is to study and critique films that capture her imagination and the attention of movie-goers worldwide. When she is not busy binge-watching Sacha Baron Cohen movies and The Office, she loves to curl up with a weathered copy of a Khaled Hosseini or Indu Sundaresan book.

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Why Oscar Winner Will Smith Was Fearful to Play Genie and How Hip Hop Helped Him in ‘Aladdin&#8217; - netflix-junkie

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Not playing the greatest boxer of all time, but playing the madly intriguing blue genie in Aladdin made Will Smith fearful. The actor has since the 90s made not one but two prestigious award-winning careers in the showbiz industry. He is both a Grammy Music award-winning rapper and an Oscar-winning actor. While the latter title did not age well, with three decades in the acting industry, Smith has played a rich variety of characters that would definitely put the rainbow to shame.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67161 lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-src="https://netflixjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Untitled-design-2022-11-02T222326.156.png" alt="" width="1024" height="512" data-sizes="auto" data-srcset="https://www.staging.netflixjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Untitled-design-2022-11-02T222326.156.png 1024w, https://www.staging.netflixjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Untitled-design-2022-11-02T222326.156-300x150.png 300w, https://www.staging.netflixjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Untitled-design-2022-11-02T222326.156-768x384.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
A boxing champion, a spy, a hard-working father, and a crazy marksman, Smith&#8217;s filmography could very well be used to teach children different kinds of occupations. However, as brilliant as an actor as he is, he had never done a Disney movie until Aladdin in 2019.
So the stakes were high for Smith, not only because this was a live remake of one of the best Disney movies. But also because Robin Williams left the shoes too big to fit in. This is where Will Smith put his hip-hop days to use. And the result was a $1 Billion dollar box office breakthrough.
<h2>How did hip-hop help Will Smith play the role of Genie?</h2>
The gorgeous and empathetic Disney princess, a petty thief turned fake prince, and a power-hungry minister, are all intriguing aspects of Disney&#8217;s Aladdin. But nothing beats the effortlessly hilarious Genie. While the movie is based on Aladdin, we are sure no one would mind if the title is changed to something more centered around Genie. Definitely not after Will Smith&#8217;s heart-stealing performance. Although the result was great, the actor admitted at a Log Angeles press conference that he was &#8221;terrified.&#8217;&#8216;
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-67162 lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-src="https://netflixjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/EmotionalPersonalArgentinehornedfrog-max-1mb.gif" alt="" width="847" height="352" />
&#8221;What Robin Williams did with this character- he just didn&#8217;t leave a lot of room to add to the Genie,&#8221; said Smith. It was when they started recording Friend Like Me in the studio that the Fresh Prince was reminded of his hip-hop days.
ALSO READ: <a href="https://netflixjunkie.com/netflix-news-will-smith-oscar-slap-gate-incident-inspires-a-controversial-halloween-costume/">Will Smith Oscar Slap-Gate Incident Inspires a Controversial Halloween Costume</a>
Experimenting with the 94/96 BPM range, in particular, is what made the Oscar-winning actor feel at home with his character. &#8221;The Genie was really born in my mind from the music,&#8221; Smith said as reported by Rachel <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rpaige/2019/05/21/will-smith-aladdin-robin-williams-genie/?sh=45de521577d5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paige</a>. You can watch this magical Will Smith performance on <a href="https://movies.disney.com/aladdin-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disney+</a>.
Did you like his performance in Aladdin? Let us know in the comments below.

Will Smith Oscar Slap-Gate Incident Inspires a Controversial Halloween Costume

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Given the 70 evergreen movies that Will Smith has given us, it is hard to imagine that the actor was fearful while playing Genie in Aladdin.

Why Oscar Winner Will Smith Was Fearful to Play Genie and How Hip Hop Helped Him in ‘Aladdin' - Netflix Junkie

Aliza Siddiqui is a Primary Editor at Netflix Junkie. Having written over 1000 articles on Tinseltown updates for NJ, she is a go-to for Hollywood updates, especially covering polarizing figures like Meghan Markle and Kanye West. She now uses her experience in entertainment coverage to maintain quality in the articles.

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Why Oscar Winner Will Smith Was Fearful to Play Genie and How Hip Hop Helped Him in ‘Aladdin’

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