The Men in Black set had to be evacuated for three hours because of Will Smith’s fart. The hit science fiction film was released in 1997 and starred Smith as Agent J and Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K. The film’s success led to two sequels with Smith and Jones, a standalone international movie with a new Men in Black cast, and an animated series.
Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld recently appeared on the podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa (via Variety), where he revealed details of the farting incident. The fart occurred while Smith and Jones were about to film a scene in one of the government agency’s special cars used by Men in Black agents. To film the scene, Smith and Jones were hermetically sealed in a pod that was being used for the vehicle while filming.
While the director was initially unsure why Smith apologized to Jones, Smith told him to get a ladder so that Jones could leave the pod. Once the ladder arrived, Jones raced down, and the set was then evacuated for three hours. During the podcast, the filmmaker described Smith as “a farter.” Read his full story below:
“There are locks to prevent it from opening and falling. 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.’ Anyway, I don’t know what’s gone on, right?
“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. It’s just some people are. And you really don’t want to be inside a very small hermetically sealed space with a Will Smith fart. You don’t even want to be sitting next to him at the Disney ranch.
We evacuated the stage for about three hours. And that’s incredible. No, he’s, you know, a lovely guy. Just, he farts. Some do, some don’t.
What The Fart Incident Meant For Men In Black
Sonnenfeld Was Not Going To Let His Cast Be Miserable.
Sonnenfeld decided to have the cast and crew leave the set for three hours, instead of having the actors be miserable and deal with the aftermath of Smith’s fart. For a special effects-heavy scene, like the special science fiction vehicle, the actors need to get into character to give a convincing portrayal to their audiences. Forcing Smith and Jones to film the scene after the fart could have negatively affected their performance. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to have caused too many issues, aside from a hilarious behind-the-scenes story about Smith.
One of the best parts of the Men in Black films is the chemistry between Smith and Jones as Agent J and Agent K. This was especially important in the first installment since it established the type of relationship they would have in the sequels. The two characters feature heavily in an agency vehicle throughout the Men in Black franchise, where they prepare to search for any aliens.
Our Take On Men In Black’s Farting Incident
It Didn’t Keep Jones and Sonnenfeld From Working With Smith Again
Although the movie had to stop filming for three hours, Smith’s fart didn’t stop the actor from working with Jones and Sonnenfeld again. Since all three of them worked together again on two sequels, it’s probably for the best that something like this happened while working on the first movie. That way, Jones and Sonnenfeld knew what they were getting into when they agreed to return to the Men in Black franchise.
Source: Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa (via Variety)
