Barack Obama, Will Smith Discuss Biopic; 'Aladdin' Actor to Play Former President?
Former President Barack Obama's life is ripe for a movie treatment and "Aladdin" actor Will Smith could be playing him in the biopic.
Smith revealed on James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" series that he discussed Obama's biopic with the man himself. He said talks happened more than once and they brainstormed about script ideas as well as acted out scenarios.
"He told me that he felt confident that I had the ears for the role," Smith said.
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This is not the first time Smith has mentioned that Obama wants him to depict the first black U.S. president on the big screen. In 2009, rumors surfaced regarding Smith's involvement in an Obama biopic.
"If I am ordered by my commander in chief to star in a film about him, I will do my duty as an American," the actor stated.
In 2015, Smith also said that he would convince Obama to give him his blessing after talks surfaced that the president wanted "The Dark Tower" star Idris Elba to play him.
"He may have switched out," Smith said in an interview with Vulture. "I'll have to work on my Obama accent and show him I can do it better than Idris."
So far, two people have played Obama on screen.
"Southside with You," a relatively small feature film, ran in select theaters in 2016. It starred Parker Sawyers as the former president and tackled how Obama won the heart of Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter), who would become the first lady.
"Barry," which streams on Netflix, also came out in 2016. It features Devon Terrell as the former president in his college years. It showed his relationship with his mom, Ann Dunham (Ashely Judd).
Smith has not revealed other details about the Obama biopic that he would like to do or when work on the film would get started. Smith will be seen next in "Bright" in December and he will play the Genie in Disney's live-action version of "Aladdin."
