Original casting

While Tommy Lee Jones was quick to sign on to the movie, Will Smith was shockingly not going to be a part of the cast.

Initially, Chris O'Donnell was offered the part of Agent J, but decided to turn it down after concluding the character would be too similar to that of his 'Batman and Robin' role.

As Chris rejected the offer, director Barry Sonnenfeld, breathed a sigh of relief since he always wanted to give the part to Will Smith.

The filmmaker even admitted to purposefully downplaying the picture to Chris in an effort to convince him to walk away from the project.

He recalled: "I met with Chris and he had concerns about the script and had another movie offer. So I told him, 'Yeah, we might never fix this script and I don't think I know how to direct this movie.' So he passed on the movie the next day."