Page 72 - Will Smith: A Biography of a Rapper Turned Movie Star

Will Smith
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status as a movie hero after the success of Independence
Day: “I’m probably the first black guy who ever saved
the world.”2
While audiences were caught up in the thrills of
Independence Day, Smith was already filming his next
movie, another science-fiction film about aliens: Men in
Black. Both Independence Day and Men in Black are about
aliens, but they are distinctly different films. Independence
Day is mainly science fiction with dashes of comedy
thrown in. Men in Black is an over-the-top comedy that
happens to be science fiction. The aliens are not poised and
ready to attack planet Earth. In fact, they have been living
on Earth for years. It is these aliens, not humans, who
actually invented the gadgets humans take for granted,
such as microwave ovens and Velcro.
In Men in Black , Smith plays New York City policeman
James D. Edwards III, known as Agent J. He is teamed up
with a partner, Agent K, played by actor Tommy Lee
Jones. The two become part of a special force called the
Men in Black, whose job is to monitor alien activity on
Earth. Before long, the two agents are fighting two
groups of terrorist aliens who want to destroy each other,
using Earth as the battlefield.
Men in Black has plenty of vibrant and sometimes gross
special effects. In one scene, a giant alien bug explodes all
over Agents J and K, and they are covered in slime. The
slime used on Smith and Jones during the filming was a
gooey glycerin syrup mixed with food particles.