Will Smith on what made him take on the role of Deadshot in Suicide Squad

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Suicide Squad Will Smith Deadshot Jared Leto Joker Margot Robbie Harley Quinn

When it was announced that Will Smith would be playing Deadshot in David Ayer's SUICIDE SQUAD, I assumed at the time that he would be the one leading the film while the other actors would wind up playing second fiddle. Once the trailers began to roll in I was pleasantly surprised that Warner Bros. was marketing SUICIDE SQUAD as a genuine ensemble film; Deadshot doesn't seem to any more or any less important than the other members of SUICIDE SQUAD. It should be an interesting role for Smith and, as we've never seen Deadshot on the big-screen before, he's free to create the character as he sees fit, which, as he recently told Coming Soon, was a big part of why he took on the role.

It’s a character that hasn’t really been explored in cinema, I get to design it and be a part of creating the first round of Deadshot in the history of cinema…It’s a really great opportunity to work with a really great ensemble. It was perfectly cast. It’s an insane group of super actor villains.

Another reason he got involved with SUICIDE SQUAD was the chance to work with David Ayer. Smith said that "these kinds of movies are a different breed, the huge, gigantic tentpoles that are designed to be global behemoths. I wanted to do something like that with David Ayer, who is a director that cares only about character. Every single aspect and detail of the character playing into that gigantic box for me is what makes this one really special.” Working with Ayer was obviously something Smith wanted to keep going as he's set to star in BRIGHT, a Netflix film centering on a police division specializing in handling crimes involving magic which will be directed by David Ayer from a script by Max Landis. Will Smith stars as a human cop who is forced to work with an Orc (Joel Edgerton) in order to find a powerful wand that certain unsavory elements are prepared to kill for.

SUICIDE SQUAD will hit theaters on August 5, 2016.

Source: Coming Soon

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Based in Canada, Kevin Fraser has been a news editor with JoBlo since 2015. When not writing for the site, you can find him indulging in his passion for baking and adding to his increasingly large collection of movies that he can never find the time to watch.