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Will Smith says he turned down Django because it wasn't a lead role

American actor Will Smith attends the World premiere of "Men In Black 3" at The Odeon Leicester Square in London on May 16, 2012. UPI/Paul Treadway

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Published: March. 25, 2013 at 9:55 AM

LOS ANGELES, March 25 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Will Smith says he turned down the chance to play the title character in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" because the role wasn't the lead.

The pre-American Civil War film was a Best Picture Oscar nominee, with Jamie Foxx playing the title character, a former slave on a journey to reunite with his wife.

Writer-director Tarantino earned the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, while Foxx's co-star Christoph Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role of Django's gun-slinging partner.

"Django wasn't the lead, so it was like: 'I need to be the lead. The other character was the lead,'" Smith told EW.com.

"I was like, 'No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!'"

Smith said he liked the way the film ultimately turned out, however.

"I thought it was brilliant," he told EW.com. "Just not for me."

Topics: Will Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz

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