‘Men In Black’ Director Didn’t Want to Work With Tommy Lee Jones Because of His Temper

When it comes to the Men in Black movie franchise, Tommy Lee Jones will forever be known as the right-hand man to Will Smith.

But it took a while for Jones to get used to that role — and maybe he never did, according to MiB director Barry Sonnenfeld.

“It took a long time for him to feel comfortable with it. I don’t think he ever did,” Sonnenfeld told Insider. “I don’t think he understood that comedy. In fact, I really sat on his performance. I never wanted him to acknowledge anything Will said was funny or was a joke.”

Jones pulled off the role, of course. And he and Smith hit it off, too.

Men in Black (1997) Official Trailer

“They both thought each other was funny,” Sonnenfeld said. “For me, personally, the very first time we shot with both of them together is that pawn-shop scene with Jack Je ebs (played by Tony Shalhoub) and they both were perfect.”

“Will ad-libbed that last line of, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna come back about those Rolexes.’ Right away I knew they would work out well.”

As an interesting aside, Jones was only cast in the role when Clint Eastwood turned it down. Turns out, Jones proved to be the not-so-funny guy who ended up being funny. But even Jones wanted some rewrites, it seemed.

“I got a call from Tommy’s agent about two weeks into the movie and he said, ‘You don’t want Tommy to be funny, you only want Will to be funny,'” Sonnenfeld said. “And I promised him that when Tommy sees this movie, Tommy will realize he’s as funny as Will Smith is. Every comedy team needs a straight man.”