Paul Rodriguez on Will Smith: Id never work with him again. He was an ahole.

Publish date: 2024-05-12

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I think I’ve only seen Ali once. But I remember liking it a lot, and thinking it was one of Will Smith’s best films at the time, and that he was very worthy of his Oscar nomination that year. In addition to Will, the cast included Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Jamie Foxx, Jeffrey Wright, Jada Pinkett, Michael Michele and actor/comedian Paul Rodriguez as Dr. Ferdie Pacheco. In real life, Pacheco was Muhammad Ali’s personal physician, and basically part of Ali’s entourage. Pacheco is still alive, and during the filming of Ali, he stopped by the set and apparently got into it with Will Smith. And that’s how Will Smith and Paul Rodriguez had a falling out. Seriously.

Back in the ring. Paul Rodriguez is not a fan of Will Smith. The actor called out his Ali costar for his on-set behavior during a recent interview with San Diego’s Rock 105.3 radio station.

“I’ve done a couple of films with him, and this time we didn’t end up so good,” Rodriguez, 61, said on Friday, February 19. “I’d never work with him again. He was an a–hole.”

Rodriguez portrayed Dr. Ferdie Pacheco in the 2001 biopic about Muhammad Ali, which starred Smith as the title character. Rodriguez claims that trouble began when the real Pacheco, Ali’s former physician, allegedly came to set drunk.

“He goes into Will Smith’s trailer and he’s upset that his part isn’t bigger and that I’m playing him. He wanted Andy Garcia to play him,” the comedian told Rock 105.3. “It escalated to the point where he started using the N-word to Will . . . and the police had to escort him off the set. From then on, Will never looked at me the same.”

Smith, 47 — who was nominated for an Oscar for his work in the film — reportedly then lashed out at Rodriguez. Rodriguez is still confused by the situation and why Smith took out his aggression on him.

“He started saying really offensive stuff to me,” Rodriguez claimed. “He said, ‘You’re a long way from anybody that likes you.’ I said, ‘Where’s that coming from?’ There was no cause to insult me or berate me.”

[From Us Weekly]

I think there are three solid possibilities. Theory #1: You know when you don’t like someone so much that even their relatives are persona non grata? Like, Will just associated the actor playing Pacheco with the real Pacheco and he couldn’t get past it. Theory #2: Will is an idiot and he really didn’t know the difference between the actor and the real guy. Theory #3: Will was going full-on Method and doing some Ali-style smack talking and it got out of hand. Anyway, I don’t want to believe that Will Smith was such a rude a—hole, but what reason would Paul Rodriguez have to lie? I mean, it’s not like he’s some Kanye-style beef machine who thrives on drama. He’s just telling his side of the story. Sigh…

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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