10 Things You Didn't Know About Inception
4. Both Brad Pitt & Will Smith Were Initially Offered The Role Of Cobb
It's difficult to picture anybody other than Leonardo DiCaprio on the poster for Inception, but there was a time when the actor wasn't quite convinced that the film was the right movie for him. As mentioned previously, it took a while - and some hefty script changes - for Nolan to convince the Titanic actor to star.
Before DiCaprio got involved though, Nolan briefly flirted with the idea of casting two other megastars in the part of lead protagonist Dominic Cobb - and by "briefly flirted," I mean "outright offered them the part."
First choice? Brad Pitt, who refused to comply when Nolan gave him just 48 hours to read the script and make a decision. With Pitt out, Nolan moved onto his second pick, Will Smith, who simply didn't take to the idea (interestingly, Will Smith was also offered the lead role in The Matrix, a film that heavily inspired Inception... meta!).
After his initial Cobbs turned him down, DiCaprio felt like a natural choice. It wasn't easy, but Nolan eventually managed to get the perfect A-lister to sign on.