Men in Black established Will Smith as a global box office draw. It is hard to believe today, but Smith almost let the iconic role slip through his fingers, having already faced off against aliens in his breakout 1996 hit, Independence Day. While the most menacing threat in the movie was an intergalactic terrorist, the real trouble on set came from Will Smith, thanks to a gross habit that had the entire crew up the wall.

The director of Men in Black recently revealed that Will Smith was the reason the entire set had to be cleared for three hours.

Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld recently dropped by the Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa podcast. The filmmaker shared that the set of the sci-fi blockbuster had to be cleared out “for about three hours” because of Will Smith’s deadly farts. It happened during a scene where Smith and Tommy Lee Jones were in a high-speed transforming car that flipped over. To film this part, they had to be sealed up tight in the pod that was shown as the upside-down car.

While they were stuck in that cramped space, Smith unleashed his infamous weapon which made it unbearable for the crew to stick around. “He’s, you know, a lovely guy. Just, he farts,” added Sonnenfeld. This was not the first time the director brought up Smith’s farts and how he has some seriously nasty ones. While Smith tormented Sonnenfeld with his farts, Tommy Lee Jones did it with his uncalled-for humor.

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Barry Sonnenfeld recently shared how Jones put up quite a challenge for the director by constantly trying to keep up with Smith’s funny.

Tommy Lee Jones’ character in Men in Black was pretty gruff and serious compared to Will Smith. And reportedly, he had a tough time keeping a straight face next to Smith. Barry Sonnenfeld recently opened up about this awkward situation in his book, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time. He recalled a story from the first day of filming when they were shooting a scene with Jones and an alien named Mikey.

In that scene, Jones randomly threw out a punchline that caught everyone off guard, saying, "AND... ALL YOUR FLIPPERS!". Sonnenfeld quickly realized that Jones was trying to be funny. Jones even had his agent talk to Sonnelfeld, urging the filmmaker to make his character funnier. That said, it seems Sonnenfeld really had to put in some serious effort to keep things running smoothly with the leads' constant antics.

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What do you think about Barry Sonnenfeld's story about Will Smith's farts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!