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Guy Ritchiewould be happy to castWill Smithin “anything.”
At the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia on Friday, Ritchie — who worked with Smith on 2019’sAladdin— toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat he has “never met a more lovely man” than the 54-year-oldEmancipationstar.
“Working with [Smith] was one of the most wonderful, great experiences I’ve ever had,” Ritchie, 54, told the outlet. “I never saw anything other than the consummate, generous gentleman.”
The director, who is rumored to bereturning to the world ofAladdinfor a sequelto the live-action Disney remake, noted that he would welcome Smith to return as the Genie inAladdin2.
“I wouldn’t have any issue castingWill Smithin anything, because, as I say, he was just the f—— perfect gentleman,” he said.
Multiple outlets reported in February 2020 that Disney was moving forward with a sequel toAladdin, with writers John Gatins (Flight, Real Steel) and Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton, The Kitchen) tapped to write a script for the sequel, asTHRreported at the time.
The live-action film starredWill Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott as the Genie, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, respectively. It’s unclear whether any of the three will return for the upcoming movie, which is in pre-production, according to the outlet.
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Ritchie is not the only Hollywood figure who has offered compliments to Smith in recent days.
At the Los Angeles premiere ofEmancipation— Smith’s first film release since theOscarsincident in which he slappedChris Rock— on Wednesday, Smith’s costarCharmaine Bingwagushed to PEOPLE of the “beautiful” Smith.
“He’s very generous and I like to work with actors who, when you look in their eyes, you can kind of see the world in their eyes, and he has that,” she said.
TheGood Fightactress, who plays Smith’s character’s wife in theAntoine Fuqua-directed drama, noted that it felt “so easy to be connected to him on screen.”
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“And it worked, because we had a great love to portray, you know? So I’m very glad it was that way. It would be a different movie otherwise,” Bingwa said. “But no, he’s marvelous.”
“I think the whole world loves him,” she said.
Ben Foster, who also stars inEmancipation, told PEOPLE that Smith just has “the thing” that makes him such a major movie star.
“It’s like, how do you describe a sunset? How do you describe the stars?” the actor said. “Some people just have the thing.”
“But what Isaw was him going deeperthan I’ve ever seen before,” Foster added of Smith’s performance in the new movie.
source: people.com
