For every great blockbuster in Smith’s oeuvre, there’s a project he turned down for one regrettable reason or another. Each misstep lives on as a “painful” reminder of what could have been, Smith revealed in an interview with Kiss Xtra. But the actor’s been hiding an even more painful rebuff for 15 years: Smith claims he very nearly starred in Christopher Nolan’s Inception, but didn’t understand the director’s vision. When he didn’t jump at the project, Nolan moved on to Smith, then DiCaprio. Inception wasn’t the only film Smith didn’t immediately “get” during a pitch, as The Matrix also stumped the actor when Lana and Lily Wachowski approached him.