Will Smith is one of Hollywood's biggest actors. He has appeared in some of the movie world's biggest blockbusters, from the Men in Black series and Independence Day to DC's Suicide Squad and the award-winning Ali. However, while Smith is a billion-dollar box office talent, he also has a lot of underrated roles few people talk about.

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Will Smith has appeared in five movies that made over $500 million each, and people looked at him for years like a box office guarantee. With that being said, he has also used that talent to appear in small dramas, movies with social messages, and even some genre movies that deserve more love than critics offered.

Paul - Six Degrees Of Separation - Available To Stream On Max Go

Will Smith with Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing in Six Degrees of Separation promo photo.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated stage play of the same name, Six Degrees of Separation was one of Smith's early movie roles while he was still starring in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Smith had a major role in the movie as David Hampton, a conman who convinced a wealthy couple he was Sidney Poitier's son and used that fame to gain money and a high-end life until they learn the truth.

This is a highly underrated Will Smith role for two reasons. First, this was a very young Smith, and many of his fans were taken aback by the against-type performance. Second, this is a mostly unknown, undiscovered movie to younger fans of Smith, the action hero.

Robert Clayton Dean - Enemy Of The State - Available To Rent On Apple TV+

Will Smith standing in the street in Enemy of the State.

Will Smith has been in so many big-budget movies that it is rare that people talk about one of his earlier roles in a slightly "smaller" action extravaganza. In Enemy of the State, Smith is not an action hero with guns blazing. Instead, he is a lawyer and family man who goes on the run when a government agency decides to target him.

Ridley Scott directed the movie, and it remains a critical favorite, one of Will Smith's top movies based on IMDb scores. However, it is the action and story that fans loved, and few think about Smith's underrated role as a man on the run, just trying to survive.

Chris Gardner - The Pursuit Of Happyness - Available To Rent On Apple TV+

Will Smith talking to his son by a playground in The Pursuit Of Happyness.

The Pursuit of Happyness is another one of Will Smith's best movies that no one talks about. In  the film, Smith stars as a divorced man who realizes he might lose his son after he loses his job. To try to keep his son, played by Smith's real-life son Jayden, he gets a job as a stockbroker by lying about his experience.

Smith transforms himself in this movie. Gone is the suave and cool Fresh Prince, and replacing him is a broken man. Smith gained an Oscar nomination for the performance, but the movie received lukewarm reviews and is almost forgotten 15 years later.

Robert Neville - I Am Legend - Available To Stream On HBO Max

Will Smith and his dog hunting vampires in I am Legend.

Will Smith took on a horror role in 2007 with the movie I Am Legend. Smith played vampire hunter, Robert Neville, as he hunted down and killed vampires in a world where the bloodsuckers had won the war, and Neville just wanted to even the score.

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While Smith was great in his performance as Neville, his performance was underrated due to the fact that the movie was based on a popular horror novel by Richard Matheson, and it strayed far from the source material. Neville was never supposed to be a genuine hero. The fact Smith played him as the true good guy in the movie caused fans of the book to reject his character.

John Hancock - Hancock - Available To Stream On Hulu

Will Smith talking to Jason Bateman in Hancock.

Will Smith took on the superhero genre in 2008 with the movie Hancock. The movie was a tough sell to critics. It was a box office success but was critically panned, ranked 41 percent rotten on the Tomatometer while fans gave it a middling 59 percent rating.

This is an underrated Will Smith role because, for the first time in years, he refused to even wink to the audience, remaining unlikable through the entire movie and proving he could be more than just a generic action hero. Hancock was a superhero movie that was ahead of its time.

Henry Brogan - Gemini Man - Available To Stream On Hulu

Will Smith and Mary Elizabeth Winstead talking outside in Gemini Man.

Gemini Man hit in 2019 and never seemed to make much of a dent at the box office. Directed by Oscar-winner Ang Lee, the movie had Will Smith star as a retired hitman who learned he had a bounty on his head. He then learned the hitman gunning for him might be a younger clone of himself.

This is an underrated Will Smith movie role because people didn't pay attention to Smith's performance and focused instead on the fact Ang Lee shot the movie in a high frame rate using new tech. While reviewers critiqued the tech in their mostly poor reviews, little was said of Smith's performance, even though he picked up a nomination for Best Motion Capture performance by the Austin Film Critics Association.

Bagger Vance - The Legend Of Bagger Vance - Available To Stream On Hulu

Will Smith holding the golf bag for Matt Damon in The Legend Of Bagger Vance.

Based on the novel by Steven Pressfield and directed by Robert Redford, The Legend of Bagger Vance should have been a monster success. With Redford behind the camera and both Matt Damon and Will Smith in front of it, there was little chance for failure.

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Sadly, the movie was a box office bomb, making only $40 million worldwide and not even making back its budget. It also gained the wrath of the Black community, who called Will Smith's character a negative stereotype. Smith was underrated in this role, as he delivered a great performance, overshadowed by the racial stereotypes of the story.

Det. Spooner - I, Robot - Available To Stream On Peacock

Will Smith walking through a batch of robots in I Robot.

In 2004, Will Smith starred in a sci-fi adaptation of an Isaac Asimov short story, although I, Robot changed large aspects of the original narrative. In the movie, Smith starred as a police officer who hates robots in a society that uses them for several different purposes. When a robot is accused of killing someone, he has to put his prejudice behind him and find the truth.

Smith was underrated for his performance, overshadowed by the great movie effects with the robots, and the wonderful voice performance by Alan Tudyk as one of the robots. While the special effects overshadowed Smith, his performance as a cop with trust issues carried the story, and the movie, to a $347 million gross.

Deadshot - Suicide Squad - Available To Stream On HBO Max

Will Smith as Deadshot on a mission in Suicide Squad.

The 2016 Suicide Squad movie had a lot of problems. The movie received universally negative reviews from critics, sitting at 26 percent rotten on the Tomatometer, while receiving a lukewarm reception from fans, placing it at a low 59 percent rating.

However, what most people don't remember is that the movie received mostly praise for the actors. While people love to talk about Harley Quinn, it was Will Smith's underrated performance as Deadshot that helped carry the heart of the movie. Smith wasn't "wild" and "crazy," but he fought to help his daughter and try to save Harley Quinn in the end.

Nicky Spurgeon - Focus - Available To Stream On Fubo

Will Smith walking with Margot Robbie in terminal in Focus.

Movie fans seemed to love the dynamic of Harley Quinn and Deadshot in Suicide Squad, even if they mostly dismissed the movie itself. That makes it a surprise that no one talks about Will Smith and Margot Robbie's other movie together, Focus.

This underrated Will Smith role saw him play another conman, although this one kept the cool and suave demeanor that Smith fans love. Robbie plays a grifter who hooks up with him and the two shared great chemistry in a movie that received average reviews, where the twists and turns overshadowed their great performances.

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