Paul Rodriguez, an actor who co-starred in the 2001 biopic “Ali” with Will Smith, revealed exclusively to the “U.S. Sun” last year that the “King Richard” actor bullied and maligned him while they were on the set filming the movie “Ali.”
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Paul who played the role of Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, Mohammed Ali’s personal physician in the film shared that back when they were filming, Will took it upon himself to make his life a living hell.
He alleged that Will made petty jokes about him and it ended up ruining his movie career because, courtesy of Will’s jokes, his cast mates a co-actors stayed away from him and joined Will in bullying him.
Paul Rodriguez — Paul “Was Dropped By My Management Company And I Couldn’t Get An Agent”
Speaking to the Outlet, Paul explained that he has nothing to gain from what Will is currently going through (being judged by the public over his last year’s Oscars scandal) rather he hopes that the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” actor will understand what he went through when he was bullied and maligned by him.
Paul said, “Look, I get no joy out of him going through this but maybe he’ll have a lot of compassion for what he put me through because it’s a horrible thing to be the butt of the joke,”
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He went on to share, “After he made me the butt of all his jokes and nasty remarks on Ali, people didn’t want to hang out with me no more, it was like the word got out and I had leprosy all of a sudden.”
He also added, “That movie was meant to be one of the biggest and most wonderful breaks in my career but he made it a nightmare […] and it all went downhill from, there: I was dropped by my management company and I couldn’t get an agent worth a damn.
Paul Rodriguez — How Will Smith Bullied Paul Rodriguez
According to Paul, he was cool friends with the “Gemini Man” actor right from before they were cast for “Ali” but things changes in a twinkle of an eye after Will Smith had an altercation with the real Dr. Ferdie Pacheco.
Paul explained that while he wasn’t present during their brawl, “Will never looked at me the same from that point onward.”
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He somehow ended up on Will’s bad side as the “Bad Boys” actor would always pick on him. It got so bad that others joined Will and distanced themselves from him.
He shared that every day for the duration of the filming, he would sit for six hours in the makeup room trying to look like the real Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, and while Will shared the same space with him, they would not exchange a word.
“I mean, I was there for six hours every day, but there was never any bantering … we used to talk but now it was as if somebody smelled bad and I was tainted.”
“And it tainted the other actors. All of a sudden nobody wanted to hang out with me. Michael Mann even started hollering me out in front of all the other actors in group scenes for things I wasn’t even doing.”
Paul went on to share how he was intentionally skipped out of being invited to a party held in Nelson Mandela’s house but, when he found out and showed up, Will was visibly unhappy with his presence there.
“I remember I was getting some food from the buffet in that beautiful house when he came up to me and said, ‘You need to be very careful. You’re a long way from anyone who likes you. Because you’re in Africa, there are no Mexicans here.’ If that’s not a threat, I don’t know what is.”
Paul shared that when he got fed up with Will’s behavior and wanted to leave, John Voight, who starred as the famed journalist and sportscaster Howard Cosell talked him out of it by claiming that Will’s actions were as a result of the pressure from filming.
Paul Rodriguez — Paul Confronted Will But Didnt Get Through
Paul also claimed to confront Will about his actions and try to hash things out, “‘Look, if you’re unsatisfied with me, I’m not gonna sit here and take this abuse. It’s me Paul Rodriguez, man. I’m not Pacheco, I’d never use the word he used, that’s not who I am. I’m playing this guy,” said Paul to Will.
“I asked him why he was choosing to hurt me but I couldn’t get through. He just told me to ‘shut up and stand there’ [in silence].”
Paul went on to share that when the biopic was finally revealed, his part and lines were cut out and his face was barely shown, it ended up looking like he was an extra in the film.
“I did everything within my power to try to shine in that movie, including taking voice lessons to sound like Pacheco, and for all that I got ostracized and humiliated.
“This seriously injured my career, because Hollywood would’ve looked at how I was cut out and thought, ‘Wow this Rodriguez was so bad they cut him from the [movie]’, but that wasn’t the case.”
Despite all that, Paul revealed that he never got an apology from Will but will immediately forgive Will without looking back if he ever asked for his forgiveness. “I don’t think he will. I think in his mind I’m not important enough and he probably can’t see that he damaged me in any way.
“But if he ever did, I would accept that apology wholeheartedly without any kind of hesitation. I don’t want anything from him, there’s nothing we can do to repair it. We can’t turn back time and it wouldn’t do me any good anyway.
“The best thing I can understand is that whatever troubles or pain he put me through by making me the butt of all the jokes in Africa, whatever that was will be nothing compared to what he’s going through right now.”
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