Men In Black's Props And Will Smith's Farts Gave Tommy Lee Jones Plenty Of Trouble

Tommy Lee Jones could give some of the great grumps of Hollywood a run for their money. The most notable example of his crotchetiness comes from the now-infamous story of when he starred alongside Jim Carrey in 1995's "Batman Forever" and reportedly told the legendary trickster during a chance meeting prior to filming, "I cannot sanction your buffoonery." Carrey has recounted Jones' hatred for him several times, and none of them cast the latter in all that flattering a light.

In fairness, at the time the actor was coming off the success of his 1994 Oscar win for "The Fugitive," and wasn't given much choice when it came to playing Harvey Dent/Two Face in "Batman Forever." It seems this combination of factors, along with his visceral disdain for Carrey's energetic antics, made Jones a bit of a stick in the mud during filming. Oddly enough, however, the Academy Award winner wouldn't leave blockbuster filmmaking behind following his turn as a Batman rogue.

Two years after "Batman Forever" bowed, Jones was back on-screen opposite another young actor known for his screwball comedic stylings. That actor was Will Smith and the film was 1997's "Men in Black." Smith, who had only recently made the jump from rapper/sitcom star to movie actor, seems like exactly the kind of actor you might pair with Jones if you wanted to stoke the grump's ire. But it turns out the old boy not only enjoyed filming "MiB" more than "Batman," he actually took a liking to the Fresh Prince — that is, until he was faced with a combination of the young star's flatulence and some prop issues.

"Men in Black" is the kind of movie that feels like it couldn't be made in the modern era. Its combination of humor, heart, impressive CGI, and a truly wacky premise just seems like something no studio would take a risk on in 2024. Thankfully, Sony did take a risk on the script back in the '90s, and the world of moviemaking was all the better for it. While subsequent entries in the franchise came and went, the original remains a classic '90s blockbuster.

In the film, Tommy Lee Jones plays K, a member of the titular secret government agency which is responsible for overseeing alien activity as it relates to Earth. K is paired up with a new recruit named J (Smith), and the duo investigate an alien conspiracy to assassinate two extra-terrestrial ambassadors to Earth. It doesn't sound like the sort of thing Jones might be interested in after his Oscar win and "Batman Forever" debacle, does it? Well, at first, he wasn't.

When he initially came across the "Men in Black" script, Jones wasn't shy about sharing his opinion that it needed to either pick comedy or science fiction as a central theme in order to work. What's more, as detailed in Inverse's oral history of the film, Jones rubbed several crew members the wrong way, with stunt coordinator Brian Smrz claiming the actor "didn't even put his hand out" when Smrz introduced himself, and told the stuntman to talk to his double. But as director Barry Sonnenfeld details in his new memoir "Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood," Jones found something to like about the whole production from the most unlikely source: his comparatively inexperienced co-star.

In his memoir, Sonnenfeld recounts how Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith had "wonderful chemistry on and off the set" of "Men in Black." Evidently, they "each thought the other was hilarious" and got along well despite their apparent differences and Jones' cantankerous reputation. That's not the only surprising thing revealed by Sonnenfeld, either.

The director also wrote about how Jones — whose "Men in Black" casting caused some behind the scenes headaches — is "like a hyperactive six-year-old. Give him a prop and he will break it." So notorious were his prop-breaking tendencies that prop master Doug Harlocker begged Sonnenfeld not to let Jones hold the neuralyzer — the gadget used by the Men in Black to wipe the memories of those who've witnessed alien events — until right before the director called "action."

What's more, Jones also had a proclivity for whacking the poor assistant camera operator with some of the larger weapons made for the film. As Sonnefeld recalls:

"Every time he picked up one of the heavy MIB space weapons it was almost always when the assistant camera person was putting a tape mark on the ground. As the kid got on his knees, Tommy would heft the super heavy long space gun to his shoulder and there would be a horrible cracking sound as TL's gun contacted the assistant's chin. 'That boy better start paying more attention,' Tommy declared."

These weren't the only prop-related issues Jones experienced on the set of "MIB," either.

Aside from being a klutz with the prop guns, you might also be shocked to hear that Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones also "ruined many takes with his pretend gun sounds." None of the weapons made for the film actually fired, as the sounds for these sci-fi firearms were all added in post-production. Barry Sonnenfeld writes about how Jones' brain seemingly couldn't process a gun that didn't make a sound, and so opted to add his own noises into the takes. The director writes, "'And action,' I would call out. Tommy and Will would in unison lift their guns to shoot at a retreating Edgar and without fail, Tommy would pull the trigger of his Series IV de-atomizer while sound effecting an audible: 'Bjoing.' 'Cut.'"

Making matters worse was the fact that Jones seemingly had no idea he was doing such a thing, with Sonnenfeld recounting what became regular conversations between him and his two stars, "'What?' Tommy would jump on me. 'You did it again.' 'No I didn't.' 'Will?' 'Yeah, Tommy. You made the 'bjoing' sound again.' 'No I didn't.'"

If the image of a stern and austere Tommy Lee Jones making laser sounds every time he fires a fake weapon doesn't tickle you, perhaps the idea of him dealing with Will Smith's flatulence will?

Though Tommy Lee Jones brought much of his characteristic grumpiness to the set of "Men in Black," it seems he had a much better time than he did on "Batman Forever." Most of that was down to the fact he actually seemed to like his co-star this time. But while Smith didn't offend Jones' sensibility in the same way as Jim Carrey, he did offend his nostrils on a regular basis. As Barry Sonnenfeld wrote in his memoir, "It was a good thing Tommy liked Will, since Mr. Smith had a tendency to fart." 

The director goes on to recount a "horrific example" wherein Jones and Smith were shooting a blue screen scene that involved the pair sitting in a purpose-built car interior that would eventually be superimposed on footage to make it look as though it was driving upside down on the ceiling of New York City's Midtown Tunnel. Sonnenfeld wrote:

"Tommy and Will were locked in the shell, forklifted 15 feet in the air, and rotated. Now Tommy is harnessed to his seat upside down and Will is standing in effect on the interior windshield, since Agent J didn't put on his seatbelt. He is squatted down, inches from Tommy. I rolled camera, put on my headphones, and heard Will Smith, 'Oh Jesus. Oh man.'

According to Sonnenfeld, Smith had "farted inside the hermetically sealed capsule and it was pretty ugly." Though Jones initially remained composed, telling his co-star "It's alright," he immediately called for Sonnenfeld and the crew to, "Get us out of here. Get us down. We need a ladder. Hurry. Emergency! Get a ladder. Now."

According to the director, after flipping the car, bringing in a ladder, and removing the seals and locks that held the whole set design together, Jones scrambled out and fell on the ground, "gasping for air." It seems like exactly the kind of thing that might make an actor like Jones quit immediately. Thankfully, the veteran star stuck it out and we got one of the best movies of the '90s as a result. Years later, Josh Brolin, who played a younger version of Jones' character in "Men in Black 3," would turn Smith's penchant for letting loose in enclosed spaces into a habit while shooting "Dune." No doubt the now 78-year-old Jones would be far less understanding if he had to deal with such "buffoonery" now.