Director of Men in Black reveals one wild act from Will Smith on set forced a 'three-hour cast and crew evacuation'

Barry Sonnenfeld has recalled an unfortunate filming faux pas involving Will Smith that occurred on the set of Men in Black.

The first Men in Black film was released in 1997 and three more instalments of the franchise have since followed suit.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones headed three of the movies, all of which were directed by Sonnenfeld.

With his years in the industry in mind, Sonnenfeld has recently published a new book titled Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood Barry Sonnenfeld where the 71-year-old shares some insight into his decades-long career.

Promoting his new book, Sonnenfeld sat down with Kelly Ripa for a new episode of her SiriusXM podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera.

Recalling a time that he was getting ready to shoot with Lee Jones and Smith, Sonnenfeld shared: "We were getting ready to shoot Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and Tommy does not suffer fools, I’ll tell you that."

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Sonnenfeld and Josh Brolin pictured in 2012 (Steve Granitz/WireImage)

He went on: "They have to be put in this device, which is [a car] that transforms into a hyper car, and [they’re] going to go through the Midtown tunnel upside down. We have to bring a ladder over on wheels like it’s like the old days when you would get on airplanes from the tarmac.

"We get them up there and we put them in the thing and we turn it upside down and we’re ready to shoot."

The two actors had to be 'hermetically sealed' into the car when Smith reportedly made a grave error.

Sonnenfeld went on: "I hear Will Smith go, ‘Oh, Jesus, so sorry. Tommy, so sorry. Baz, get the ladder.’ And you hear Tommy saying, ‘That’s fine, Will. No worries, Will. Don’t worry, Will.'"

The Men in Black scene Sonnenfeld was referring to (Columbia Pictures)

Panicked, the team rushed to get the two Hollywood stars out of the plane as Sonnenfeld came to learn what happened.

"What happened was, Will Smith is a farter," he continued to tell Ripa.

"It’s just some people are, and you really don’t want to be inside a very small hermetically sealed space with a Will Smith fart. You don’t even want to be sitting next to him at the Disney ranch."

Sonnenfeld added: "We evacuated the stage for about three hours, and that’s incredible. He’s a lovely guy, just he farts. Some do, some don’t."

It happens to the best of us, Barry!

Other notable films Sonnenfeld has worked on over his career includes The Addams Family, Big, Wild Wild West, and When Harry Met Sally.

UNILAD has contacted representatives for Will Smith for comment.

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