‘Men In Black’ directed says the set had to be ‘evacuated’ for ‘three hours’ because of Will Smith

LOS ANGELES — “Men In Black” director Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed the 1997 intergalactic blockbuster, talked about how the set was “evacuated” for “three hours” because of Hollywood star Will Smith.

The filmmaker was a guest on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast and during their conversation, he shared a little-known fact about the Academy Award winner.

Sonnenfeld, 71, recalled that Smith and his co-star Tommy Lee Jones, who portrays Agent K, were filming a scene where a car they were traveling in at super high speeds transforms.

To get the shot, Jones and Smith, playing Agent J, needed to be “hermetically sealed” in the pod that was being used as their mode of transportation.

 “There are locks to prevent it from opening and falling,” Sonnenfeld said.

 “I say, ‘Roll camera,’ and 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.’ ”

According to the director, he was clueless as to what prompted the apologies, reports people.com.

 “So we race the ladder over. Yeah, Tommy reaches his leg out as the ladder is coming over, races down the stairs. And what happened was, Will Smith is a farter,” Sonnenfeld said.

 “It’s just some people are (farters).”

Still, being stuck “inside a very small hermetically sealed space with a Will Smith fart” might not be the best place to be, the director continued.

 “You don’t even want to be sitting next to him at the Disney ranch. We evacuated the stage for about three hours. And that’s incredible. No, he’s, you know, a lovely guy. Just, he farts. Some do, some don’t.”

Smith and Sonnenfeld went on to work together on “Wild Wild West” in 1999, “Men in Black II” in 2002 and 2012’s “Men in Black 3”.