Will Smith has stated that he has purposefully avoided appearing in films about slavery throughout his acting career.

In a new cover article for GQ, the actor explains why none of his past films have dealt with slavery.

“I’ve always avoided making films about slavery,” Smith explained. “In the early part of my career… I didn’t want to show Black people in that light. I wanted to be a superhero. So I wanted to depict Black excellence alongside my white counterparts. I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise. And the first time I considered it was ‘Django.’ But I didn’t want to make a slavery film about vengeance.”

Smith turned down the part of Django in the 2012 Quentin Tarantino cult film, and Jamie Foxx was cast in the role of the former slave-turned-bounty-hunter. During a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, the actor of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” expressed his reservations about the film.

He explained, “It was about the creative direction of the story. To me, it’s as perfect a story as you could ever want: a guy that learns how to kill to retrieve his wife that has been taken as a slave. That idea is perfect. And it was just that Quentin and I couldn’t see [eye to eye]. I wanted to make the greatest love story that African-Americans had ever seen.”

Smith said, “I wanted to make that movie so badly, but I felt the only way was, it had to be a love story, not a vengeance story. I don’t believe in violence as the reaction to violence.”

Will Smith was prepared to play the part in Emancipation. The film follows Smith as Peter, an escaped slave. The plot of the film is based on a true event and was inspired by a famous photograph of Peter’s scarred back from being beaten. The photograph is known as “The Scourged Back” and it was published in The Independent in 1863.

Smith explained, “[‘Emancipation’] was about love and the power of Black love. And that was something that I could rock with. We were going to make a story about how Black love makes us invincible.”

Emancipation is directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), and the script is written by William N. Collage. The film will be released by Apple Studios.

Will Smith has made some classic films like Men in Black, Independence Day, and Bad Boys while sticking to that principle. While Emancipation continues to shoot, Will Smith will star as Venus and Serena Williams’ father and coach in King Richard, which will be released on November 19 in theaters and on HBO Max.