American actor Will Smith made a surprising revelation in a new interview, saying that one of the main actors he worked with in his latest film did not speak to him on the set for 6 months, Insider reports.

“He didn’t talk to me, he didn’t even look me in the eye, he didn’t say a word, he didn’t pay attention to me at all for 6 months,” Smith said of American actor Ben. Foster, with whom he starred in a feature film Emancipation in theaters this month.

But Foster’s decision had nothing to do with the controversy the African-American actor sparked after he slapped Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards, or any controversy between the two.

Foster stars in the new film as Fassel, a slave owner who hunts down Peter Will Smith after he escapes from the plantation.

But during an interview with his family on the “Red Table Talk” podcast, Smith said he quickly realized Foster wasn’t talking to him so they could both get into character, even though at first he thought he “couldn’t see me”.

“Yes, I understood. We are not playing. This is for real. We’re not fooling around,” said the African-American actor, quoted by Entertainment Weekly.

The story of Will Smith’s last film

Emancipation is a historical action film about slavery that is largely based on the true story of Gordon (in the movie “Peter”), a former slave who was horribly abused by his owner.

Black-and-white photographs of him with the scars on his back from beatings went viral after they were published in 1863, providing the abolitionist movement with shocking images of the brutality of slavery.

Foster also opened up about his decision to star, saying he wanted to give his co-star “space” to get into character, adding that he has a lot of respect for him.

As for Smith, he recounted what happened on the last day of filming, saying that he and director Antoine Fuqua were watching a scene on a monitor when Foster approached them, something he had never done before.

“He went to the monitor, looked at the scene, and Antoine said, ‘I’m happy.’ It worked for us.” And I look at Ben, it’s his last day, and he’s like, “I’m fine.” [Sunt] Ben”.