WILL SMITH - DENZEL'S REJECTIONS BECOME HITS FOR SMITH AND PITT

Hollywood hunks WILL SMITH and BRAD PITT have a lot to thank DENZEL WASHINGTON for - he turned down the lead roles in I, ROBOT and SE7EN.

Smith recently scored a huge box office hit in the summer (04) with I, Robot, while Pitt attracted both acclaim and big ticket sales with his 1995 movie Se7en - and neither would have enjoyed such success had it not been for Washington's rejection of the roles.

He says, "I passed on I, Robot, I passed on Se7en. Obviously I didn't pick 'em!"

He adds of Se7en's script, "I was like, 'No, this is just too heavy man, I don't know. Whew!' But when I saw the film I was like, 'Oh shoot!'"