WILL SMITH - SMITH TO PLAY COCAINE DEALER CHEF?

SMITH TO PLAY COCAINE DEALER CHEF?

WILL SMITH is in negotiations for another gritty real-life role - as a convicted drug dealer who turns his life around to become a top chef. Movie bosses at Columbia have picked up the film rights to Las Vegas chef JEFF HENDERSON's memoir COOKED as a project for Smith's Overbrook Entertainment. Smith is slated to star as Henderson, a one-time San Diego, California, cocaine dealer who discovered a passion for cooking in prison. Now the Executive Chef at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Henderson had to convince Los Angeles area restaurant owners he would be a trustworthy and worthwhile addition to their kitchen teams upon his release from prison. Smith, who started his film career with a series of comedic roles, has been selecting heavier fare of late. He was Oscar nominated for his role in THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, in which he played CHRIS GARDNER, a real-life single father who went from being homeless to running a high-profile stocks company.