Let’s be real. In 1999, everyone thought a steampunk western starring the biggest movie star on the planet was a guaranteed slam dunk. It wasn't. Critics absolutely shredded it, and while it didn't exactly "bomb" at the box office, it became a punchline for years. But if you look back at the cast of Wild Wild West movie, you realize that the talent on screen was actually kind of insane. You had the king of the summer blockbuster, an Academy Award winner, a literal Shakespearean legend, and a breakout star who was about to dominate the early 2000s.
The movie cost a staggering $170 million back then. That’s roughly $315 million in today's money. When you spend that much on a giant mechanical spider, the actors have to carry a lot of weight. Looking back, the chemistry was... weird. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it felt like everyone was in a completely different movie. Will Smith was playing a cool 90s action hero, Kevin Kline was doing a dry British-inflected comedy bit, and Kenneth Branagh was basically chewing the entire set.
Will Smith as Captain James West: The Choice That Changed Everything
Will Smith was at the absolute peak of his "Big Willie Style" era. He had just come off Independence Day and Men in Black. He was the most bankable man in Hollywood. Honestly, his presence is the only reason this movie got greenlit with such a massive budget. Smith plays Captain James West as a fast-talking, quick-drawing hero who relies more on his charm and his reflex than gadgets.
But here’s the thing most people forget: Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix to do this. Yeah. Read that again. He chose the cast of Wild Wild West movie over the most influential sci-fi film of the decade. Smith has been very vocal about this later in his career, admitting that at the time, he wasn't "mature enough" as an actor to see the vision of the Wachowskis. He saw a giant mechanical spider and thought, "That's a hit." You can't really blame the guy for following the money, but it remains one of the greatest "what ifs" in cinema history.
His performance is classic Will Smith. He’s charismatic. He’s funny. He looks great in a vest. But there’s a persistent feeling that the script didn't know how to handle a Black lead in the post-Civil War West without making some very awkward, racially charged jokes that haven't aged particularly well.
Kevin Kline’s Dual Roles and the Art of the Straight Man
Kevin Kline is a genius. If you haven't seen A Fish Called Wanda, go watch it immediately. In this film, he had the unenviable task of playing two roles: U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon and President Ulysses S. Grant. Gordon is the gadget man. He’s the Q to Will Smith’s Bond.
Kline played Gordon with a certain sophisticated exasperation. He was the "brains" to West's "brawn," a trope as old as time. What's interesting about Kline’s involvement is how much he actually committed to the bit. He spent weeks learning how to handle the complex props and disguises. While Smith was the star, Kline was the glue. His chemistry with Smith is often cited as the best part of the movie, even if the dialogue occasionally let them down.
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Interestingly, the original 1960s TV show featured Robert Conrad and Ross Martin. Martin’s Artemus Gordon was a master of disguise, and Kline leaned heavily into that, often appearing in heavy prosthetics that made him unrecognizable. It was a weirdly theatrical performance in the middle of a loud, CGI-heavy blockbuster.
Kenneth Branagh as Dr. Arliss Loveless: Villainy Without Limits
If you want to talk about "committing to the bit," we have to talk about Kenneth Branagh. Branagh is a titan of the stage. He’s the guy you hire for Hamlet or Henry V. So, seeing him as a legless Southern inventor with a goatee that could cut glass was... a choice.
Branagh’s Dr. Arliss Loveless is a masterpiece of camp. He plays the villain with such high-octane energy that he almost vibrates off the screen. Loveless is a bitter Confederate scientist who lost his lower half in the war and now wants to dismantle the United States using steam-powered weaponry. It’s an absurd premise, and Branagh leans into it with zero hesitation.
- He spent the entire production on a specially designed wheelchair or tucked into hidden holes in the floor to simulate his lack of legs.
- His Southern accent is so thick you could spread it on a biscuit.
- He somehow managed to make "giant mechanical spider" sound like a terrifying military tactical advantage.
Was it a "good" performance? By Oscar standards, no. By "I'm having the time of my life in a summer popcorn flick" standards? It’s legendary. He recognized the movie was a cartoon and acted accordingly.
Salma Hayek and the Problem of the Underused Star
Then there’s Salma Hayek. In 1999, Hayek was one of the fastest-rising stars in the world. As Rita Escobar, she completes the core cast of Wild Wild West movie. Her role, unfortunately, is the weakest link—not because of her acting, but because of the writing.
Rita is essentially a "damsel in distress" who also serves as a romantic foil for both West and Gordon. She’s funny and brings a much-needed warmth to the screen, but the script gives her almost nothing to do other than look stunning and get rescued. Looking back with 2026 eyes, it’s a bit frustrating to see a talent like Hayek relegated to being the punchline of a "sleeping in the same bed" joke.
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There was a lot of behind-the-scenes talk about her character’s actual motivations. In the final cut, she reveals she isn't who she says she is, but the payoff feels rushed. It's a classic case of a big-budget movie having too many cooks in the kitchen and losing the thread of its supporting characters.
The Supporting Players and Cameos
The movie is packed with faces you’ll recognize if you’re a fan of 90s character actors.
- Ted Levine: Most people know him as Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs. Here, he plays "Bloodbath" McGrath, a Confederate general with an ear trumpet. It’s a bizarre, grimy role that feels like it walked off the set of a different, much darker Western.
- M. Emmet Walsh: A legendary "hey, it's that guy" actor. He plays Coleman, the train’s engineer. Walsh is a pro, and he brings a touch of much-needed groundedness to the "Wanderer" (the high-tech train).
- Bai Ling and Frederique van der Wal: They play Loveless’s henchwomen, Miss East and Amazonia. They don't have many lines, but they contribute to the "steampunk-meets-Victoria's-Secret" aesthetic the movie was going for.
Why the Chemistry Felt Off (According to the Director)
Director Barry Sonnenfeld had just come off the massive success of Men in Black. He tried to replicate that formula—a mismatched duo, weird gadgets, and a secret agency. But Wild Wild West didn't have the tight script that MIB had.
The cast of Wild Wild West movie was often filming against blue screens for weeks at a time. This was early days for heavy CGI integration. Will Smith has mentioned in interviews that the "fun" of a movie like this can get lost when you’re staring at a tennis ball on a stick instead of a giant spider. You can see it in some scenes; the eye lines don't quite match, and the timing feels just a millisecond off.
Moreover, the movie suffered from a massive identity crisis. Was it a comedy? A Western? A sci-fi epic? A political satire? By trying to be everything, it became a bit of a mess. But as a cultural artifact, it’s fascinating. It represents the exact moment when Hollywood thought CGI could solve every narrative problem.
The Legacy of the Giant Spider
You can't talk about this cast without talking about producer Jon Peters and his obsession with giant spiders. There’s a famous story told by Kevin Smith (who was originally hired to write a Superman movie for Peters) where Peters insisted that the third act of Superman involve a giant spider. When that movie fell through, Peters took his spider obsession to Wild Wild West.
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This bizarre executive mandate forced the cast to act around a concept that didn't really fit the Western genre. It’s a testament to the actors' professionalism that they managed to sell the idea at all.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
If you’re planning a rewatch or just want to win a trivia night, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the background: The "Wanderer" train is full of actual 19th-century inventions that were modified for the film. The production design is genuinely top-tier.
- Contrast the tone: Compare Will Smith’s performance here to Men in Black. You can see him trying to force the "coolness" in a way that feels a bit more labored in the desert heat.
- Check out the original series: If you want to see where the DNA of the cast of Wild Wild West movie came from, the 1965 series is actually quite dark and sophisticated for its time. It’s more Man from U.N.C.L.E. than Looney Tunes.
- Listen to the soundtrack: Regardless of what you think of the movie, the theme song "Wild Wild West" was a #1 hit. It’s the quintessential Will Smith movie rap.
The film serves as a time capsule. It marks the end of an era where you could throw $100+ million at a wacky idea just because a superstar was attached. Today, everything is a franchise or a reboot. Wild Wild West was a swing for the fences that resulted in a very loud, very expensive foul ball. But looking at the cast today, you have to respect the sheer level of talent that agreed to hop on that steam-powered train.
Whether it's a "guilty pleasure" or a "total disaster" is up to you. But the cast of Wild Wild West movie certainly didn't phone it in. They gave us one of the weirdest, most expensive, and most memorable spectacles of the late 90s.
To dive deeper into how this film changed Will Smith’s career trajectory, look for his 2021 memoir Will, where he spends a significant amount of time reflecting on the "humbling" experience of this movie’s release and how it shifted his focus toward more dramatic roles like Ali. Examining the box office data from 1999 also reveals that despite the bad press, the movie was actually the 17th highest-grossing film of the year globally—proving that the star power of this cast was, at the time, virtually bulletproof.