Originally appeared on E! Online
Say J Balvin's name, and the men in black will appear.
The "Mi Gente" singer surprised fans at Coachella 2024 by welcoming Will Smith on stage for an out-of-this-world performance that saw the actor recreate his rap and dance moves from his 1997 "Men in Black" music video from the soundtrack to his hit movie of the same name.
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In footage from the pair's rehearsal of the alien-themed set, obtained exclusively by E! News, J Balvin praised the star. "We have the legend Will Smith here," he said in Spanish, later calling his experience working with him a "dream."
"Men in Black" stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents investigating extraterrestrial life on Earth. And fans couldn't get enough of the movie's UFO conspiracy theories, as sequels were released in 2002, 2012 and 2019.
Although the alien movies blew up, Smith recently revealed that he almost turned down the role.
"That was the next year after "Independence Day,"" he told Variety in August. "So I didn't want to make two alien movies back to back."
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But Steven Spielberg, who was an executive producer on the film, was able to persuade him after sending a helicopter to fetch Smith from New York.
"It landed at his house," he recalled. "And, like, he had me at hello. And it was the first time I ever had lemonade with carbonated water. You can't say no to that."
Noting that the "Jurassic Park" director said the "coldest s---," to win him over, Smith added, "He said, 'Tell me why you don't want to make my movie…' And he was the producer. And he put the ellipsis at the end, it was the dot, dot, dot. If he had continued, he would have said, ‘Joker, you know I made 'Jaws,' right? You know I made 'E.T.'"
And almost 30 years later, the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" alum stepped back into the suit for Coachella 2024.
In addition to Balvin's intergalactic performance, the desert music festival saw spectacles put on by headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt in Indio, Calif.
