American actor and singer, Will Smith, will serve on the 70th Cannes Film Festival Jury despite never having had a movie play at motion picture’s most prestigious festival.
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air star was unveiled along with the seven other members of the jury on Tuesday.
Despite having a vast filmography including Independence Day, Men in Black, Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness and Concussion, the 48-year-old’s inclusion on the jury list has raised questions given that Cannes chooses like minds, especially when it comes to determining its biggest awards.
Other members of the jury are German director, Maren Ade; South Korean director, Park Chan-wook; Italian director, Paolo Sorrentino; American actress, Jessica Chastain; Chinese actress, Fan Bingbing; French director, writer and actress, Agnès Jaoui, and French composer Gabriel Yared.
There are four men and four women in the jury.
They join the previously announced jury president, Spanish director, Pedro Almodóvar.
Smith is the only one on jury duty this year who hasn’t either been awarded or nominated in previous festivals.
The jury will present Cannes highest prize, the Palme d’Or, along with the main competition’s other prizes at the festival’s closing ceremony on May 28.
