20 Actors and Actresses Who Turned Down Important or Popular Roles
For every celebrity winning critical acclaim or an Academy Award there’s another celeb or two who turned down that same meaty role. While we’re sure they had good reasons for their decisions, we’re also wondering how hard they kick themselves after realizing they passed up “The Big One.” Behold celebrities who turned down the roles of a lifetime.
- Molly Ringwald - Molly Ringwald turned down the role of Vivian in “Pretty Woman” and the role of Molly in “Ghost” among others. She was also offered a part in Scream which she turned down because she was in her late 20’s and didn’t want a teenage role. Also, she was offered Leah Thompson’s role in “Some Kind of Wonderful” which she turned down severing her relationship with John Hughes. Personally, I can’t see her in any of those roles and never felt she was all that great of an actress anyway. She’s good with whiny roles, however. I’ll give her that.
- Mel Gibson - Turned down the lead role in Gladiator. A role which landed Russell Crowe the Academy Award. Mel also turned down the part of Robin Hood in “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.” Instead, that part went to a not very belieaveable Kevin Costner.
- Alec Baldwin - The role of Richard Kimball in “The Fugitive” was originally offered to Alec. After he turned it down, it went to Harrison Ford.
- Sigourney Weaver - Turned down the role of Ada in “The Accused,” a part that later went to Kelly McGillis, and the lead role in “A Handmaid’s Tale.”
- Keanu Reeves turned down Charlie Sheen’s role in “Platoon.” And really, thank goodness for that. The role should definitely go to someone who can act.
- Gillian Anderson - The former X-Files star was originally offered the role of Bethany Sloane in “Dogma.” She said, “no thanks” and the part wen to Linda Fiorentino instead.
- Warren Beatty - Turned down the role of Jack Horner in “Boogie Nights.” The part was then offered to a smarmy looking Burt Reynolds. Warren also turned down James Caan’s role in “Misery”, the part of Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” and Robert Redford’s role in “The Sting.” Granted, Warren’s had some decent roles and he’s a good actor. But we’re thinking he’s not a very good judge of a good script. He accepts “Dick Tracy” and turns down “The Sting?” Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?
- Melanie Griffith - Melanie Griffith turned down the role of “Thelma” in “Thelma and Louise.” Incidentally, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster were originally cast as Thelma and Louise but had to drop out as pre-production dragged on.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar - Scheduling conflicts prevented her from accepting the role as Cher in “Clueless.”
- Richard Grieco - The “21 Jump Street” star turned down the lead role in “Speed” because he thought the script sucked. I guess he’s still turning down sucky scripts because it’s not like we’ve seen him in anything but the plastic surgeon’s office since the early 90’s.
- Madonna - I guess we should be thankful but Madonna turned down Michelle Pfeiffer’s role in “The Fabulous Baker Boys.”
- Denzel Washington - Turned down the role of Curtis in “Dreamgirls”, the lead in “I Robot”, and it’s rumored he turned down the role of “Ray Charles” in Ray.
- Will Smith - Turned down the role that eventually went to Keanu Reeve in “The Matrix”, and the role of Stu in “Phone Booth.”
- Julia Roberts - Turned down Sharon Stone’s leg crossing role in “Basic Instinct,” the role of Mary Corleone in “Godfather III” the role of Annie in “Sleepless in Seattle,” the lead role of “Shakespeare in Love” and the role of Lucy in “While You Were Sleeping.”
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Offered the part of Dirk Diggler in “Boogie Nights” before it was given to Mark Wahlberg and the lead role in “The Matrix”.
- Mark Wahlberg - Turned down the role of Linus in “Ocean’s 11″.
- Tom Cruise - Before Johnny Depp made the role his own, Tom Cruise signed on to play Donnie Brasco in the film of the same name. Tom was also to play the lead role in “Footloose” and ended up turning that down as well.
- Jennifer Jason Leigh - Jennifer Jason Leigh is another of the actresses who landed the role of Vivian in “Pretty Woman” and later turned it down.
- John Travolata - Turned down the role of Forrest Gump.
- Tom Hanks - Turned down the role of Ray Kinsella in “Field of Dreams,” Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” and the lead role in “Jerry Maguire.”
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[…] this awesome list Hollywood gossip blog Glamorati posted recently of “20 Actors and Actresses Who Turned Down Important or Popular Roles.” There are some entries on it that will make you jump up from your chair and scream a long, loud […]
Will Smith as Neo and John Travolata as Forrest Gump
loool that would be funny.
Originally Tom Selleck was offered the role of Indiana Jones (which was of course given to Harrison Ford), but he had to decline so he could be Magnum, P.I.
Guess that’s good ’cause I couldn’t imagine anyone but Tom as Magnum.
Thank Goodness Madonna turned down Those Fabulous Baker Boys.
Michelle’s one of my favorites, and that’s one of my favorite movies.
One can only imagine……
John Travolata? Never heard of him
Leo D with a big D ahahaha!!!
I find it hard to believe that Marl Wahlberg turned down “Linus” in “Ocean’s 13″ considering that Matt Damon had the role secured for Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s 12 already. They wouldn’t have re-cast the same role if Damon dropped out. They would have changed the character. That one I don’t buy for a second.
Heh, you forgot Sean Connery’s refusal to play the role of “Gandalf” in Peer Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Sir Connery said that appearing in a film based on a “fantasy book” would damage his reputation.
After the great success of The Fellowship of the Ring, he tried to make up by accepting the lead role in “The League of the Extraordinary Gentlemen” … Go figure.
Mickey Rooney turned down Archie Bunker.
How can this list leave off Sylvester Stallone?
During an interview with Howard Stern on 1/24/2008 (http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1201150800) he admitted he turned down the following roles over the course of his career:
- a starring turn in the original “Superman,”
- Axel Foley in “Beverly Hills Cop,”
- “Die Hard,”
- “Witness,”
- “Coming Home,”
- “Romancing the Stone,”
- Travolta’s role in “Face/off,”
and “Rules of Engagement.”
Lol, so Keanu was at least the 3rd choice for Neo.
These make you think about a couple things though. Maybe some of these actors sensed that they were not right for the part. Much as if I am offered a programming job but in a sub-field or framework that I am not accustomed, I feel it’s best to go with a job that fits me best when considering multiple offers rather than have a sub-par fit and resulting less than great project results. Of course what the list doesn’t quantify is what movies / projects they were working on in lieu of those listed.
Don’t forget, Jean Reno turned down Agent Smith, to do the Matrix.
[…] This is an interesting list of roles that actors/actresses have turned down. I always find these types of lists interesting. Of course, you can rarely be sure that everything […]
leo turned down boogie nights for titanic. smart move career-wise, even though boogie nights is the better film…
I’ve hear that Jimmy Cagney turned down the role of Rick in Casablanca.
Great list. But you forgot two biggies.
Anthony Quinn turned down The Godfather lead as he thought that the flick would tank.
And Frank Sinatra passed on Dirty Harry as he had the flu and couldn’t be bothered finishing the script….
Thanks for pointing out my typo regarding “Ocean’s 13″ Mark Wahlberg actually turned down the role for Ocean’s 11.
Also, for those of you offering your own items to the list, thanks! This is going to be a regular feature and I’ll have more of these for you each week.
- Deb
According to a biography of John Wayne, “Dirty Harry” was written for him. But he turned it down because he believed that good guys should be 100% good.
The success of “Dirty Harry” was the reason the Duke made those crappy cop films at the end of his career, trying to make up for the mistake.
Heath Ledger was supposedly up for the role of Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) in No Country For Old Men, but turned it down to take time off.
A classic - Gary Cooper turned down the role of Rhett Butler in “Gone With The Wind” saying “Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history.”
[…] Mel Gibson as as Robin Hood? John Travolta as Forrest Gump? Crazy. According to Glamorati, these 20 actors & actresses turned down some of Pop Culture’s major movie roles. […]
Derek … I don’t think that’s true about Gary Cooper. I’ve read that the role was always Clark Gable’s and David O. Selznick had to do some maneuvering to get him.
One point to make is that all of these people - like Tom Hanks, for example, were making pretty good choices while turning down some other equally good choices.
leo turning down boogie nights was a good move for him. he decided to do titanic instead
You forgot, Warren Beatty was origanlly supposed to be Bill in the “Kill Bill” movies.
[…] the movie musical Dreamgirls. He was also offered the lead in I Robot. For more you can check out Glamorati. This small discussion with Lindsay about the current war got me looking for a nice documentary or […]
[…] If you know me, than you know that I love Digg. One of the popular articles today is, “20 Actors and Actresses Who Turned Down Important or Popular Roles”. One of the main one’s that I am shocked to see if that John Travolta turned down the role of Forrest Jump. I’m sorry, but I can’t see Travolta as Forrest Jump. Frankly, I don’t like Travolta at all. I don’t believe he’s a strong actor or vocalist. He was an amazing dancer though. Some others are, Alec Baldwin (one of my favorite actors) turned down the role of Richard Kimball in The Fugitive. After Baldwin turned the role down it went to Harrison Ford. Denzel Washington was offered to play Curtis in the movie musical Dreamgirls. He was also offered the lead in I Robot. For more you can check out Glamorati. […]
[…] Glamorati has a list of actors and the hit movie roles they turned down. While some of the missed opportunities are already Hollywood legend, there’s plenty here that may surprise you, or disappoint you, particularly if you believe that Mel Gibson would have made a better Maximus in Gladiator than Russell Crowe. […]
Leo DiCaprio was also up for the lead in American Psycho, but technically he didn’t turn it down…they preferred Christian Bales’s reading, and they couldn’t have been more right!
warren beatty didn’t “accept” the role of dick tracy
“Dick Tracy is a 1990 action-adventure film based upon the Dick Tracy comic strip created by Chester Gould. Warren Beatty directed, produced and starred in the leading role.”
dave chappelle was also asked to do bubba from Forrest Gump.
“Chappelle was offered the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump, which was in a pre-production stage. Not realizing the impact this future Academy Award winner for Best Picture would have, and concerned about what seemed to be a racially demeaning character, he turned down the part. He has since admitted to regretting the decision”
How about Tom Hanks in Jerry Macguire. I know Tom Cruise gets flack, but seriously no one else could have played that part. Hanks is too goofy and lovable to have played such an anti-hero, and he cant pull of the hotshot thing at all. I think thats the most surprising one of all on the list
As someone has pointed out Tom Selleck turned down the role of Indiana to play Magnum. What did some of the other actors accept instead of the roles they turned down. When two pictures are being filmed at the same time an actor can only be in one. It may be that other one we remember them for and can not remember the role that was refused.
Tom Selleck didn’t turn down the role of Indiana Jones…he wanted it, but was already committed to Magnum and the producers refused to accomodate the shooting schedule. And he had already been Magnum for some time when the opportunity came up.
Bing Crosby, the greatest singer ever and an Academy Award winner for “Going My Way,” turned down the role of Columbo because he was too busy playing golf and going on fishing and hunting trips.
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Two typos on the Warren Beatty entry: (1) it’s B*u*rt Reynolds, not Bert. And (2) it’s Dick Tracy, not Dick Tracey.
Forgot one.
Chevy Chase gave up the role that went to Kevin Spacey in American Beauty.
I thought I read somewhere that Denzel Washington turned down Dreamgirls and Ray because he can’t sing. I could be wrong.
Didn’t Nick Nolte pass on both Star Wars and The Untouchables? Talk about a mistake…
IIRC, there should also be a laundry list for people who turned down roles just in Apocalypse Now, including, if I’m not mistaken, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen, and James Caan.
Pacino has also passed on some real biggies, including Born on the Fourth of July, Star Wars, Pretty Woman, Crimson Tide, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Pretty ballsy for a guy who was in Two for the Money.
[…] 20 Couldabeens This is fascinating. Taken from Glamorati. […]
How could you omit one of the most infamous turn-downs ever -
Martin Landau in 1965, turning down the role of “Spock” on ST:TOS, because a character without emotions presented no challenge to an actor of his stature…
[…] […]
[…] mehr lesen möchte: http://www.glamorati.com/celebrity/2008/20-actors-and-actresses-who-turned-down-important-or-popular… ist der Original-Eintrag auf […]
Didn’t Nick Nolte pass on both Star Wars and The Untouchables? Talk about a mistake…
Julia Roberts turned down Sharon Sotne’s role in Basic Instinct! Boy! What a miss!
Tina
http://www.ekhichdi.com/general-discussion/zahra-amir-ebrahimi-the-sex-scandal-girl-from-iran
Not only would Travolta have tanked as Gump, but he never would have appeard in Pulp Fiction. Talk about a double whammy.
[…] couple of weeks ago we brought you 20 Actors Who Turned Down Important or Popular Roles. Due to that post’s success, we thought we’d throw some more at you. Check it […]
[…] been talking a lot lately about celebrities who passed up roles for some reason or another, but what about celebrities who tried out for roles and didn’t get […]
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[…] 20 Actors and Actresses Who Turned Down Important or Popular Roles. CLICK HERE […]
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