Will Smith – Neo in ‘The Matrix’
Will Smith has starred in some of the biggest moneymaking blockbusters of all time, from ‘Independence Day’ to the ‘Men in Black’ franchise, but he had the opportunity to have another legendary franchise at one point in time.
Smith was originally offered the role of Neo in ‘The Matrix,’ before turning it down to make the notorious flop ‘Wild, Wild West’ alongside Kevin Kline. The huge success of the franchise hasn’t seemed to bother Will all that much. Will has said, “You know, ‘The Matrix’ is a difficult concept to pitch. In the pitch, I just didn’t see it. I watched Keanu’s performance – and very rarely do I say this – but I would have messed it up.”
Matt Damon – ‘Avatar’ and ‘The Dark Knight’
With Academy Award acclaim from the outset of his career, thanks to penning and playing the lead in ‘Good Will Hunting,’ Matt Damon is no stranger to cinematic success, especially when you consider he has starred in the ‘Ocean’s’ franchise, the ‘Bourne’ trilogy, and ‘Saving Private Ryan.’
Damon did, however, pass up on two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. He turned down the lead in James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ (the highest-grossing film in history) due to a scheduling conflict with ‘The Bourne Ultimatum;’ and he passed on the role of Harvey Dent in ‘The Dark Knight’ due to filming conflicts with Clint Eastwood’s ‘Invictus.’
Jack Nicholson – Michael Corleone in ‘The Godfather’
One legendary actor had the opportunity to play one of the greatest characters in cinematic history before another legend was handed the role of a lifetime.
Jack Nicholson, not Al Pacino, was the first one offered the role of Michael Corleone in ‘The Godfather.’ Nicholson turned it down because, as he once said, “I knew ‘The Godfather’ was going to be a great film, but at that time I believed Indians should play roles written for Indians and Italians should do the same.” Considering Jack appeared in the likes of ‘Easy Rider,’ ‘The Last Detail,’ ‘Five Easy Pieces,’ ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ and ‘Chinatown’ within a handful of years of ‘The Godfather,’ he obviously survived passing on the role.
Johnny Depp – Ferris Bueller
This is a hard switch to picture, but it would have definitely changed the face of one of the biggest comedy hits of all time; Johnny Depp was originally offered the lead in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ before Matthew Broderick ended up landing his career-defining role. Like Smith, Damon and Nicholson, Johnny Depp seems to have landed on his feet since then.
Leonardo DiCaprio – Dirk Diggler in ‘Boogie Nights’
Leonardo DiCaprio starred in the film that stood as the highest-grossing film for years and the blockbuster that made him a bona fide movie star, ‘Titanic;’ but, the film he passed on to make it still stands as the biggest regret of his career.
Leo was offered the iconic role of Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Boogie Nights’ before Mark Wahlberg dug into the starring role. DiCaprio told GQ, “‘Boogie Nights’ is a movie I loved and I wish I would’ve done…I’m a huge fan of [director] Paul Thomas Anderson, but the first time I met him for that role I hadn’t really seen much of his previous work. Now I love that movie.”
Denzel Washington – David Mills in ‘Se7en’
‘Se7en’ was the film that made David Fincher and Brad Pitt an A-List director and an A-List star, respectively. Since ‘Se7en,’ Fincher and Pitt have teamed up for ‘Fight Club’ and ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ but the duo may not have been so tight-knit had Fincher’s first choice for ‘Se7en’ played out as planned.
Fincher initially offered the role of Det. David Mills to Denzel Washington, but Denzel turned it down because he felt the subject matter was too dark
Brad Pitt – Russell Hammond in ‘Almost Famous’
He may have landed the role of David Mills, but Brad Pitt has passed on his share of beloved roles as well. One such decline was when Pitt dropped out of Cameron Crowe’s wonderful ‘Almost Famous’ six weeks prior to shooting. Crowe had visualized Brad Pitt as charasmatic Stillwater guitarist Russell Hammond when developing the character, and that was the role Pitt was attached to before dropping out. Billy Crudup went on to turn Russell into an on-screen gem, and Brad Pitt’s career didn’t suffer much from the decision in the long run.
Michelle Pfeiffer – Clarice Starling in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ was such a brilliant movie that it swept the five major Academy Award categories, was a box office hit and spawned an impressive franchise. Jodie Foster’s performance as Clarice Starling was impeccable and rejuvenated her career, but she was far from director Jonathan Demme’s first choice for the lead. Demme had initially offered the role to Michelle Pfeiffer, who happened to be one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood in 1991, but Pfeiffer took issue with the violence and graphic nature of the script. After Pfeiffer passed, Demme auditioned nearly every top actress in Hollywood before finally offering the role to Jodie Foster.
Emily Blunt – Black Widow in ‘Iron Man 2’
Successful, young British actress Emily Blunt of ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ and ‘Looper’ fame, missed out on the opportunity to be a part of a massive franchise. Blunt was originally offered the role of Black Widow in ‘Iron Man 2,’ which ultimately went to Scarlett Johansson, because Blunt already had a scheduling conflict with ‘Gulliver’s Travels,’ a film that would go on to be a box office bomb.
Sean Connery – ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Matrix’
Screen legend Sir Sean Connery could have had two late-career blockbuster franchises under his belt in addition to his decades of hit movies. Connery was offered both the role of Gandalf in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and Morpheus in ‘The Matrix’ trilogy. In the years since turning down the roles, Connery has admitted to regretting his decisions.
Tom Hanks – ‘Jerry Maguire’
Tom Hanks was offered the title role in Cameron Crowe’s Academy Award-nominated ‘Jerry Maguire.’ Hanks turned it down, because he was busy directing his film ‘That Thing You Do.’
Everything turned out well in the end for ‘Jerry Maguire’ though. Tom Cruise was nominated for an Oscar and took home a Golden Globe for his performance, and, as Hanks has said, “I think you look at it now and it couldn’t have been anybody other than Tom Cruise.”
Edward Norton – Patrick Bateman in ‘American Psycho’
The casting of ‘American Psycho’ was a bit of a storied mess with several notable actors and directors tied to what promised to be an exceedingly provocative film of Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial book.
Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt were both attached early on with other directors, but once Mary Harron got attached, Edward Norton was her choice. Norton passed on the role, and Harron offered it to Christian Bale in what was a blessing for all involved. The ‘American Psycho’ production madness didn’t end there (Harron was fired, Leonardo DiCaprio was set to star, Harron returned, etc.), but Ed Norton got the first offer with Harron in the director’s chair.
Kevin Costner – Andy Dufresne in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’
Kevin Costner was one of the biggest movie stars on the planet for the majority of the 80s and the early 90s. Sadly, Costner’s reign took a devastating blow when he decided to pursue his disastrous passion project of ‘Waterworld’(one of the biggest bombs in film history), instead of taking the legendary role of Andy Dufresne in ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’
Molly Ringwald – ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Ghost’
Believe it or not, 80s “it girl” Molly Ringwald of ‘Pretty in Pink,’ ‘Sixteen Candles,’ and ‘The Breakfast Club’ fame, was offered the leads in both ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Ghost.’ Ringwald’s decision to pass on both of those roles certainly didn’t help her career, but those decisions helped to make Julia Roberts and Demi Moore breakout Hollywood stars.
Jim Carrey – Gaylord “Greg” Focker in ‘Meet the Parents’
Jim Carrey has admitted to turning down playing Greg Focker in ‘Meet the Parents.’ Carrey has said that he was the one who came up with the idea for the Fockers in a creative meeting. However, “It was perfect that Ben Stiller did it,” Carrey says, “That’s the way it’s supposed to be done.”
Tom Selleck – Indiana Jones
It may be hard to wrap your head around it, but Harrison Ford was not the first actor that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas pursued for the role of Indiana Jones in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ ‘Magnum P.I.’ star Tom Selleck was offered the genuinely iconic role first, but he had to decline due to scheduling conflicts with his hit TV show.
Sylvester Stallone – ‘The Terminator’
Legend has it James Cameron auditioned several surprising actors (O.J. Simpson!) before fortuitously offering the role of ‘The Terminator’ to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Besides The Juice, Cameron had heavily considered Sylvester Stallone in the lead and went so far as to offer him the part. Sly declined and Arnold became the time-traveling icon that he was seemingly born to play.
Arnold Schwarzenegger – John McClane in ‘Die Hard’
Arnold did his fair share of passing on quintessential roles as well. He passed on playing John McClane in ‘Die Hard’ after ‘Predator’ producer Joel Silver gave him an unfinished script. Surprisingly, it’s almost impossible to fathom anybody other than Bruce Willis playing the quintessential everyman hero of ‘Die Hard,’ but the likes of Sly Stallone, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds and Richard Gere all passed on the part before Bruce got the offer.
Source : ChaCha.com
This post has already been read 2594 times!
