Actors/Actresses Who Turned Down Major Roles (Or Had To Be Recasted)

[Sampson]

Actually if you follow the film more carefully, you'll realise that Django is actually playing 2nd fiddle in the film to the bounty hunter.

 

[kenbgco68]

Actually if you follow the film more carefully, you'll realise that Django is actually playing 2nd fiddle in the film to the bounty hunter.

He's Waltz's apprentice for a while, but it's Django's story. Ultimately the plan is for him to get back to his wife.

 

[Sampson]

He's Waltz's apprentice for a while, but it's Django's story. Ultimately the plan is for him to get back to his wife.

I'm on my phone so I can't go into depth but this video explains why.

 

[Lord T]

Brad Pitt as Jason Bourne
The Bourne Series

Evidently, snubbing the role of Jason Bourne hasn’t exactly hindered Brad Pitt’s scintillating career to date. Since declining the role, he has become one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, figuring in several other prominent films during the mid 2000's, such as Ocean’s Eleven, Inglourious Basterds and Mr and Mrs Smith, and Oscar nominations for Moneyball and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Pitt turned down the Bourne franchise in 2002, as he favoured portraying another secret agent in the film Spy Game. Now this may seem a misjudged decision by Pitt, bearing in mind that the Bourne Franchise has emerged as a worldwide critical and commercial success, a status which Spy Game has not been able to emulate.

Pitt was replaced in the title role by fellow Oceans star, Matt Damon, who produced a robust performance as Bourne, the expert secret agent and a role which has gone down as one of his most distinguished to date. Taking another away from Damon, I feel that if Pitt had agreed to the role, his genial charisma and charm that Damon doesn’t wholly possess, could have added a greater deal of depth to the character of Jason Bourne and in so doing, could have realistically thrust the franchise nearer to potential Oscar contention.

 

[Flawless]

It brad Pitt had done Jason Bourne there would be no trilogy because he doesn't do sequels

 

[Lord T]

Matt Damon as Jake Sully
Avatar

Matt Damon still curses his poor fortune after he was forced to turn down a leading role in the most successful film of all time - Avatar.

The movie star was James Cameron's first choice to play Jake Sully in the 2009 blockbuster but had to walk away from the role and the chance to work with the director because he there just wasn't enough time to take on the project between filming 'The Bourne Ultimatum' and 'The Green Zone.'

Damon tells Playboy, "I particularly wanted to work with James Cameron, and still do... He knew he was the star of that movie and that everyone was going to see it anyway. When he said, 'Look, I'm offering it to you, but if you say no, the movie doesn't need you,' I remember thinking, 'Oh God, not only do I have to say no because of scheduling, but he's going to make a star out of some guy who's going to to start taking jobs from me later.'"

But in the end, the lack of time won out, he said. "We were finishing 'The Bourne Ultimatum,' and I couldn't leave. It was a scheduling issue."

Australian actor Sam Worthington landed the role of Sully.

'Avatar' was nominated for nine Academy Awards in 2010, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film has grossed more than $2 billion at box offices worldwide since its December 2009 release.

 

[kenbgco68]

I'm on my phone so I can't go into depth but this video explains why...

I understand all that. But the film begins and ends with Django. Just cause he wasn't the only hero doesn't mean he wasn't the main hero. As far as him killing Sam Jackson at the end, he killed whites too. Shit, I wouldn't shed a tear if some modern Toms got gone either.

 

[Lord T]

Henry Winkler as Danny Zuko
Grease

Former Happy Days star Henry Winkler was devastated after he turned down the lead role in Grease - because the film went on to be an international hit.

You’ve got to feel bad for Henry Winkler—he really did think he was doing the right thing when he turned down the lead role of Danny Zuko in Grease.

In a 2007 interview, Winkler divulged: “I was asked to be in Grease. But I decided I didn't want to be typecast,” he explained, referring to his longtime role as Fonzie in Happy Days. “But what I didn't realize was that I already was…that's why John Travolta went on to buy his own plane and I just went home.” Had he taken it, though, who knows who would have portrayed the Bluth family lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development? That’s an important role!

 

[Flawless]

the fonz didn't want to be typecast

 

[Lord T]

Matt Damon as Harvey Dent
The Dark Knight

When interviewing for the release of Invictus with MTV News, Damon apparently confirmed that he had been forced to turn down the opportunity to play Harvey Dent in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight, thanks to a scheduling conflict, which meant he never actually got to sit down with the director to discuss the role:

“I couldn’t do it — there was a scheduling thing,” Damon replied. “I never spoke to Chris Nolan. I’m a big Chris Nolan fan, but I never spoke to him."

"Look, Aaron is a great actor, so the movie didn’t suffer for it.”

He probably didn’t need the career boost, but Damon could probably have enjoyed a huge boost in his profile had he been able to take the gig, and it would have been great to see the actor playing a darker role when the film took the character in the dark direction for the climax.

 

[Lord T]

the fonz didn't want to be typecast

Ironic isn't it?

 

[Lord T]

Reese Witherspoon as Sidney Prescott
Scream

To those that have actually seen it, Wes Craven’s Scream is clearly a satirical, self-aware look at the horror genre, but thinking its just another B-horror movie is an easy mistake to make based off the name and promotional material. It was this that prompted Reese Witherspoon to turn down the lead role of Sidney Prescott when it was offered to her—she thought it was just another horror movie. The role eventually went to Neve Campbell, and the franchise went on to spawn three sequels. Witherspoon did alright regardless, though—apart from a fairly embarrassing arrest in Atlanta, she won an Oscar for her role in 2005’s "Walk the Line".

 

[Tuco]

Angela Bassett as Leticia
Monster's Ball

my God. as if i couldn't love Angela Bassett any more

beautiful, PROUD BLACK WOMAN

 

[johniz]

 

[Lord T]

Bruce Willis as Sam Wheat
Ghost

Bruce Willis was offered the role as Sam but turned it down because he didn't believe that it would be a good choice for his career, and thought the movie would not work with the main character being dead most of the movie. The role went to Patrick Swayze. When Ghost went on to become a huge success he referred to himself as a "knucklehead" for saying no.

Ironically, nine years later he said yes to playing another main character who is dead most of the movie - but doesn't know it - in "The Sixth Sense", which also went on to become a huge success.

 

[Lord T]

Whitney Houston as Sondra Huxtable
The Cosby Show

Everyone who’s ever heard Whitney Houston belt out a tune had no doubt that she would be a star. However, she was much more than an amazing singer with an enviable vocal range — she was deftly able to flex her acting muscles, as well.

Before hitting megastar status and claiming the throne as one the greatest voices of all time, a young Whitney was chosen for a role on a new TV show. As the other cast members were signing their contracts, Director Jay Sandrich recalls Whitney explaining to him that she couldn’t sign hers because, although she didn’t have a record deal and had never been on tour, she couldn’t be in every episode because she was going to be a singer. Her aunt and mother said she could sing so needed to be able to tour.

Sandrich, who directed the first three seasons of the hugely successful sitcom, recalls a young Houston reluctant to sign her contract because she thought it would jeopardize her not yet developed music career.

'So we gather in this room and there are kids from New York and Los Angeles and they are all signing their contracts, and this girl who we brought from New York said "I can't sign this contract."

'And I said "Why?" She said, "Well, I want to be a singer...I can't be in every show... I have to be in every tour."

Sandrich says that he then asked Houston if she had a recording contract or whether she had ever toured to which she replied "no" to both.

He suggested that if she appeared on the show that it might help her singing career, but Houston was convinced.

'I said "Well who told you can sing?" and she said "My mother, my aunt."

Sandrich believes that the then teenager knew right there and then that she was going to be a huge singing star.

'Whitney Houston, she knew,' he said.

Sabrina Le Beauf went on to play the role of Sondra Huxtable for nearly all eight seasons of the sitcom, which TV Guide has called 'TV's biggest hit in the 1980s'.

 

[Pworld297]

For most of these I'm glad they turn it down...

 

[Lord T]

For most of these I'm glad they turn it down...

That's what I like about reading about these. For the most part, most of the actors and actresses went on to do good, but there are a few that missed out big time! I also like how one person turning down a role made the next person a star

 

[Lord T]

Tina Turner as Shug Avery
The Color Purple

Steven Spielberg campaigned to get Tina Turner to play Shug Avery in The Color Purple. Anna Mae declined saying she lived that life with Ike Turner. Spielberg had the right vision; Turner would’ve channeled her country roots and sang “Sister” from her Nutbush, Tennessee soul.

Fortunately for Margaret Avery (and filmgoers), she had previously worked with Spielberg in her first TV movie Something Evil (1972) (TV). He remembered her from this and cast her.

Margaret Avery was spectacular, and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

 

[Lord T]

Jennifer Hudson as Precious
Precious

Did you know that American Idol contestant and eventual Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) was offered the lead role in Lee Daniels’ Precious, but turned it down? The singer-actress reveals that poor career choice in her latest book, "I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down" (according to Uptown Magazine). At the time, Hudson was coming off the grueling Dreamgirls press circuit in 2007, which traditionally accompanies an Oscar run (Precious was released in 2009, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival that year, meaning, it was shot in 2008), and was told by the Precious director that she’d have to pack on additional pounds to play the abused teenager. After Dreamgirls, she lost a lot of weight, and, given that she'd have had to gain it all back to play Precious, was a turnoff for her.

“I had done that with [her Dreamgirls character] Effie … and as much as I was moved by this film, I wanted to try a role that had nothing whatsoever to do with my weight,” she said. The multi-talented star didn’t want to be pigeon-holed as the “big girl.”

Hudson's rejection put Precious director Lee Daniels in a tough position.

"We were weeks away from the shoot but I still hadn't found Precious," he told The Guardian at the time. "Do you know how difficult it is to find a 300 pound black girl to be great in a movie? They don't exist in Hollywood."

Instead, Hudson, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Dreamgirls, went on to co-star in the first Sex and the City Movie alongside Sarah Jessica Parker. Hudson also played Winnie Mandela in a biopic of the former South African First Lady.

Daniels’ film earned six Oscar nominations and two wins for screenwriting and Best Supporting Actress. Which begs the questions: Would Hudson’s appearance have changed anything? Was Precious always going to hinge on the casting of Precious’ malicious mother (Mo’Nique, who was terrifying)? And will Hudson ever get another role of that caliber?

Either way, Gabourey Sidibe – who earned an Oscar nomination for playing Precious – should send Hudson gift baskets on an annual basis for turning Daniels down. Just make sure they are loaded with fat-free treats.

 

[Lord T]

Leonardo DiCaprio as Dirk Diggler
Boogie Nights

Hollywood superstar LEONARDO DiCAPRIO wishes he'd taken the lead role in BOOGIE NIGHTS instead of starring in the most successful film of all time, "TITANIC".

DiCaprio turned down the chance to play a porn star in PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON's classic 1997 film, a role that his friend MARK WAHLBERG went on to cement his thespian credentials with.

“My biggest regret is Boogie Nights,” says Leo, who lost the role of porn star Dirk Diggler to close pal Mark Wahlberg. “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.”

Instead, DiCaprio became an international icon in disaster epic Titanic, something he now regrets because fame has its own set of problems.

He says, "It's a really obvious thing to say, but the more people know too much about who you really are, and it's a fundamental thing, the more the mystery is taken away from the artist, and the harder it is for people to believe that person in a particular role."

 

[Lord T]

Michael Keaton as Jack Shepherd
LOST

When J.J. Abrams started the epic journey that was Lost, Michael Keaton was approached for the lead role of Jack Shephard, but he turned it down when he learned the character would live. Seems a bit backwards, but he tends to lean toward the undead (Beetlejuice ... Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice).

 

[coolie569]

Michael Keaton as Jack Shepherd
LOST

I could see it. Keaton is actually a very good actor.

 

[Lord T]

Natalie Portman as Lisbeth Salander
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Director David Fincher offered the role to Natalie Portman, but she turned it down.

A then unknown Rooney Mara was cast and was nominated for an Oscar for it.

 

[Lord T]

Eminem as Max DeCosta
Elysium

It turns out that legendary rapper and “8 Mile” actor Eminem was offered the leading role for an upcoming sci-fi epic, “Elysium,” but decided to turn it down because the film wasn’t being shot in Detroit.

If you didn’t know, Eminem is a native of Detroit and very loyal to the city that raised him. Perhaps a little too much though, because “Elysium” would’ve taken his acting career to a whole different level and is projected to hit blockbuster status when it comes out in August.

South African rapper Ninja of the boundary-pushing hip-hop duo Die Antwoord was approached next. The 38-year-old rapper, who is widely celebrated in South Africa, reportedly turned down the opportunity as he didn't want his first film role to be in a prominent American film playing an American character. "It was a f--ked-up, difficult decision," Ninja went on record saying.

The leading role ended up being given to Matt Damon, who was actually director Neil Blomkamp‘s third option behind Em and South African rapper Ninja of Die Antwoord.

 

[Lord T]

Ryan Gosling as Jack Salmon
The Lovely Bones

Just one day before shooting was set to begin, Ryan Gosling stepped down from the role of Jack Salmon in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of "The Lovely Bones" due to "creative differences". Luckily, with only a few days notice, Mark Wahlberg was able to step in and replace Gosling, who had already gained 20 pounds and grown a beard for the part.

 

[Lord T]

Drew Barrymore as Nomi Malone
Dreamgirls

Hollywood's favorite wild child Drew Barrymore was offered the part of Nomi Malone in 1995's "Showgirls," but is said to have turned it down because she felt uncomfortable with the nudity displayed in the script.

The role went to "Saved by the Bell" actress Elizabeth Berkley, whose portrayal of the stripper earned her two Razzie Awards and quickly stalled her film career.

 

[Lord T]

Aaliyah as Zee
The Matrix Trilogy

Singer and actress Aaliyah filmed scenes as Zee in The Matrix: Reloaded and was due to return in the final part of the films. But when she tragically died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001, the part was recast and given to Nona Gaye, and Aaliyah's scenes were all reshot.

 

[Lord T]

Angelina Jolie as Dr. Ryan Stone
Robert Downey Jr as Matt Kowalsky
Gravity

GEORGE Clooney and Sandra Bullock must be feeling on top of the world after their space thriller Gravity recorded the strongest October debut in US box office history.

The effects are mind blowing, the script is top notch, and the chemistry between Bullock and Clooney is so strong its sparked rumours they're secretly dating each other.

But the two actors can thank their lucky stars that they even got the chance to appear in the movie because it's been revealed they weren't the director's first choices.

Robert Downey Jr. and Angelina Jolie were originally cast as the male and female lead according to Variety.

Angelina Jolie was forced to pull out of the project back in 2010 after her management team failed to work out a deal with Warner Brothers.

Blake Lively and Natalie Portman were then considered for the role, but movie executives finally decided on Bullock who had recently won an Oscar for The Blind Side.

Robert Downey Jr. had signed on for the out of this world project but had to pull out at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts with The Avengers and Iron Man 3.

Low and behold, the producers then hunted down George Clooney who just happened to have a few months free.

It appears the stars aligned, quite literally.

 

[dnell]

This post is one of the gems of BGOL. ***** stars!

 

[Diamels]

I want to see the movies that Samuel Jackson turned down...

 

[regulus]

I want to see the movies that Samuel Jackson turned down...

There are none.

 

[Lord T]

This post is one of the gems of BGOL. ***** stars!

Thanks!

 

[Lord T]

I want to see the movies that Samuel Jackson turned down...

There are none.

It might be rare, but yes Sameul has passed on a few films (especially if you're a rapper)

Proud Jackson Turns Down 50 Cent Film Role

SAMUEL L JACKSON has turned down the chance to work with one of his movie icons - because it's in a film starring 50 CENT.

The actor has always wanted to work with Irish movie-maker JIM SHERIDAN and was thrilled when he heard he was being targeted for a new film by the "IN AMERICA" director - and then he realised the role was opposite rapper 50 Cent in his movie debut "Get Rich or Die Trying".

The actor has been extremely vocal about sharing the stage with unproven actors, and felt he had to turn down Sheridan's offer.

He says, "Hollywood people tend to think that because one is successful in one aspect of entertainment they can bring them into this particular world and make a success out of them.

"They ask people like me to be in a film with those people that they are kind of headlining and your name ends up behind them.

"If you do that, it sanctions the fact that these people come into this world and you think they are worthy of you sharing your time on screen with them. I don't particularly think that.

"A month or so ago, someone called me about the 50 Cent movie and I'm like, 'What are you calling me for?' I don't even need to read that because that's not something I want to do.

"I like listening to 50 Cent and I can groove to his music but I don't want to groove to him on screen, just yet. Maybe if he does five movies and he shows some talent.

"I mean how does he get to work with Jim Sheridan and I don't? What is it about 50 Cent that makes Jim Sheridan say, 'I'd really like to make a movie with him.'"

 

[Lord T]

Samuel L. Jackson as Buck Swope
Boogie Nights

Samuel L. Jackson (who had worked with director Anderson previously in Hard Eight) was Anderson's first choice to play the role of Buck Swope, a porn star and stereo salesman who hopes to open his own store. However, according to Anderson, when Jackson was given the script, he responded with a puzzled “What the hell is this?” "I didn't get it." Jackson said. So he declined the role.

The role of Buck Swope promptly went to Don Cheadle, who agreed to do the film after Julianne Moore vouched for the writer/director.