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

[Onpoint]

Good info in here!

 

[John_Gault]

Pretty cool thread, for more reasons than one.

What this tells me, is STAY GRINDING, because on average the best outcome will be what happens.

90% of these "What IF" role swaps turned out to be ideal and worked out well, one after the other.


The cream tends to rise to the top.


Smith and Paltrow can put on whatever 'face' they wanna, but both respectively had opportunities to STAR in what became EPIC/HISTORIC films.

And I think will could have pulled it off well, but it would've been a different feel to the MATRIX than what Reeves brought to it.




JG

 

[godofwine]

The only ones I can think of are Halle Berry who turned down Sandra Bullock's part in Speed, Dougray Scott who had the part of Wolverine in X-Men but had to drop out because of Mission Impossible 2's schedule and Eric Stoltz who was Marty McFly initially before being recast after filming had started.

Seoltz was funniest. The movie was already filming ang they were like, "You suck. And even though it will cost millions to start over we are starting over."

 

[Nobody]

Nigga please

We woulda owned that matrix movie

Furious styles and will smith????

Nah. Will is right. Will of 2007 would've killed it. But not will of 1999

 

[Phermone3]

Chris Tucker is unofficial king of this thread lol. He turned down Lethal Weapon 4 (Chris Rock), Any Given Sunday (Jamie Foxx), Black Knight (Martin Lawrence), Knight and Day (Tom Cruise), Django (Jamie Foxx), Tower Heist (not Eddie but Maythew Broderick part), and can add the Friday movies also smh

Chris was never offered Django, he just had a meeting with QT about the role. Like a handful of other actors.

 

[Man_Of_STeeL]

interestin'...

 

[chemist]

She played a stereotype, no different than a black woman playing a mammie or hooker. It's trite at this point.

Parts in movies like The Help or The Butler are playing stereotypes with blacks playing these submissive roles to whites. Hookers cover all races.

 

[avantastic]

Parts in movies like The Help or The Butler are playing stereotypes with blacks playing these submissive roles to whites. Hookers cover all races.

Gotta agree with you, hell playing a hooker put Julia Roberts on the map.

 

[shaddyvillethug]

Be careful who you root for in movies. Sometimes, we root for people who don't have our best interest in mind and are clueless to why we are conditioned to do so. Don't be fooled by all of the non-white people in prominent roles in the Matrix. They are not non-white people. The machines/programs are representations of black/non-white people. The humans are representations of white people. Neo is supposed to be the ideal representative of a non-white person whom white people deem suitable i.e. if only the rest were like him we wouldn't have this race problem.

Just watch Animatrix. List of stuff most people don't know about concerning the Matrix films:

- The first machine to revolt against his master.

Supreme level clowning by white people

B166-ER (not only is that close to n*gger but the name of Richard Wright's charter from Native Son, Bigger Thomas). They use a Dred Scott* type decision on machine rights to justify his destruction. B166-ER cleaned toilets and was nicknamed shitskin. Shitskin is a racial slur for black people.

- The Million Machine March



=====

Always remember, white people hide things in plain sight and are always trying to clown non-white people. There's a reason why they wanted Connery and Smith in those roles at first.

* = "beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect" - Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

famo u be thinking to hard

But I feel you

 

[Lord T]

Eddie Murphy as Winston Zeddemore
Ghostbusters

Dan Aykroyd wanted Eddie Murphy for this role. The character of Winston Zeddemore received the least screentime of the four Ghostbusters and wasn't even introduced until about halfway through the movie, but Aykroyd originally intended the part to be larger. In an earlier version of the script, Zeddemore was introduced much earlier in the story, and he was the one who was slimed by the ghost at the hotel instead of Bill Murray's character. Dan Aykroyd told Murphy about the part on the set of Trading Places, but Murphy later admitted his original thoughts about Ghostbusters, saying “I was like, 'This sounds like a crock… to me.”

Murphy passed on Ghostbusters to make Beverly Hills Cop, which ended up being a better career move for him. To this day, it’s still his biggest hit ever (besides the Shrek films). Murphy would have been part of an ensemble in Ghostbusters (albeit a talented, iconic one), but with Beverly Hills Cop, he got to play the lead and carry a movie on his own for the first time, cementing his status as a viable box office commodity. Ghostbusters was a massive hit at the time of its release in the summer of 1984 and the highest grossing movie of that year, up until Beverly Hills Cop was released at Christmastime and edged it out by a measly few million dollars, becoming the year’s box office winner.

While picking Beverly Hills Cop over Ghostbusters was a smart decision on Murphy's part, if he had somehow been able to balance the shooting schedules of these two films, it would have turned him into the biggest movie star in the world. Taking part in Ghostbusters would have also secured him a role in 1989's Ghostbusters II. Although the sequel isn't held in high esteem by fans and critics, it was still a financial success. Adding these two hits to his resume would have helped Eddie Murphy to better withstand the career slump he went through in the early '90s and kept him a first choice for casting agents, directors, and studio execs.

 

[shaddyvillethug]

Eddie made the right choice


Annnnnnd u tell me the enemy of the state will smith couldn't be neo?

 

["THE MAN"]

Be careful who you root for in movies. Sometimes, we root for people who don't have our best interest in mind and are clueless to why we are conditioned to do so. Don't be fooled by all of the non-white people in prominent roles in the Matrix. They are not non-white people. The machines/programs are representations of black/non-white people. The humans are representations of white people. Neo is supposed to be the ideal representative of a non-white person whom white people deem suitable i.e. if only the rest were like him we wouldn't have this race problem.

Not sure if I agree with everything you wrote but most people didn't watch Animatrix. I knew that the ending to the trilogy would be peace after watching it. The story there does show that the robots are the good guys. Zion is in the center of the Earth (similar to what people think is hell). The heroes wear black and have evil sounding names compared to the clean cut agents with "normal" names like Agent Smith, Agent Jones and Agent Brown.

 

[Lord T]

Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Steve McQueen as Harry Callahan
Dirty Harry

Despite being one of his most iconic roles, Clint Eastwood wasn’t even considered to play the title role of Dirty Harry until a whole bunch of other actors turned the job down.

Frank Sinatra was originally cast to play Dirty Harry, but a broken wrist he suffered while filming the Manchurian Candidate eight years previously prevented him from hoisting Harry Callahan’s signature beast of a gun. Additionally, his father had recently died and Sinatra decided he wanted to do some lighter material. So he had to quit.

John Wayne was then offered the role, but said he was not interested, however; he felt the violence in the script was unjustified and glorified. In Michael Munn’s book John Wayne: The Man Behind The Myth, Wayne gives the reasons why he refused the part:

"First is that they offered it to Frank Sinatra first, but he'd hurt his hand and couldn't do it". "I don't like being offered Sinatra's rejections". "Put that one down to pride". "The second reason is that I thought Harry was a rogue cop". "Put that down to narrow-mindedness because when I saw the picture I realized that Harry was the kind of part I'd played often enough: a guy who lives within the law but breaks the rules when he really has to in order to save others". "The third reason is that I was too busy making other pictures".

Wayne later regretted turning down the role, and went on to star in his own cop film, McQ

Producers then went after Robert Mitchum, but he turned it down because he thought the role was a “piece of junk.”

Burt Lancaster was then offered the role, but he turned it down because he didn’t agree with the movie’s violence.

Steve McQueen turned down the role. McQueen refused to make another "cop movie" after "Bullitt".

Finally Eastwood was offered the script and the rest was movie history.

Eastwood needs to ask himself one question: Do I feel lucky that everybody turned down Dirty Harry? Well, do ya, punk?

 

[Lord T]

Eddie Murphy as James Carter
Rush Hour

The fall of 1998 would bring Murphy one of his biggest box office flops: Holy Man. What's even worse is that Eddie Murphy unwisely passed on Rush Hour to make the box office bomb and critical failure Holy Man. While the Rush Hour movies aren't exactly critic’s darlings, they're much better liked than most of Murphy's recent work, and it would have been smart for him to take part in this lucrative franchise. Between theatrical and video releases, the Rush Hour series has earned over a billion dollars worldwide, and the success from these films could have kept Murphy's momentum going strong through his recent career stalls. He was right for the part, and although this isn’t saying much, the Rush Hour films would have been the cream of the crop when it comes to Murphy's recent slate of projects.

Murphy would later admit Holy Man was a dud. Even worse, he said in later interviews that he regretted turning down the massively successful Rush Hour with Jackie Chan to do "Holy Man". Ouch.

 

[Lord T]

Kevin Costner as Andy Dufresne
The Shawshank Redemption

Director Frank Darabont approached Tom Hanks to play Dufresne in "The Shawshank Redemption" but because of his commitment to "Forrest Gump" he had to turn down the role. He later worked with Darabont on "The Green Mile."

Kevin Cosnter turned down the iconic role of Andy Dufresne in "The Shawshank Redemption," so he could focus on his passionate and personal project-"Waterworld." As you know, "Waterworld" became a massive flop. In all fairness to Costner, though, Shawshank didn't do so well in the theatres either. It really wasn't until it hit video that it became the cult classic that it is now.

 

[shaddyvillethug]

Aite shit seems fake now

No way Eddie was getting rush shower

It's basically money talks with cops

Same director same niggas

I watches that shit at the barber shop and was dyyyyyin famo

Clifton Powell Scene still had me dyyin

And Kevin coster is a faggit

 

[Lord T]

Mel Gibson as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Batman (1989)

Mel Gibson has had a blockbuster career as an actor, starring in both the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, and as a director, winning an Academy Award for Braveheart (1995), in which he also starred. Gibson turned down the lead role in The Terminator (1984), which went to Arnold Schwarzenegger instead.

Gibson was offered the lead in the first Batman movie in 1989, but as he was already committed to Lethal Weapon 2. The part went to Michael Keaton. He also turned down the part of villain Two Face in Batman Forever in 1995 which went to Tommy Lee Jones.

 

[Lord T]

Aite shit seems fake now

No way Eddie was getting rush shower

It's basically money talks with cops

Same director same niggas

I watches that shit at the barber shop and was dyyyyyin famo

Clifton Powell Scene still had me dyyin

And Kevin coster is a faggit

You got to remember Shaddy during 1997-1998 Eddie was bouncing back hard. He had made a killing with "The Nutty Professor" and "Dr. Dolittle" and was the hot comedian at the time. He just turned left instead of right and chose to do that shitty "Holy Man" instead of "Rush Hour"

"Money Talks" was Ratner's first film, and it did ok. He was trying to get bigger star power with Eddie being in "Rush Hour" but Eddie fucked himself!

 

[shaddyvillethug]

Mel Gibson is talented no doubt

But he still a fuck nigga

 

[Lord T]

Kevin Costner as Bill
Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2

Kevin Costner turned down the role of Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 opting to direct Open Range instead.

David Carradine would get the part of Bill.

 

[shaddyvillethug]

Eddie Murphy wife prolly talked him out of it

Holy man was beyond ass

I liked that Steve Martin movie he did tho

That one movie he did with Robert deniro was funny

Show time? Or some shit

But it was no rush hour

He don't even smoke weed

 

[playahaitian]

FOH. It's time for a black Bond damnit.

Eddie Murphy as James Carter
Rush Hour

DAMN, I thought Eddie WAS in Rush Hour...

Chris stole his whole style anyway...

 

[Lord T]

Emily Blunt as Black Widow
Iron Man 2/The Avengers

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. Why? Because Blunt was contractually obligated to star in another Fox studio’s film, "Gulliver's Travels", that was filming around the same time and caused a scheduling conflict with no way for her to get around it. A film that would go on to be a box office bomb.

 

[shaddyvillethug]

A black bond?????

Y'all gonna be pissed when he cuff in them foreign them hoes

Stringer bell with a gun in his hand

A black bond I rather see Michael jordan

Get a young nigga to fuck these hoes

 

[shaddyvillethug]

DAMN, I thought Eddie WAS in Rush Hour...

Chris stole his whole style anyway...

Wait so u saying Eddie could have done Friday and money talks?

Please explain to me the way Chris Rucker woulda did any Michael jackson moves and smoking weed.

I'll wait famo

 

[Lord T]

Michael Madsen as Vincent Vega
Pulp Fiction

Michael Madsen is very much a long overlooked and forgotten actor. In fact, in recent years he has been so sidelined from Hollywood that he resorted to appearing in the new series of Celebrity Big Brother, amongst the all-star cast of Frankie Cocozza and Ryan Giggs’ ex wife. Madsen is probably most famous for his roles in the Tarantino films such as Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs and Budd in the Kill Bill Volumes. However neither of those roles defined his career, like the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction would have. Pulp Fiction is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time and John Travolta’s portrayal of Vincent Vega in Tarantino’s cult hit was the point in which he managed to turn around his spiralling career.

So this begs the question, Why did Madsen turn this role down? A role which could have been the makings of a glittering film career. He himself has famously remarked “Quentin’s the only one that’s ever going to give me a job.”

In fact Madsen passed up this opportunity in favour of a minor supporting role in Kevin Costner’s Wyatt Earp, a film which was nominated for as many Razzie’s as Pulp Fiction was Oscars. At the time it seemed like a strange decision and Madsen still to this day regrets it. In fact for many years afterwards, (as a result of Madsen shunning the film,) Tarantino and Madsen lost contact and didn’t speak for 6 or 7 years.

Finally Tarintino offered him another role, as Bill's brother "Bud" in "Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2"

 

[Lord T]

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds, Don Johnson, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone as John McClane
Die Hard

Director John McTiernan was originally going to make "Commando 2," but Arnold Schwarzenegger turned down the role because he didn't want to reprise that character again. McTiernan then set his sights on "Die Hard." Schwarzenegger was the first actor who was offered the role of McClane, but he again declined. The role was then offered to Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Richard Gere before Willis nabbed it.

Due to the huge sucess of Miami Vice, Don Johnson was offered the part of John McClane. However, he had just signed a new deal on the TV show (which made him the highest paid actor on TV at that time)and that new deal stopped him taking the part.

 

[Lord T]

Kobe Bryant as Jesus Shuttlesworth
He Got Game

Kobe Bryant Turned Down The Role Of Jesus Shuttlesworth Before Ray Allen Starred In ‘He Got Game’

15 years after the theater release of the basketball cult classic “He Got Game,” it’s been revealed that the film’s main character and iconic inspiration, Jesus Shuttlesworth, who was famously played by Ray Allen, was almost played by another NBA superstar. And not just any NBA superstar — Kobe Bryant.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins, a 19-year-old Kobe turned down the role that was later handed off to the former Seattle Supersonics star. The year was 1997 and Bryant was fresh off a playoff loss to the Utah Jazz. So when director Spike Lee reached out to him, he had to respectfully decline.

That summer Spike Lee begins filming “He Got Game,: a movie with Denzel Washington about a basketball prodigy named Jesus Shuttlesworth. “I want you to be part of it,” Lee tells Bryant. “Thank you but no thank you,” Bryant says. “This summer is too big for me.” Ray Allen lands the role as Shuttlesworth.

 

[Sampson]

Very interesting thread. Amazing how missing/accepting one role can define an actor's career.

 

[Lord T]

Denzel Washington as Curtis Taylor
Dreamgirls

Can you picture Denzel Washington in the role of Curtis Taylor, the ruthless manager of The Dreamgirls. Well Denzel was offered the Part AFTER Jamie Foxx.

Jamie Foxx originally turned down the role. Fresh off winning the Academy Award for "Ray," he was expecting $15 million dollars per film…erm no. So once he realised he wasn’t getting that cheque he said no. So director Bill Condon offered it to Denzel Washington , who plainly told the director “Thanks Very much, I Don’t Sing”. Fair enough.

It wasn’t until Blue Ivy’s mama (Beyonce) and Eddie Murphy signed on, that Jamie Foxx changed his mind and took the pay cheque that was offered. I bet he’s happy he did!

 

[Backshot Bully]

<a href="http://pimpandhost.com/image/24179192-original.html"><img src="http://ist2-2.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/9/1/9/6/91965/1/D/s/6/1Ds6Y/8fme8w0.jpg"/></a>

 

[kenbgco68]

An alternate thread could easily be called "Actors/Actresses Who Should Have Turned Down Minor Roles."

James Caan is the ultimate fool for all the great roles he turned down...

* One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
* MASH (1970)
* Apocalypse Now (1979)
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
* Star Wars (1977)

 

[kenbgco68]

Denzel Washington as Curtis Taylor
Dreamgirls

Jeff Katzenberg and Condon got expensive talent for that film (Murphy, Foxx, Glover) for pennies, all cuz they thought they'd win Oscars. They do that shit a lot. Funny thing, the one who got one was the least experienced (Jennifer Hudson).

Johnny Depp was supposed to be in Heat (1995) with Pacino and DeNiro, playing Val Kilmer's part opposite Ashley Judd. They tried to get him for less than his usual paycheck, but he said fuck that and bounced. Jack Sparrow got balls!

 

[Count23]

interesting thread!

 

[kenbgco68]

Will Smith as Django
Django Unchained

[Will Smith] turned down the part because his character would’ve been second fiddle to the bounty hunter (played by Christoph Waltz) who teaches Django his trade. “Django wasn’t the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character was the lead!” says the Men in Black star, whose departure opened the door for Jamie Foxx to play the role.

Smith says that before he left the project, he even pleaded with Tarantino to let Django have a more central role in the story. “I was like, ‘No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!’” (Ironically, Waltz was considered a supporting actor during his Oscar-winning award season, while Jamie Foxx was promoted as the movie’s lead.)

But no hard feelings: Smith was a big fan of the final product. “I thought it was brilliant,” he says. “Just not for me.”

The only being on planet Earth who didn't think Django was the lead.