28 Actors Who Turned Down Massive Roles for the Silliest of Reasons

No one wants to see a movie with a talking tree and raccoon? Really, Amanda Seyfried?
28 Actors Who Turned Down Massive Roles for the Silliest of Reasons
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It’s near impossible to predict a movie’s success, especially when it’s trying to break new ground. No one — including John Lithgow — could’ve known what a groundbreaking movie Tim Burton’s Batman would be, so maybe we can kind of, sort of see why he’d turn down the role of The Joker. Does he regret it? You bet your bottom dollar he does. 

We’re happy we got Jack Nicholson’s Joker, but a few of these alternate universe casting changes would’ve been interesting to see. If only the actors didn’t turn them down.

Al Pacino

Al Pacino STAR WARS CRACKED.COM Pacino could have played Han Solo, but he just didn't get the script at the time. Не calls that decision the crown jewel in his museum of mistakes.

John Lithgow

John Lithgow BE BATMAN CRACKED COM Lithgow just didn't realize what a huge movie it would be. Не says he tried to persuade them I was not right for the part, and I succeeded -which he came to regret as soon as he heard Robin Williams and Jack Nicholson were also approached.

Christopher Plummer

Three years in New Zealand was too much for Christopher Plummer. Plummer says he turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy because he wasn't a fan of spending several years shooting in New Zealand. Or, as he put it: I thought there are other countries I'd like to visit before I croak. CRACKED.COM

Claire Danes

Playing Rose in Titanic was too much of a déjà vu for Claire Danes. Danes says she didn't have it in her to go to Mexico to shoot a romantic epic alongside Leonardo DiCaprio after just wrapping Romeo + Juliet - a romantic epic starring her and DiCaprio, that was also shot in Mexico. CRACKED.COM

Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke was too tired of nudity to do Fifty Shades of Grey. RI В Clarke says that even though she loved Sam Taylor-Johnson as a director, she turned down playing Anastasia because she was afraid the nudity-heavy role, alongside Game of Thrones, would typecast her as an actress that always does nudity. CRACKED.COM

Harry Styles

Like everyone else, Harry Styles really didn't see the pandemic coming. - In 2019, Styles revealed he turned down the role of Prince Eric in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid because he didn't want to commit to a long filming schedule - in case he decided to go on tour in 2020. CRACKED.COM

Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman thought James Bond was silly. After the first X-Men movie, James Bond producers were looking at Jackman as a replacement for Pierce Brosnan. Jackman says he thought the Bond films had become way too crazy and unbelievable, so he turned down the iconic role. CRACKED.COM

Jason Momoa

Jason Momoa didn't want to be shirtless in Guardians of the Galaxy. Momoa says he turned down playing Drax because he was tired of being typecast as a shirtless painted guy who doesn't talk much. Не would go on to play Aquaman, a shirtless painted guy who talks a lot, so he seems to have made the right choice for himself. CRACKED.COM

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain is only interested in being a superhero in the MCU. According to Doctor Strange screenwriter C. Robert Cargill, Chastain turned down Rachel McAdams' part in the film because she knew she'd only get one shot at playing an MCU character, and she really wants that character to have a cape. CRACKED.COM

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson turned down The Notebook because it had a sex scene. According to Simpson, she turned down playing Allison because the role would've required her to do a sex scene in the film-something that made her uncomfortable at the time, as she was still a virgin. CRACKED.COM

Tim Roth

Tim Roth thought Harry Potter would cast a shadow on his other work. Roth says he passed on the role of Professor Snape because he was afraid it would become the only role people remembered him by. Не was also turned off by the idea of his face being all over lunchboxes and other merchandise. CRACKED.COM

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron was offended by a proposed role in Wonder Woman. When she heard there was interest in her to be in the film, Theron says she assumed it was for the role of Wonder Woman. She soon found out they actually wanted her to play her mom, Hippolyta. The offer felt like a slap in the face to Theron-who's only ten years older than Gal Gadot. CRACKED.COM

Amanda Seyfried

Amanda Seyfried could have been Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy. They offered her the role but she turned it down, thinking that nobody would want to watch a movie about a talking tree and racoon. CRACKED.COM

Billy Idol

The first choice to play T-1000 in Terminator 2 was Billy Idol. The T-1000 even looked like Billy Idol in James Cameron's sketches e he didn't do the movie just because he broke his leg in a motorcycle accident before filming started. CRACKED.COM

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio turned down playing Spider-Man in the 2002 movie. The filmmakers contacted him, but he didn't feel ready to put on that suit yet. CRACKED.COM

Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy thought that Ghostbusters was absolute nonsense. ZENEMO GHOST BUSTERS During the filming of Trading Places, Dan Aykroyd, who was obsessed with ghosts, told Murphy that he had him in mind to play Winston Zeddemore in his movie about paranormal investigators. Eddie's response: This sounds like a crock. CRACKED.COM

Eminem

Eminem refused to leave Detroit. CHEMRAIL E Y S I U M Director Neil Blomkamp chose Marshall Mathers to play Max Da Costa in his second sci-fi project. What he didn't know is that the rapper/actor has a history of turning down films that aren't shot in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. CRACKED.COM

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra used an eight-year-old injury as an excuse. DirtyHarry While filming The Manchurian Candidate, he suffered a broken wrist. Due to that injury, which occurred almost a decade prior, Harry Callahan's iconic magnum felt like Thor's hammer to Sinatra. Не said he couldn't lift it. CRACKED.COM

John Travolta

John Travolta didn't want to be associated with a misandrist movie. CHI CAGO Harvey Weinstein offered Travolta the role of Billy Flynn numerous times, but he kept turning it down. The actor assumed that the original play was about a bunch of women who hated men. CRACKED.COM

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan thought he'd look ridiculous in Batman's costume. BATMAN Tim Burton wanted Brosnan to play Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989). During a Reddit AMA session, Brosnan recalled the time when the director showed him the suit, he said: Any man who wears underpants outside his pants just cannot be taken seriously. CRACKED.COM

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe didn't want to be typecast as Mr. Wolfman. X-MEN Crowe was Bryan Singer's first choice to play Wolverine, but he was hesitant because in his prior movie, Gladiator, Maximus had a wolf on his armor and as a companion. Не feared he'd be taking on too many wolf-themed roles. CRACKED.COM

Sean Connery

Sean Connery didn't understand a damn thing in the Lord of the Rings script. LORD THE OF THE RINGS The legendary actor declined the role of Gandalf in the movie trilogy, and ultimately $10 million. Connery later said, I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it. CRACKED.COM

Will Smith

Will Smith wanted to change everything about Quentin Tarantino's movie. DJANGO U INOHATHED Smith insisted that Django should be the one who kills the villain, Calvin Candie. Не also wanted to tone down the violence and make the film more of a love story. CRACKED.COM

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise asked way too many questions that couldn't be answered. edward SCISSORHANDS Cruise was perplexed by how Edward Scissorhands could do everyday things. Не would ask questions like, How does he go to the bathroom? and How did he live without eating all those years? Tom just couldn't suspend his disbelief. CRACKED.COM

Jane Krakowski

Jane Krakowski almost played mean-girl Judy in Sleepaway Camp. Krakowski turned down the part when she found out how the character dies-a death that involved a curling iron up her cooch. CRACKED.COM

James Purefoy

CRACKED.COM That's not always Hugo weaving behind V's mask. A few scenes of V for Vendetta feature James Purefoy, a.k.a. Mark Antony from Rome. At the time, it was reported that he walked away because he hated wearing the mask. Не later claimed that he disagreed about how the character should be played.

Anne Hathaway

Knocked Up ALISON CRACKED COM Anne Hathaway backed out when she found out that footage of a real birth would be used for the big birthing scene. Katherine Heigl took on the role (although she was also pretty publicly dissatisfied with it).

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Predator BE THE PREDATOR CRACKED.COM Jean-Claude Van Damme was tapped to play a much sh*ier version of Arnold's alien nemesis. Once on set, he couldn't stand how much costuming and prosthetics were involved, so he left it to Kevin Peter Hall to finish the job.

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