Fame is a funny thing. Some actors get famous because they were in the right place at the right time and got a huge role that made their careers. Other actors passed up what could have been career-defining turns on the big (or small) screen. Here are fifteen actors who passed on huge roles.
Matt Damon as Jake Sully
Sam Worthington isn’t in a ton of movies, but he did star in two of the highest-grossing movies ever—the Avatar series. Matt Damon once noted that the “dumbest thing an actor ever did in the history of acting” was when he skipped out on the role of Jake Sully in favor of other projects.
John Travolta as Forrest Gump
Can you picture John Travolta running through the scenes of Forrest Gump? Robert Zemeckis offered him the title role in the film before Tom Hanks, but he passed because he was busy making Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino. While both movies are beloved, it’s easy to say Travolta was better utilized as a mobster instead of as Forrest.
Matthew McConaughey as Ego
The role of Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 feels like it was written for Kurt Russel, so it’s odd that it was offered to Matthew McConaughey. At the time, he was more interested in playing Richard Flagg in The Dark Tower. While that movie stunk, McConaughey was great in it, so it’s not like he made a bad call there.
Jack Nicholson as Michael Corleone
Al Pacino’s turn as Michael Corleone is unforgettable. As such, it’s weird to think that Coppola ever considered hiring Jack Nicholson for the role. Nicholson himself says he decided against portraying the mobster for extremely understandable reasons: “Italians should play Italians.” Good show, Jack!
Sean Connery as Gandalf
It’s hard to picture anyone other than Sir Ian McKellan playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, producer Mark Ordesky has stated that legendary Bond actor Sean Connery read the script and was offered the role, but didn’t care for the material and passed.
Viggo Mortensen as Wolverine
Before Hugh Jackman landed the role of Wolverine in the 2000 film X-Men, beloved actor Viggo Mortensen read for the part. He says he passed on it because his son, Henry, felt Bryan Singer’s script wasn’t a good adaptation of the classic Marvel comics and he advised his dad to avoid taking the role.
Julia Roberts as Annie Reed
These days it’s hard to picture Tom Hanks working in a romantic movie without Meg Ryan opposite him. However, Sleepless in Seattle nearly had Julia Roberts as Annie Reed, but she says she passed on the role because it was too similar to Pretty Woman and she didn’t want to retread ground she’d already been over. She’s also got nothing but praise for Ryan’s performance in the movie.
Toshiro Mifune as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Alec Guiness portrayed the space knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, giving audiences their first look at the then-mysterious Jedi Order. However, the role could have gone to storied Japanese star Toshiro Mifune, who was well-known for his roles as samurai. His daughter, Mika, has stated that her dad declined the role because he was concerned George Lucas’s space opera might cheapen the image of Japanese cinema.
Eddie Murphy as a Ghostbuster
Here’s one of those “what-ifs” that can make an entire conversation at a party. Did you know that Eddie Murphy was almost in Ghostbusters? The movie went through a lot of changes after Murphy was offered the role, and the final lineup doesn’t even include a “recast” version of his character. Murphy, on the other hand, took that time to star in Beverly Hills Cop.
Brian Cox as Robert Baratheon
While Mark Addy did an amazing job as King Robert Baratheon on Game of Thrones, the first (and last) Baratheon king was almost portrayed by Succession star Brian Cox. Cox stated he passed over the role as he didn’t like that his character was gored by a boar and died in the first season.
Liam Neeson as James Bond
The unmistakable Liam Neeson was almost James Bond in the mid-90s. He passed on the role after being offered it by producer Barbara Broccoli because his then-girlfriend Natasha Richardson said she wouldn’t marry him if he became Bond. Why? Neeson himself humorously quipped it was because he’d be filming all day alongside gorgeous Bond girls.
Harrison Ford as Alan Grant
Once at a Q&A attended by both Harrison Ford and Stephen Spielberg, Ford humorously noted that Spielberg only hires him to play Indiana Jones. Spielberg shot back that that wasn’t true, that he had offered the role of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park to him back in the early 90s. Ford’s reasons for skipping the role are unclear, but the two were clearly in good spirits during the exchange.
Emily Blunt as Black Widow
Actor Emily Blunt is well-known for her roles in movies like A Quiet Place, but she could have also been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow (the role played instead by Scarlett Johansson). Blunt has noted that she wasn’t able to join the cast of Iron Man 2 because she had contractual obligations on a now-forgotten movie called Gulliver’s Travels. What’s more, Blunt says she “didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels” and wishes things had panned out differently.
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Will Smith as Neo
Keanu Reeves’ career trajectory shifted after he portrayed Neo in The Matrix. Incredibly, the role was offered to a ton of Hollywood A-listers before he was attached, though. The Wachowskis’ experimental sci-fi epic was an unproven gamble, with stars like Will Smith turning it down. Notably, Smith hates that he slapped the role aside, as the movie he filmed instead (Wild Wild West) is a steaming pile of hot garbage.
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Sandra Bullock as Neo (and Trinity)
What’s even more surprising is that the studio got so desperate to get a big name in the role of Neo that they offered it to Sandra Bullock. This, of course, would have meant rewriting the hacker-turned-martial-arts-master as a woman. Bullock was also offered the role of Trinity, which went to Carrie-Ann Moss instead. This is a somewhat ironic turn of events, given recent reappraisals of The Matrix identifying themes that resonate with trans people in light of the Wachowskis’ transitions.
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