- Molly Ringwald - Molly Ringwald turned down the role of Vivian in “Pretty Woman” and the role of Molly in “Ghost” among others. She was also offered a part in Scream which she turned down because she was in her late 20’s and didn’t want a teenage role. Also, she was offered Leah Thompson’s role in “Some Kind of Wonderful” which she turned down severing her relationship with John Hughes. Personally, I can’t see her in any of those roles and never felt she was all that great of an actress anyway. She’s good with whiny roles, however. I’ll give her that.
- Mel Gibson - Turned down the lead role in Gladiator. A role which landed Russell Crowe the Academy Award. Mel also turned down the part of Robin Hood in “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.” Instead, that part went to a not very belieaveable Kevin Costner.
- Alec Baldwin - The role of Richard Kimball in “The Fugitive” was originally offered to Alec. After he turned it down, it went to Harrison Ford.
- Sigourney Weaver - Turned down the role of Ada in “The Accused,” a part that later went to Kelly McGillis, and the lead role in “A Handmaid’s Tale.”
- Keanu Reeves turned down Charlie Sheen’s role in “Platoon.” And really, thank goodness for that. The role should definitely go to someone who can act.
- Gillian Anderson - The former X-Files star was originally offered the role of Bethany Sloane in “Dogma.” She said, “no thanks” and the part wen to Linda Fiorentino instead.
- Warren Beatty - Turned down the role of Jack Horner in “Boogie Nights.” The part was then offered to a smarmy looking Burt Reynolds. Warren also turned down James Caan’s role in “Misery”, the part of Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” and Robert Redford’s role in “The Sting.” Granted, Warren’s had some decent roles and he’s a good actor. But we’re thinking he’s not a very good judge of a good script. He accepts “Dick Tracy” and turns down “The Sting?” Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?
- Melanie Griffith - Melanie Griffith turned down the role of “Thelma” in “Thelma and Louise.” Incidentally, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster were originally cast as Thelma and Louise but had to drop out as pre-production dragged on.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar - Scheduling conflicts prevented her from accepting the role as Cher in “Clueless.”
- Richard Grieco - The “21 Jump Street” star turned down the lead role in “Speed” because he thought the script sucked. I guess he’s still turning down sucky scripts because it’s not like we’ve seen him in anything but the plastic surgeon’s office since the early 90’s.
- Madonna - I guess we should be thankful but Madonna turned down Michelle Pfeiffer’s role in “The Fabulous Baker Boys.”
- Denzel Washington - Turned down the role of Curtis in “Dreamgirls”, the lead in “I Robot”, and it’s rumored he turned down the role of “Ray Charles” in Ray.
- Will Smith - Turned down the role that eventually went to Keanu Reeve in “The Matrix”, and the role of Stu in “Phone Booth.”
- Julia Roberts - Turned down Sharon Stone’s leg crossing role in “Basic Instinct,” the role of Mary Corleone in “Godfather III” the role of Annie in “Sleepless in Seattle,” the lead role of “Shakespeare in Love” and the role of Lucy in “While You Were Sleeping.”
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Offered the part of Dirk Diggler in “Boogie Nights” before it was given to Mark Wahlberg and the lead role in “The Matrix”.
- Mark Wahlberg - Turned down the role of Linus in “Ocean’s 11″.
- Tom Cruise - Before Johnny Depp made the role his own, Tom Cruise signed on to play Donnie Brasco in the film of the same name. Tom was also to play the lead role in “Footloose” and ended up turning that down as well.
- Jennifer Jason Leigh - Jennifer Jason Leigh is another of the actresses who landed the role of Vivian in “Pretty Woman” and later turned it down.
- John Travolata - Turned down the role of Forrest Gump.
- Tom Hanks - Turned down the role of Ray Kinsella in “Field of Dreams,” Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” and the lead role in “Jerry Maguire.”
Sly Stallone turned down the lead in Beverly Hills Cop, Coming Home (for which Jon Voight won an Oscar), Superman (Chris Reeve later got it), Harrison Ford's role in Witness, Bruce Willis' role in Die Hard, Bruce Willis' role in Pulp Fiction, and Travolta's role in Face Off.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000230/bio
Burt Reynolds turned down Han Solo, both of Jack Nicholson's Oscar roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nets and Terms of Endearment, and he also turned down Bruce Willis' role in Die Hard.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000608/bio
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000230/bio
Burt Reynolds turned down Han Solo, both of Jack Nicholson's Oscar roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nets and Terms of Endearment, and he also turned down Bruce Willis' role in Die Hard.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000608/bio
Sarah Michelle Gellar also had to turn down the role of Juliet in Romeo & Juliet with Leo DiCaprio because she couldn't get out of her All My Children contract. She then won a Daytime Emmy later that year on the same day that her contract was up with All My Children. Susan Lucci was pissed because she has been snubbed for an Emmy for what 30 years and her on screen daughter snags one with one foot out of the door.
- John Travolata - Turned down the role of Forrest Gump.
- Tom Hanks - Turned down the role of Ray Kinsella in “Field of Dreams,” Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” and the lead role in “Jerry Maguire.”
travolta would have stunk as forrest gump.
hanks could have played a good andy dufresne , but coster and cruise were perfect for the other 2 roles .
<!-- / message -->
Just a quote from an article...
"Did you know Al Pacino, James Caan and Burt Reynolds turned down the role for Han Solo. Can you imagine Han Solo being anyone other than Harrison Ford? Good god, I'm just happy it wasn't Burt Reynolds."
http://www.cincyjungle.com/2008/2/11/175914/963
"Did you know Al Pacino, James Caan and Burt Reynolds turned down the role for Han Solo. Can you imagine Han Solo being anyone other than Harrison Ford? Good god, I'm just happy it wasn't Burt Reynolds."
http://www.cincyjungle.com/2008/2/11/175914/963
Buddy Epsen was originally cast as the Tin Woodsman in the Wizard of Oz. After showing allergic reactions to the silver costume, the role went to Jack Haley. The Wizard of Oz did not do too bad and Buddy had to settle for Granny`s possum pie and 62 Mill In Milburne Drysdale`s bank. Yall come back now, ya hear!
