Just 18 Famous Actors Who Got Into Major Fights Over Iconic Roles

"You didn't get it. You didn't get it because you suck!"

It's a weird fact of writing for BuzzFeed that you know lots of random trivia about movies and TV! One thing that never fails to intrigue me is finding out which actors were up for the same role.

Lions Gate Films

It was Christian Bale who once told GQ that he and many other actors his age "owe" their careers to Leonardo DiCaprio: "any role that anybody gets, it's only because he's passed on it beforehand".

This got me thinking, when it comes to iconic roles, who else was in the room and being considered before the people we know and love bagged the part? Let's take a look at some of the biggest actor showdowns of all time...

1. Starting with, unsurprisingly, Christian Bale vs. Leonardo DiCaprio – Titanic and American Psycho

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Many would agree that Jack Dawson in Titanic was Leo's breakout role way back in 1997. Before the blockbuster film, Leo had starred in the likes of What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Romeo + Juliet, but it was Titanic that propelled him and his co-star, Kate Winslet, to a new level of fame.

In his book Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman, Christian's former publicist Harrison Cheung revealed that for years Christian had been pipped to the post for parts by Leo. "Over the years, Christian had lost This Boy's Life and What's Eating Gilbert Grape to DiCaprio", writes Cheung. He also explained that when it came to Titanic, it was a simple case of director James Cameron not wanting two British actors to play the American lead characters.

Leo would go on to be nominated for Golden Globe and Satellite Awards for his portrayal of Jack Dawson, and a mere three years later, Christian would become a household name for his performance as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

20th Century Fox/Lions Gate Films

Interestingly, Leonardo DiCaprio was the first choice of Lions Gate producer Ed Pressman for the role of Patrick Bateman in American Pyscho. In fact, director Mary Harron had to fight tooth-and-nail to keep Christian's name at the top of the pile for the movie!

"They would've taken almost anybody over Christian", Mary is quoted as saying. Lions Gate even went so far as to randomly announce Leo had been cast as Bateman at the 51st Cannes Film Festival, and he soon began working on the movie with director Oliver Stone, instead of Mary. Ultimately, they would both exit the project after experiencing creative differences, and Mary and Christian would reunite to make the movie we all know now.

2. Jake Gyllenhaal vs. Tobey Maguire – Spider-Man 2

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Sam Raimi completely changed the legacy of Spider-Man when he made the first in his trilogy of films back in 2002. Tobey Maguire famously played the lead role, which made him a household name. However, by the time shooting the sequel came around, Tobey was unhappy.

According to a Variety report, Tobey was initially pissed that producer Laura Ziskin had made $26 million dollars more than for the first film. This was allegedly sorted out quickly, but more issues emerged when Tobey's reps insisted that production be delayed to accommodate a back problem he was dealing with.

Instead of wait it out, Columbia Pictures decided they were going to move on without Tobey, and made an offer to Jake Gyllenhaal.

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Negotiations were quickly under way with Jake (who was also dating Kirsten Dunst at the time), which spooked Tobey and his team. Tobey's reps quickly reassured the studio that he would be able to perform in the sequel, and there was no need to recast his part. This was something Kirsten was happy about, as she didn't like the idea of having to make the sequel with her then-boyfriend.

When asked about the whole thing in 2019, Jake told Yahoo, "there was talk. He hurt himself and there was talk. [There was] a slew of actors and I was one of them." He also added that he felt that if an actor plays a character, it should only belong to them and no one else: "in the end, he's Spider-Man". Jake, of course, would go on to play the villainous Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

3. Maya Rudolph vs. Mindy Kaling – Bridesmaids

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I think we all know and love Bridesmaids, but the movie could've looked quite different if things had gone Mindy's way. In a conversation with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live!, the actor said she was up for the role of Lillian, which ultimately ended up going to Maya Rudolph.

Despite the obvious chemistry between leads Maya and her Saturday Night Live colleague, Kristen Wiig, Mindy was still hopeful she would cast. "I practiced it so much, I was so in to it, and I love that whole cast. That was one that was a heartbreaker."

Maya was offered her role without having to audition, and was pregnant when filming began!

Universal Pictures

Bridesmaids was released in 2011 and received two academy award nominations. Maya was carrying her third child, Jack, when the movie shot, and in a classic move of sartorial misdirection, Maya's outfits always featured a belt to distract from her stomach!

4. Charlize Theron vs. Renée Zellweger – Chicago

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Back when Nicholas Hytner was attached to the project, the one and only Charlize was lined up to lead Chicago before being booted off the production. In an interview with Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show, Charlize recounted the situation, noting that it was a real sore spot for her.

"For a while I was attached to Chicago... I was a dancer for most of my life... there was real nostalgia in making that movie for me [but] the director kicked me off it... I was really bummed about it [because] I had it, I was like, 'ah, I'm gonna make this movie and then I got kicked off".

The director in question was Rob Marshall, who seemingly doubted Charlize's star power at the time and decided to go with a more established star in Renée.

Jason Kempin/Miramax Films / Via Getty Images for Variety

"I don't know if I was a star of any calibre back then", she continued to tell Stern. "I was gonna play the Renée Zellweger role, which by the way, she did an amazing job, so yeah, I'm fully envious of what she did... I really like the movie... I fantasise to be in that movie." She clarified that she never spoke to Rob directly, and that it was through the studio he rejected her, which she "felt a little bit".

Interestingly, Rob discussed Chicago turning 20 last year with The Hollywood Reporter, and said that was "no one was attached" when he started working on the film. He added that Renée was exactly who he was looking for because she had the "full range" to play a "vulnerable" women who becomes a "strong killer": "it was Renée’s moment, and I just knew she was perfect for it."

5. Ryan Gosling vs. Miles Teller – La La Land

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At one point, the 2016 smash hit film La La Land looked mighty different than it ended up being. Director Damien Chazelle had conceived the idea for the film years prior to its release; he was actually working on the screenplay for it before Whiplash – his first feature film (as a director) and arguably the one that put him on the map.

Miles Teller played the lead in Whiplash, and was – for a time – Damien's ideal Sebastian. Damien also wanted Emma Watson for the role of Mia. Unfortunately, Emma was forced to drop out due to her commitments to making Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast. Miles, however, was more ~pushed~ out.

Speaking to Esquire, Miles said "I got a call from my agent, saying, 'Hey, I just got a call from Lionsgate. Damien told them that he no longer thinks you're creatively right for the project. He's moving on without you'".

Sony Pictures Classics/Lionsgate

It seems Miles was pretty put out, having been on the verge of giving up on the film War Dogs to make La La Land work. After being dropped from the project, he text Damien directly simply saying, "What the fuck, bro?"

Ryan would go on to be nominated for an Oscar for his performance; his co-star, Emma Stone, would also be nominated and would win her Best Actress award. Miles admitted years later that he had moved on from the perceived slight, telling Vanity Fair, "I'm a pretty strong believer that everything happens for a reason."

6. Rachel McAdams vs. Anne Hathaway – The Devil Wears Prada

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Everybody knows that The Devil Wears Prada is just about the best film ever made, but according to director David Frankel, the lead was originally meant to be played by Rachel. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Frankel recounted that the studio wanted Rachel – a more "established" star – to take the role. While Anne was seen as more of a teen movie kinda gal, Rachel was hot off the success of Mean Girls and The Notebook, but she wasn't into the movie.

"We offered it to Rachel McAdams three times. The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it." Anne, however, was forced to campaign for the role, even going so far as to write "hire me" into the zen garden of then-Fox 2000 VP, Carla Hacken! In the end, it was Meryl Streep who got Anne the role after meeting with her and putting in a good word with Fox.

7. Julia Roberts vs. Nicole Kidman – Notting Hill

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When Julia hits, she HITS, and it's hard to imagine anyone doing the role of Anna Scott more justice than she did. Despite this, the icon that is Ms. Nicole Kidman recently revealed that she really wanted the role of Anna in Notting Hill, but she wasn't "well known" or "talented" enough for the gig.

Speaking to Marie Claire she said, "I really wanted the role that Julia Roberts played in Notting Hill, but I wasn't well known enough, and I wasn't talented enough... We're very much at the beck and call of a director as actors, we have very little power".

Interestingly, Julia Roberts almost passed on the role, telling Vanity Fair that she thought the movie was "boring", "tedious", and "stupid".

Universal Pictures

Back in 1999, Julia told Ned Zeman that due to the parallels with her own life, she thought it was a bad move to do the film: "what a stupid thing for me to do." Against her better judgement, however, she read the script because she was a fan of Richard Curtis (the writer), and later decided, "Fuck, I'm gonna do this movie".

"Since everyone will think it's about me, I'll just take a little European vacation and be me for three months", she added, apparently taking a much smaller fee than usual to do the movie 👀.

8. Taron Egerton vs. John Boyega – Kingsman: The Secret Service

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The Kingsman films pretty much launched Taron into superstardom, but according to director Matthew Vaughn, it could've gone either way. "It was a tough call," Vaughn told Empire. "Boyega is a fabulous actor, but there's something about Taron. You have to listen to your instincts about who that role is."

At the time of casting, John was fresh off his film Attack The Block, an acclaimed performance which bears a striking resemblance to the role of Eggsy in the Kingsman movies. Taron, however, only had London theatre credits to his name and had yet to make a film.

Director Matthew Vaughan decided to open the search to find acting newcomers for the lead role in the film.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/20th Century Fox

Taron was virtually plucked out of obscurity after Vaughan chose to look for actors that weren't as high profile, shunning big names like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jack O'Connell. Eventually, it came down to John and Taron, and Taron was chosen in spite of his newcomer status – he didn't even have an agent at that point!

Vaughan also commented that John went on to equally bright things: "John's probably thinking, 'Thank fuck he didn’t cast me!' because he might never have been in Star Wars".

9. And finally, Jennifer Lawrence vs. Emma Stone – Easy A

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As revealed during a roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, the two BFFs were once in competition for the role of Olive Penderghast in the iconic teen comedy. "I auditioned for Easy A. I wanted it so bad", Jennifer shared in response to a question Emma was answering about a memorable line from one of her movies. "Well, guess what? You didn't get it. You didn't get it because you suck!", Emma clapped back in jest. "We audition for all the same stuff", added Jennifer.

Here's a clip from that interview:

emma stone daily @dailyemmastone

emma stone and jennifer lawrence talking about jen's audition for 'easy a' & their secret project

06:41 PM - 05 Feb 2018

Twitter: @dailyemmastone

As it turns out, when Easy A was being cast, Emma was already attached to the film Sucker Punch. She also wasn't able to audition in person – despite really wanting the role – and had to do so online. Luckily, Will Gluck was impressed with her and ended up casting Emma as the lead, which bolstered her career considerably – much more than Sucker Punch would've done!

It's always fascinating to think about what could've been if different casting choices had been made. Which actor showdowns surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments!