12 Actors That Turned Down Reallyyyyyyy Famous Roles

The roles that got away.

1. John Travolta as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump

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John Travolta was originally offered the role, but he turned it down. They also asked Bill Murray and Chevy Chase, who both turned the role down as well. John Travolta later said that it was a huge mistake and he regrets not taking the role.

2. Emily Browning as Bella Swan in Twilight

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Emily Browning is known for playing her role in Sucker Punch. They asked her if she wanted to read for Bella Swain during casting, but refused and turned down the offer. Eventually, the role went to Kristen Stewart, who gained large popularity from acting in the movie.

3. Tom Hanks as Jerry MaGuire in Jerry MaGuire

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The director of the film stated that they wrote the movie with Tom Hanks in mind for the role. But Tom had to turn it down because he was directing That Thing You Do at the same time. Though, he stated that he was glad that Tom Cruise could play the role and make it as perfect as he did.

4. Matt Damon as Jake Sully in Avatar

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James Cameron, the director of Avatar, had Matt Damon as his first choice to play the role of Jake Sully. But due to some scheduling conflicts, Damon had to turn down the offer, missing out on a huge opportunity. Avatar went on to make $2.79 billion at the box office and Damon could've taken home $250 million if he would've taken the role.

5. Henry Winkler as Danny Zuko in Grease

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Henry Winkler, who had been playing The Fonz for so many years on Happy Days, turned down the big role in Grease because he said that he didn’t want to be typecast. He ended up missing out on a huge opportunity and regretted his decision for not taking the deal, as he said, "But you'll be typecast anyways."

6. Al Pacino as Han Solo in Star Wars

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Al Pacino stated that when he first read the script for Star Wars, he did not understand it, so he turned down the role, which was a huge mistake. He missed out on the role of a lifetime.

7. John Krasinski as Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger

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Although he was not offered this role, he was in the running for receiving it, but ended up losing the role to Chris Evans. Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt, was also in the running for a couple female Marvel roles like Black Widow and Captain Marvel.

8. Emily Blunt as Black Widow in Iron Man 2

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Blunt stated that it was because of timing and because she was contracted somewhere else. She was in the middle of filming for Gulliver's Travels, a movie Blunt didn't want to be in and only accepted the role to get out of her option deal at Fox. She still reflects on the missed opportunity as "a heartbreaker."

9. Nicolas Cage as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings

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In an interview, Cage said that he didn't regret turning it down because he was able to watch the series as a fan. He had to turn it down due to commitment issues, because he couldn't be away from his house for 3 years.

10. Christopher Plummer as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings

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Similar to Nicholas Cage turning down Aragorn, Plummer said that he turned the role down due to the fact that it looked like too much commitment to film. He later went on to regret refusing the role.

11. Christian Bale as James Bond in James Bond

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Bale's publicist had said that he did not want to be a part of a franchise that was "very British" and had "every despicable stereotype about England and British actors," so he turned it down. He also noted that he had "already played a serial killer."

12. And Will Smith as Neo in The Matrix

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He turned down the offer because he thought that he would mess up the movie. He now explains that at that point in his career, he didn’t understand that he had to let the movie's director tell the story and just disagreed with the direction they were going with. He's still glad he turned it down, because he's learned a lot since.