Elite Facts Presents
10 Actors who’ve turned down Major Roles.
10.
David Bowie - Max Zorin in View to a Kill
So along with being one of the most beloved
artists in the world, David Bowie was also
a fairly accomplished actor.
We all know him for his role in Labyrinth
as Jareth the Goblin King, But did you know
he was considered for a major role in a James
Bond film?
Originally, Producers at Eon wanted David
Bowie to play the main villain in A View to
A Kill, Max Zorin.
However Bowie turned down the offer stating
“After Sting?
I rather think it was the other way about.
I think for an actor it’s probably an interesting
thing to do, but I think that for somebody
from rock it’s more of a clown performance.
And I didn’t want to spend five months watching
my double fall off mountains.”
Damn shame really.
Although we did get Christopher Walken’s
usual self as Max Zorin so it all worked out
really.
9.
Leonardo DiCaprio - Patrick Bateman in American
Psycho
Considering DiCaprio’s more recent performances
in films like Wolf on Wallstreet and Django
Unchained, He probably would have been a perfect
fit for this role.
This film takes the cake for big-name drop-outs.
Depp was the first A-lister tapped to play
Patrick Bateman followed by Pitt and Norton.
Lions Gate Films actually publicly announced
Dicaprio as the lead before he was urged to
back out on account of his Titanic fan base
that might not have responded too fondly to
the heartthrob slicing women with a chainsaw.
Ewan McGregor then got the offer but passed
after personal lobbying from Christian Bale,
who eventually brought his brilliance to the
killer (did he actually kill anybody?).
8.
Will Smith - Neo in The Matrix
Will Smith was initially offered the role
of Neo in The Matrix.
He turned it down on account of the concept
being too complicated and he didn’t see
the film performing well at the box office.
Well, we all know how the movie fared.
7.
Ray Liotta - Tony Soprano in The Sopranos
So originally the idea of The Sopranos was
essentially a Goodfellas TV series.
Hell even when the show was airing, It felt
exactly like Goodfellas.
Originally however, the main cast was actually
different.
Lorraine Bracco who plays Tony Soprano’s
psychiatrist in the series was originally
supposed to play Tony Soprano's wife, Carmela
Sopranos.
That alone is a pretty big change.
However, James Gandolfini wasn’t David Chase’s
(The Shows Director) first choice.
Instead, the show’s producers wanted Ray
Liotta to play the role of Tony Soprano.
It was literally going to be a Goodfellas
television show starring both Henry Hill and
Karen Hill’s actors from the original film.
6.
Michelle Pfeiffer - Clarice in Silence of
the Lambs
Michelle Pfeiffer was offered the role of
Clarice Sterling in Jonathan Demme’s adaptation
of The Silence Of The Lambs.
She turned it down because she found the movie
to be too violent and disturbing.
Jodi Foster won the role and gave her a second
Academy Award for Best Actress.
5.
Matthew Broderick - Walter White in Breaking
Bad
Oh man, Thank god Bryan Cranston got the role!
Okay Matthew Broderick isn’t an awful actor.
He can be a good actor when he wants to be.
However most of his performances are almost
lifeless and for a role like Walter White,
You are more or less required to pretty much
shed emotion.The character of Walter White
will go down in television history as one
of the most acclaimed and notable parts on
the small screen, thanks mostly to Bryan Cranston’s
masterful portrayal.
But believe it or not, Matthew Broderick was
also considered for the role.
Though the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan,
wanted Cranston from the start, the other
producers apparently weren’t convinced,
having only seen Cranston playing the dad
on Malcolm in the Middle.
Eventually, they came around, which is definitely
a good thing — the actor’s portrayal helped
make Breaking Bad one of the most followed
and acclaimed shows on TV and earned him four
Emmys for Outstanding Drama Actor.
4.
Jim Carrey - Edward Scissorhands
Coming off of the blockbuster hit Batman in
1989, Edward Scissorhands (1990) was a project
that spoke to the alienation of growing up
an oddball in the suburbs.
As such, director Tim Burton needed someone
who could play marvelously sweet and horribly
awkward all at one, while winning the heart
of blonde beauty Winona Ryder.
Nearly everyone in Hollywood auditioned for
the role, with Tom Cruise, Robert Downey,
Jr. and Michael Jackson (!) being among the
most notable to try on Edward’s sharp duds.
Somehow, comedian Jim Carrey was even given
consideration for a bit, before finally getting
the boot due to his inexperience as a dramatic
actor.
Envisioning Ace Ventura in Burbank is beyond
bizarre.
One can only guess where the film would’ve
gone with Carrey at the core, a verbal joke
machine relegated to saddened silence.
That Burton ultimately went with Johnny Depp
proved to be the best decision of both careers,
jumpstarting an actor/director relationship
that’s lasted over twenty years.
Carrey, on the other hand, would have to wait
nearly a decade before his dramatic chops
were allowed to shine with The Truman Show
(1998) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind (2004).
It’s a shame because Carrey isn’t just
a one trick pony.
He has proved to us on a good few occasions
that he does have it in him to act in dramas
and not just constantly do his same old comedic
schtick.
3.
John Travolta - Forest Gump
1994 will forever be known as the Year that
John Travolta Reinvented Himself.
The first time, anyway.
As Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction' he transformed
from a burnt-out dancing fool from the '70s
to a live-wire dancing fool of the '90s.
Strangely enough both Pulp Fiction and Forest
Gump were both nominated the exact same year
for best picture.
The award went to Pulp Fiction so we think
it’s safe to say that Travolta made the
right call on this one.
2.
Sean Connery - Gandalf in Lord of the Rings
Sean Connery is no stranger to turning down
major roles as he has previously turned down
roles such as Morpheus in the Matrix, John
Hammond in Jurassic Park and Albus Dumbledore
in the Harry Potter franchise.
However the biggest role he has probably turned
down is probably the role of Gandalf in The
Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The role instead went to Sir Ian Mckellen.
It was reported that if Sean Connery had of
taken up the role as Gandalf, His total payment
for all 3 films would have been $450 million
dollars.
Ouch!
His reason for turning down the role was because
he didn’t understand the concept of The
Lord of the Rings films.
After seeing the success of the first film,
He decided to be more open to roles even if
he didn’t understand the concept of the
film.
By doing this, he took up the lead role in
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
This film was so poorly received that it pretty
much caused Connery to retire from acting.
1.
Jack Nicholson - Michael Corleone in The Godfather
Now this one took us by surprise.
In a way it’s sort of a good thing that
he didn’t take up the role because the film
is fine as it is, However it is intriguing
to think how much different The Godfather
would have been with Jack Nicholson playing
Michael Corleone.
The Godfather is widely considered by many
to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest)
films of all time, and though Al Pacino’s
portrayal of Michael Corleone can hardly be
questioned, we have to admit, we’d love
to see just a short clip of Nicholson in his
shoes as the heir to the New York mafia.
Like come on.
You can’t tell me it wouldn’t be entertaining
watching Jack Nicholson acting in the diner
scene.
That being said however, Nicholson did a terrific
job in a similar role much later in his career
as Frank Costello in The Departed.
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