11 Stars Who Rejected Iconic Movie Roles

There are so many iconic movie characters who we could never imagine being any other way. Who else could play Forrest Gump but Tom Hanks? Who else would have what it takes to play Vivian in Pretty Woman? Who could possibly have played Indiana Jones, who was Harrison Ford?

However, these roles were all turned down after being offered to other stars first. Find out who turned down major movie roles…

Will Smith has spoken at length about passing up on playing Neo in The Matrix, a role that eventually went to Keanu Reeves. In a 2019 YouTube video explaining the situation, he revealed that he met the Wachowskis about the film, saying: “And as it turns out, they’re geniuses! But there’s a fine line in a pitch meeting between genius and what I experienced in the meeting.”

He passed on the role to star in Wild Wild West and even joked about giving his younger self advice to take the role. However, he told The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s not like it would’ve been like [the movie we got]. Keanu was perfect. Laurence Fishburne was perfect.”

“If I had done it, because I’m Black, Morpheus wouldn’t have been Black because they were looking at Val Kilmer. I was going to be Neo, and Val Kilmer was going to be Morpheus. So I probably woulda messed The Matrix up!”

John Travolta, the Grease star, was offered the role of Forrest in the beloved movie Forrest Gump but turned it down to star in Pulp Fiction.

The star spoke about turning it down, saying: “If I didn’t do something Tom Hanks did, then I did something else that was equally interesting or fun… But I feel good about some I gave up because other careers were created.” Pulp Fiction was also a huge hit that year, with Tom and John going up against one another for the Best Actor Oscar Award, which Tom ultimately won.

Tom Selleck was offered the role of the whip-wielding archaeologist in Indiana Jones but had to pass on it due to his commitments on Magnum, P.I. He told TODAY: “I was offered the role and wanted it, but I had done a pilot of Magnum. And Steven Spielberg and George Lucas kept the offer out to me.”

“They said, ‘We’ll work it out and you can do both.’ And the more they wanted me, the more CBS said, ‘No, we don’t want to let him do it.’ So, ultimately, they stepped in, and it wasn’t exactly a cross to bear. When I signed the deal for Magnum, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.” The role, of course, went to Harrison Ford.

Michelle Pfeiffer turned down the role of Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs, which ultimately went to Jodie Foster. She explained to The New Yorker: “With Silence of the Lambs I was trepidatious. There was such evil in that film. The thing I most regret is missing the opportunity to do another film with Jonathan [Demme].”

“It was that evil won in the end, that at the end of that film, evil ruled out. I was uncomfortable with that ending. I didn’t want to put that out into the world.”

Molly Ringwald didn’t like the story and turned down the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman. Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “Julia Roberts was wonderful in it, but I didn’t really like the story. Even then, I felt like there was something icky about it.”

She continued: “I didn’t really feel like darker roles were available to me. The ones that I wanted to do, I didn’t get. I was too young for certain roles. I was at this weird in-between stage.” The role went to Julia Roberts, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for it.

Emma Watson, the Harry Potter star, was offered the role of Cinderella in the live-action remake but turned it down. She later took on a Disney princess role as Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Speaking to Total Film Magazine, she explained: “I didn’t know they were going to make Beauty And The Beast at the time I turned down Cinderella. But when they offered me Belle, I just felt the character resonated with me so much more than Cinderella did.”

“She remains curious, compassionate, and open-minded. And that’s the kind of woman I would want to embody as a role model, given the choice.” The role eventually went to Lily James.

Hugh Jackman, known for his role as Wolverine, revealed to IndieWire that he was offered the chance to play James Bond. He said: “I had a look at it. I was like, ‘If I’m doing that and Wolverine, I’ll have no time to do anything else… I didn’t want to do the same things. You know, the role of the hero action star. I mean, it was the meat-and-potatoes of a lot of American film, that archetype. It was all various forms of heroic guys in tough situations.” The role eventually went to Daniel Craig, who starred in five James Bond movies.

Claire Danes revealed on Armchair Expert that there was strong interest in her playing Rose in Titanic, but she turned it down. She explained: “I’d just made this romantic epic with Leo in Mexico City, which is where they were going to shoot Titanic, and I just didn’t have it in me.”

She went on to reveal that she and Leonardo DiCaprio had the same manager at the time, and they were both hesitant to accept their roles in Titanic. She explained: “I could see he wasn’t sure, but he was like, ‘[Expletive] it, I gotta do this thing.’ And I looked down on him, going, I totally understand why you are doing it. And I’m not ready for that. And I think I really wasn’t ready for it.” She added that she had “zero regret” for not taking part, adding: “I was just really clear about it. I wasn’t conflicted. I wasn’t.” The role went to Kate Winslet.

Matt Damon has spoken about his frustration at being unable to accept the role of Jake Sully in Avatar, which went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time and would have meant a $250 million payout for him.

Speaking about the situation, he said: “I’m sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down, you know? I had a contract. I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie, and I knew that we were going to need work at the end, and I had to get it all the way to the finish line, and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit, and I didn’t want to do that. I desperately wanted to work with Cameron. I mean, because he worked so rarely.”

“I don’t know how I could have left all my friends in the lurch. You know what I mean? I told John Krasinski…we were in my kitchen…I tell him about Avatar, and he launches himself out of the chair. He starts pacing the kitchen, he goes, ‘Nothing in your life would be different today if you had done that movie, except you and I would be having this conversation in space.'” The role eventually went to Sam Worthington.

Rachel McAdams opened up to Bustle about turning down the role of Andy in The Devil Wears Prada, explaining: “There’s certainly things like ‘I wish I’d done that’ […] I felt guilty for not capitalising on the opportunity that I was being given because I knew I was in such a lucky spot.”

“But I also knew it wasn’t quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane. There were definitely some anxious moments of wondering if I was just throwing it all away, and why was I doing that? It’s taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing.”

Speaking to EW for the movie’s 15th anniversary, director David Frankel explained: “We started negotiating with Annie to make a deal, and that didn’t go well with the studio.… We offered it to Rachel McAdams three times. The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it.” The role eventually went to Anne Hathaway.

Emily Blunt revealed to Howard Stern that she had to turn down the role of Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as she was contracted to star in Gulliver’s Travels. She said frankly: “I actually do want to clean up the story on Gulliver’s Travels. I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels.”

“No one knew, and I also didn’t talk about it with anyone on set or anything because there are a lot of lovely people in it who were heaven to work with, and I actually had a really good time. I had a laugh with all of them.”

She added: “[It] was a bit of a heartbreaker for me, because I take such pride in the decisions that I make, and they mean so much to me, the films that I do.” The role went to Scarlett Johansson, who has starred in 12 of the superhero movies.