The Roles They Turned Down.

Edward James Olmos was supposed to play Commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

George Raft turned down many of the great movies that came his way. Including playing the lead in:
The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and High Sierra.
Humphrey Bogart did the movies instead and became a legend. While George Raft's name is little known today outside of classic film buffs.

Other famous films he turned down:

• Dead End (1937) - replaced by Humphrey Bogart
• City for Conquest (1940) - replaced by Anthony Quinn
• All Through the Night (1942) - replaced by Humphrey Bogart
• Double Indemnity (1944) - replaced by Fred MacMurray
• The Big Heat (1953) - replaced by Alexander Scourby

Will Smith said no to The Matrix!

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James Remar would have been awesome as Hicks.

He actually played the role for a few days, but was fired when illegal drugs were found in his possession. There are a few shots of Remar as Hicks, primarily with Hicks' back to the camera.

Emily Lloyd turned down the lead in Pretty Woman to appear in Mermaids that Cher got her sacked from.

I read it was Michelle Pfeiffer, though I could be wrong.

Andie McDowell turned down The Accused which Jodie Foster later took. Apparently she was also in the running for 9 1/2 Weeks.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

God, how many actresses turned down Pretty Woman? It seems like every few months I'm reading about yet another actress who turned that role down? Why did no one want to do this movie? It made Julia Roberts a genuine movie star.

Didn't Ronald Reagan turn down Casablanca too?

Kate Winslet turned down the lead in Unfaithful (diane lane) and Anna and the king (jodie foster)

Kirsten Dunst turned down the part Mena Suvari got on American Beauty. i dont remember the characters name but i think this actullay worked out for the best.


Sean Connery turned down the part of Gandalf in Lord of the rings

Leonardo Dicaprio turned down/dropped out of American Phsyco and The Matrix

speaking of,Sarah Michelle Gellars missed two opportunities to work with Leo,she turned down the female lead in Gangs of New York and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet due to other work commitments.


Ryan Reynolds turned down the part of Xander on the tv version of "Buffy" (not movie-but i let it slide cos its my favourite )

Charlize Theron turned down the lead in Pearl Harbour to do sweet november.She also turned down two leads that would both go to Reese Witherspoon: Legally Blonde and Sweet home Alabama

Margaret Mitchell wanted Groucho Marx as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.

Kevin Costner was offered the part of the main character Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption. He wanted to work on Waterworld - a hugely expensive movie, and a critical flop - and Costner has since said that he strongly regrets letting Tim Robbins take the role.

I think Costner would have been well suited for that role but Robbins did a fine job.

That's a new one – he would have been really good. Christopher Lloyd was ace though.

I know Ray Winstone turned down playing Don in Sexy Beast in favour of Gal, which he found more interesting. He showed the script to Gary Oldman as well but Oldman didn't like it, so he effectively turned down playing Don as well.

Always had the feeling that Bogart and George Raft competed for the same roles A LOT.

Steve McQueen:

Breakfast At Tiffany's
Butch Cassidy
Dirty Harry
The French Connection
Cuckoo's Nest
Close Encounters
Apocolypse Now

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi were considered for the voice of Frollo for Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Eric Idle was considered for the voice of Clopin for The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Mia Wasikowska turned down the role of Therese in 'Carol'

Emma Stone turned down 'Ghostbusters' (no idea which role) and '21 Jump Street' in order to do Spider-Man

Jessica Chastain turned down Rebbeca Hall's role in 'Iron Man 3'

Ben Affleck, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Kristen Stewart all turned down 'Focus'

Audrey Hepburn turned down 'Gigi' and 'The Diary of Anne Frank'

Reese Witherspoon turned down 'Scream'

Christian Bale passed on The Revenant back when John Hillcoat was directing.

Another interesting bit of trivia was that, at one point, the role of Hugh Glass was rewritten as a black man and Samuel L. Jackson was attached with Park Chan-Wook directing.