1Rick Schroder
In 1987, production on the film Apt Pupil began with 17-year-old Rick Schroder cast as the lead. After ten weeks of filming, production suffered from a lack of funds and was put on hold. A year later, Schroder had aged too much for the film to work and 40 minutes of usable footage was abandoned.
2. Keanu Reeves was initially offered Val Kilmer’s role in the 1995 film Heat. He turned it down to play Hamlet in a 789 seat theatre in Manitoba.
3. Nicolas Cage was supposed to play the role of Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but he turned down the role because according to him “There were different things going on in my life at the time that precluded me from being able to travel and be away from home for three years.”
4. Actor Liam Neeson (Taken, Schindler's List, etc.) was offered the role of James Bond, but he turned it down because his fiancée told him she wouldn't marry him if he took the role.
5. Jet Li turned down a role in The Matrix Reloaded because Hollywood producers wanted to record and copy all of his martial arts moves into a digital library, with all rights going to them.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6Andy Dufresne
Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner were all offered and passed on the role of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption. Hanks instead chose Forrest Gump, and Costner chose Waterworld, while Cruise declined to work for the first time director Frank Darabont.
7. Owen Wilson attempted suicide in 2007, which led to Matthew McConaughey taking his role in the film ‘Tropic Thunder.’
8. Nicolas Cage was considered for the role of Randy "The Ram" Robinson in ‘The Wrestler.’ When taken to a live event, he thought wrestling was real like UFC! In the end, the crew had a meeting where it was determined that Cage looked too healthy for the part, so the role went to Mickey Rourke.
9. Viggo Mortensen was offered the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Hobbit film trilogy, but he turned it down since Aragorn never appeared in Tolkien’s Hobbit.
10. David Prowse (who played Darth Vader) was a professional weightlifter and trained Christopher Reeve in Superman. He auditioned for the part of Superman and was told “we’ve found our Superman” and he replied, “Thank you very much.” He then found out that Reeve had actually got the role, and he was to only be a trainer.
11Pat Morita
Pat Morita was originally denied the opportunity to audition for the role of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid and only got the part because he grew his hair and beard out during a low point in his life and the producers didn’t recognize him when he was accidentally invited for a script reading.
12. Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Steve Martin were all considered for the role of Indiana Jones before Harrison Ford was selected.
13. When Sean Connery departed the role of James Bond, Dick Van Dyke was asked to consider taking over. When Van Dyke reminded Bond producer Albert Broccoli of his famously bad English accent from “Mary Poppins,” Broccoli replied: “Oh, that’s right—forget it!”
14. Ryan Gosling gained 60 pounds by drinking melted ice cream to play the father in Peter Jackson's “The Lovely Bones.” He was then told he was too fat to play the part and the role went to Mark Wahlberg.
15. Burt Reynolds was considered for the role of Michael Corleone in Godfather but Marlon Brando said he would walk if they cast him. He said, “he is the epitome of something that makes me want to throw up. He is the epitome of everything that is disgusting about the thespian, he worships at the temple of his own narcissism.”
16Robin Williams
Robin Williams was interested in playing the role of Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, but he was rejected due to the “all-British and Irish cast” policy.
17. Steve Martin and Martin Short both turned down the role of Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber. Originally, the Farrelly Brothers didn’t know who Jim Carrey was and were only told that he was “The White Guy” on In Living Color.
18. Carrie Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, did audition for the role of Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
19. The role of Captain Jack Sparrow for the Pirates of Caribbean franchise was initially offered to Jim Carrey, but he turned it down for Bruce Almighty.
20. John Candy turned down the role for “Honey I shrunk the Kids” because he felt his good friend, Rick Moranis, was better suited for it.
21The Living Daylights
Pierce Brosnan could have played James Bond earlier in ‘The Living Daylights’ but had to return to Remington Steele because it got popular due to Brosnan’s offer to play James Bond. Timothy Dalton was given the role instead.
22. Kevin Costner’s first big break in Hollywood was ‘The Big Chill’ and he ended up getting cut out of the movie in the final cut.
23. Sylvester Stallone wanted to make Beverly Hills Cop a less comedic and more action-oriented film, which the studio rejected as being far too expensive so they went ahead with Eddie Murphy in the titular role. Stallone heavily revised the screenplay and made Cobra (1986).
24. The lead role in “Edward Scissorhands” was originally offered to Tom Cruise, but he wanted a happier ending and declined. Before the role was given to Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey, John Cusack, William Hurt, Robert Downy Jr., and Michael Jackson had all been offered and/or considered.
25. Matthew McConaughey originally auditioned with Kate Winslet for ‘Titanic’ (1997) and was confident he got the role of Jack, but Leonardo DiCaprio interviewed next and James Cameron said every woman in the building showed up for the meeting so he thought, “maybe I should cast this guy.”
