8 Hollywood Actors Who Turned Down Big Movie Roles

This article is all about actors who turned down movie roles. Please note that these actors didn't know the movies were going to be big at the time they were offered the roles. Some of them had an idea the movies were going to be huge, and didn't want to be typecast for the role they would have played in the movies for the rest of their lives, but most didn't know the movies were going to be big. I guess there is a reason for everything, cos most of the movie roles this actors turned down were taken by people who did justice to the roles.



Below are 6 actors who turned down big movie roles. People now use actor as a general term to refer to male and female individuals who act...so, don't get confused when you see a female name below.



1.  Angela Basset (Leticia in Monsters Ball- 2001)
She turned down the role to play the character of Leticia in Monsters Ball. She said it was too black stereotype and she couldn't imagine herself playing a role that was close to being a prostitute on screen. Hallie Berry didn't mind playing the ex-rated sex scene, and she took up the role. That got Hallie her one and only Oscar award.



2.  Will Smith (Neo in Matrix- 1999)
Well, I have to say thank God Will Smith turned down this role. I am a fan of his, but Keanu Reeves was born to play Neo in Matrix...I can't even imagine how the movie would have been with Will Smith playing that part. Can you?



3.  John Travolta (Lead Role in Splash- 1984)

Well, I think Travolta would have still been good for this movie. He was doing his lover-boy thing back in the 80s, so he would have fit in just right for this movie.

 





4.  John Travolta (Forest Gump in Forest Gump- 1994)
Do John Travolta and Tom Hanks look alike? Hmm! I guess a little, when they were younger. I am trying to understand why they kept getting picked for same roles in movies. Anyway, once again, good thing John Travolta turned down the role. It was like Tom Hanks was made for that role. And yea, it got him his second Oscar award.






5.  Sean Connery (Gandalf in  Lord of the Rings- 2001...)
I think Sean Connery would have still done a good job playing Gandalf, but we all know Ian McKellen did a great job.




5.  Robert De Niro (Tony Montana in Scarface- 1983)
De Niro and Pacino were always offered similar roles in movies earlier on in their individual careers, as they were two of the top Italians in Hollywood at the time, and gangster/mafia movies were trending back then. De Niro even tried to get the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, before he ended up getting a role in the part two of the movie as the young Vito Corleone. Which he played pretty well, and got an Oscar for. But with Scarface...nah!!! I am a De Niro fan, but I believe Sacrface was made for Pacino. De Niro is your laid back but mean gangster, while Pacino is the all in your face loud gangster. Pacino did a super great job in Scarface.



6.  Jack Nicholson (Vito Corleone in The Godfather- 1972)
Jack Nicholson was and still is a great actor, but I think I love the fact that he turned down that role and let Marlon Brando play that part.



7.  Al Pacino (Lead Role in Pretty Woman- 1990)
I laughed when I saw this. I mean, who was handling the casting for Pretty Woman back then? Pacino acting a romance movie in 1990? Richard Gere was perfect for that movie, and I don't think it would have been as big as it was/is if it was Pacino and Julia Roberts.




8.  Michelle Pfeiffer (Lead Role in Pretty Woman- 1990)
Yea, Pfeiffer is a good actress, and she was big at the time, and I am sure she would have done a great job. But its good she turned down that role and let a relatively unknown Julia Roberts (22 at the time) take the part. Which is still one of the biggest movies of Roberts career.