Why They Said No

Actors turn down roles for all kinds of reasons. Maybe they don't like the script, maybe their schedule is booked with another movie, or maybe they aren't offered enough money. But then there are some really odd and surprising reasons actors say no—and that's what we're here to tell you about.

Liam Neeson: James Bond (GoldenEye)

Neeson might have a particular set of skills, but saying no to his fiancee isn't one of them. His wife-to-be told him straight out that if he took the role as James Bond, she wouldn't marry him. He chose her over Bond.

Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock

Henry Winkler: Danny Zuko (Grease)

Not wanting to be typecast, Winkler turned down the Zuko role because it felt too close to what he was doing as the Fonz on Happy Days.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Pierce Brosnan: Batman (Batman)

Brosnan's feeling at the time was that he couldn't take seriously a "man who wears his underpants outside his pants". Although he admits it was a "foolish take".

Jay Godwin, Wikimedia Commons

Sean Connery: Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings)

Connery read the script. He even read the books. He just didn't get it. Even after seeing the movie he is quoted as saying, "I still don't understand it".

Rob Mieremet, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Anne Hathaway: Allison Scott (Knocked Up)

Did you think the birth scene in Knocked Up was too explicit? Well, you aren't alone. Anne Hathaway thought so as well, and that's why she turned down the role.

Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images

Jason Momoa: Drax the Destroyer (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Following his roles on Stargate: Atlantis and Game of Thrones, Momoa was trying to get away from playing characters that didn't say much and took their shirt off.

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Steve McQueen: Roy Neary (Close Encounters of the Third Kind)

You might think that being able to cry on cue is a prerequisite for being an actor. Well, it wasn't for the great Steve McQueen. His inability to do so was the reason he said no to Steven Spielberg and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That wasn't the only role McQueen missed out on, either.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Steve McQueen: The Sundance Kid (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

Do you know how many lines of dialogue Paul Newman had in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Well, Steve McQueen sure did—and he wasn't going to agree to be in the film unless he had the same number of lines as his potential co-star. Oh, and he also demanded top billing. Needless to say, they cast Robert Redford.

Kokusai Johosha, Wikimedia Commons

Jack Nicholson: Allie Fox (The Mosquito Coast)

Filming in Belize for a few months might sound awesome. But for Jack Nicholson it meant missing L.A. Lakers' games—and that wasn't going to happen!

Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Jet Li: Seraph (The Matrix 2 & 3)

After training his whole life to become the martial arts master he was, Jet Li didn't want to let the filmmakers digitally capture his moves and then have the rights to use them as they saw fit going forward.

hao du, Flickr

Mark Wahlberg: Donnie (Donnie Darko)

Wahlberg insisted that he play the character with a lisp. The director said no, and then so did Wahlberg to the part.

Michael Loccisano, Getty Image

Gale Sondergaard: The Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)

In Sondergaard's mind one could be wicked and still be attractive. But when she realized that wasn't the case with the Wicked Witch of the West, she turned down the role. "In those days I was not about to make myself ugly".

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Bruce Willis: Sam Wheat (Ghost)

When Bruce Willis was offered the role in Ghost (opposite his then-wife Demi Moore we might add) he just couldn't wrap his head around a ghost being romantic. He later admitted he made a mistake. To that we say "Ditto".

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Russell Crowe: Wolverine (X-Men)

You might remember that Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator had a pet wolf. Well, even if you don't, Crowe sure did when he was offered the role of Wolverine in X-Men. Not quite understanding that Wolverine wasn't an actual wolf, Crowe turned it down out of a fear of being typecast as the wolf guy. 

You hear that? That's Hugh Jackman saying "thank you, thank you, thank you".

Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Eddie Murphy: Eddie Valiant (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

Why does Eddie Murphy "feel like an idiot" every time he sees Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Because he was offered the lead (non-animated) role and turned it down. He did so because the whole idea of mixing real actors and animation together sounded ridiculous to him at the time.

David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bette Midler: Annie Wilkes (Misery)

The scene in Misery where Annie Wilkes hobbles Paul Sheldon with a mallet is quite disturbing to watch. It was apparently just as disturbing to read—at least for Bette Middler. It was because of that one scene that she turned down the role that would eventually go to Kathy Bates.

Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

John Travolta: Whip Whitaker (Flight)

Denzel Washington's character pulls off some very impressive flying moves in the 2012 film, Flight. However, according to John Travolta the plan was for him to perform those moves—as the movie was written for him. The problem was that, as a licensed pilot, Travolta had a few issues with the scientific veracity of some of the flight stuff, and wanted it changed in order to agree to the part. It wasn’t changed.

GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Tom Cruise: Edward Scissorhands (Edward Scissorhands)

Cruise could've been the titular Edward in the Tim Burton classic, but he had too many unanswerable questions about the character. One of the weirdest ones: How does he go to the bathroom? Without answers to his questions, Cruise's answer to the filmmakers was "no".

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons