STARS WHO PASSED ON ROLES OF A LIFETIME
THE A-LISTERS KICKING THEMSELVES FOR LETTING A ROLE OF A LIFETIME PASS THEM BY…
GWYNETH PALTROW
Playing Rose in Titanic made Kate Winslet a household name, but things might have been different if Gwyneth Paltrow, 48, had said yes when the part was initially offered to her. Gwyn hints that she doesn’t know why she turned it down. “I look back at the choices I’ve made and think, ‘Why the hell did I say yes to that? And no to that?” Apart from missing out on an iconic movie role, she also forfeited a ton of money – all the film’s actors still receive a cheque every time it airs.
MICHELLE PFIEFFER
The Silence of the Lambs sent shivers up spines when it was released in 1991 – and it was exactly that chill factor that put Michelle Pfieffer, 62, off the part of Clarice Starling that earned Jodie Foster an Oscar. “There was such evil in that film,” says Michelle. “I didn’t want to put that out into the world.”
SEAN CONNERY
James Bond actor Sean Connery was neither shaken nor stirred when he was offered the part of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was the first choice to play the role that finally went to Ian McKellen, but Sean couldn’t be persuaded because he “never understood” it. “I read the book, I read the script, I saw the movie,” said the Scottish star, who died last year aged 90. “I still don’t understand it.”
GEORGE CLOONEY
It’s difficult to imagine George Clooney looking in the mirror and not liking what he saw. But the Gravity actor, 59, turned down the role of Noah Calhoun in The Notebook because he felt he wasn’t up to scratch in the looks department. George says he and Hollywood legend Paul Newman were all set to play the young and old versions respectively of Noah in the tearjerker, but then he watched some of Paul’s vintage movies and backed out. “He’s one of the handsomest guys you’ve ever seen. We met up and I said, ‘I can’t play you. I don’t look anything like you. This is insane.’ We just wanted to do it because we wanted to work together, but it ended up being not the right thing for us to do.”
ANNE HATHAWAY
These days, Anne Hathaway, 38, has two children – Jonathan, five, and Jack, one – but 14 years ago, the actress couldn’t get her head around the graphic childbirth scene in Knocked Up. “Having not experienced motherhood myself, I didn’t know how I was going to feel on the other side about giving birth,” says Anne of her choice to pass on the role of mum-to-be Alison Scott. Instead, the part went to Grey’s Anatomy alum Katherine Heigl.
ANGELA BASSETT
Halle Berry sealed her name as the first black woman to win an Oscar for her role in the 2001 movie Monster’s Ball.
But 9-1-1 star Angela Bassett, 62, poured cold water on the win, saying, “I wasn’t going to be a prostitute on film. I couldn’t do that because it’s such a stereotype about black women and sexuality. It’s about putting something out there you can be proud of 10 years later.”
CHRISTINA APPLEGATE
After playing ditzy blonde Kelly Bundy in Married… With Children, Christina Applegate didn’t want to be typecast, so when the script for Legally Blonde arrived in her mailbox for consideration, she wasn’t interested. Reese Witherspoon made the role of bubbleheaded Elle Woods her own and the rest is history. “I don’t regret it because Reese Witherspoon did a much better job than I ever could,” says Christina, 49, adding cheekily, “She now has way more money than I do and way more success, so why would I ever regret that?”
WILL SMITH
It’s hard to picture Neo in The Matrix as anyone other than Keanu Reeves, but the role could have been Will Smith’s. The Independence Day actor was made a hefty offer, but he couldn’t get his head around the directors’ vision. In hindsight, he says, “I watched Keanu’s performance – and very rarely do I say this – but I would have messed it up. I would have absolutely messed up The Matrix. At that point, I wasn’t smart enough as an actor to let the movie be.” Instead of donning Neo’s leather trench coat, Will opted for Wild Wild West – one of the biggest flops of his career.