10 Actors And Actresses Who Refused Roles In Famous Movies. Mark Wahlberg Turned Down Brokeback Mountain Because Of Gay Scenes

If they had taken the offers for these roles, they could have been even more famous, more successful or richer. They could even win various prestigious prizes. However, they made a different decision and may have regretted it later. What roles did famous Hollywood actors or actresses turn down and why? We will answer that below.

Did you know that Sean Connery refused to play Gandalf in Lord of the Rings and Mel Gibson refused to play a gladiator in Ridley Scott's opus? Or that she could have played the lead role of Jennifer Connelly in Pretty Woman? And can you imagine Michelle Pfeiffer in the cult thriller Basic Instinct playing instead of Sharon Stone? Let's look at some more.

Hugh Jackman didn't want to be James Bond

Almost everyone who played the charismatic agent 007 with a license to kill became a huge star. For example, Daniel Craig's life changed completely after this role. As NME writes, the MI6 spy could have also been played by the robust Australian actor and round-the-world female idol Hugh Jackman in the movie Casino Royale.

However, he refused the offer and instead chose the character of Wolverine, which he had previously played twice in the X-Men series. The actor stated that he didn't want to keep playing similar types of characters and just be an action star, that is, a heroic guy in difficult situations. "I knew if I played both Wolverine and James Bond, I wouldn't have time to do anything else," Jackman said.

He could have been both Django and Neo

Is Will Smith the king of bad decisions? After this year's Oscars, this phrase takes on new meaning, but this time we're not referring to the Chris Rock incident, but something completely different. No one dares to say "no" to Quentin Tarantino, but the American actor did it anyway.

He had a problem with the amount of violence in the script, which he said only begets more violence. "I would have gone for it if the film had focused on a love story, not a revenge story," he revealed to the Hollywood Reporter.

Finally, Django was played by Jamie Foxx, and Django Unchained later grossed $425 million and won two Oscars. But that's not all, Smith could also play the role of Neo in the cult Matrix. He turned her down for a more bizarre reason, he said he simply didn't understand the script. Well, we don't really understand this, but I guess you don't always have to understand everything.

Charlie Hunnam's busy schedule

The erotic drama Fifty Shades of Gray, based on the bestseller of the same name, earned almost 570 million dollars worldwide. It starred Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan.

It was in his place that the British Charlie Hunnam could have been in the film. You certainly know from the series Sons of Anarchy or from Guy Ritchie's films King Arthur: Legend of the Sword or The Gentlemen. However, he turned down the role because his schedule was too busy and he had an agreed collaboration on Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak.

Overly conservative Laurence Fishburne

You have seen this American actor in the Matrix trilogy, but also in the John Wick film series, where he appeared again alongside Keanu Reeves. You may also know him as an investigator from the Las Vegas crime series.

In 1994, Fishburne could have played Jules in Quentin Tarantino's cult gangster Pulp Fiction. However, according to Insider, the actor turned down the role in the film praised by both critics and the public, because he felt that the director was glorifying or promoting the use of drugs, specifically heroin.

Emily Blunt could not be a Black Widow

Marvel movies are extremely popular today and they can shoot actors to stardom. This could have also happened in the case of actress Emily Blunt, who had to turn down the role of Black Widow in the action comic Iron Man 2, because after starring The Devil Wears Prada, she committed to the studio 20th Century Fox to shoot a different film, called Gulliver's Travels.

However, in reality, the actress did not want to take on this project and would have preferred the role of the black widow, but she was bound by the contract. She clarified this in an interview with Howard Stern.

Emma Watson doesn't like musicals? Or Ryan Gosling?

Neither one nor the other is true. Although the star of the Harry Potter film series was originally cast in Damien Chazelle's heartbreaking musical romance as Mia, as Vanity Fair writes, the actress had to withdraw from the project because of her commitment to play the character of Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Filming plans just didn't come together, so her extreme busyness caused her to miss out on La La Land. Can you imagine her taking on this role?

Leo could have been drawing Gwyneth Paltrow in Titanic

What would it look like if Gwyneth Paltrow played Rose Dewitt Bukater in James Cameron's legendary Titanic alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, instead of Kate Winslet? We will never know for sure, we can only imagine. Paltrow admitted she regrets the decision, but she's not the only one. Actress Claire Danes also turned down the same role.

Kissing a man? No way

We all know Mark Wahlberg as a fearless gunslinger, tough brawler and macho hero. According to MTV, however, he was to play a completely different role in 2005, a gay cowboy in Ang Lee's queer romance Taming of the Shrew.

Joaquin Phoenix was supposed to be his partner on the set. However, Wahlberg eventually backed out of the project because he was bothered by the intimate homosexual scenes. In the end, Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger were chosen for the cult classic, as they had no problem with the intimacies.

John Travolta as Forrest Gump? I prefer him as Vincent Vega

As Far Out Magazine writes, the naive good man Forrest Gump could have been played by Bill Murray or Sean Penn in 1994, but the first in line was John Travolta, who needed to revive his career after several not-so-successful projects from the eighties.

However, he decided that he would prefer the character-different (and probably much better fit for him) role of a brazen and uncompromising gangster in the film Pulp Fiction. Honestly, he couldn't have made a better choice. Gump was eventually played by Tom Hanks and both actors ended up nominated in the same category for the prestigious Oscar, with Hanks being the more successful.

Al Pacino and a messy screenplay

It is not clear whether Al Pacino has any prejudices against science-fiction, but during his rich career there are few films of this genre in which he appeared. And you probably didn't know that he could have starred in the most iconic sci-fi series ever made. Yes, we mean Star Wars. Looper writes that Al Pacino could have been Han Solo, but he didn't accept the offer. The reason was said to be a chaotic screenplay.

If you are wondering, you have to remember that it was the first film in the series and in 1977 only George Lucas was a new face. At that time, no one had any idea what a huge success Star Wars would be and what it would mean for the development of the world cinema. The iconic role was eventually taken by Harrison Ford. This role literally launched his career.