Every iconic role Paul Newman turned down
It goes without saying that Paul Newman hardly lacks the iconography that defines so many of Hollywood’s greatest-ever stars, but he still found the time to turn down more than a few iconic roles.
With his steely blue eyes, natural gravitas, and chiselled good looks to back up his natural talent, Newman easily accomplished the incredibly difficult task of becoming a major star and staying that way during one of the most competitive periods in Hollywood history.
The business was overflowing with big names, big draws, and top-tier talents, many of whom ticked all three boxes at once, and Newman was right up there with the best of them. From Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Towering Inferno to The Color Purple and The Hustler via The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, his back catalogue speaks for itself.
Newman was one of the most in-demand actors around, which meant that plenty of offers would come his way. As a result, he turned down many that would go on to become iconic in the hands of somebody else, not that he was left with too many regrets looking at his own body of work.
Every role Paul Newman turned down:
Jack Colton (Romancing the Stone, Robert Zemeckis, 1984)
If it wasn’t for Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future may never have happened. The romantic adventure comedy’s critical and commercial success convinced studios that Robert Zemeckis had a knack for crafting crowd-pleasing, high-concept entertainment that could turn a tidy profit.
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner generated plenty of sparks in the lead roles, but the downside was that the two feuded offscreen, making the production fraught. Newman had the ability to create chemistry with just about anyone, so he would have seamlessly fit into the part of Jack Colton despite being two decades Douglas’ senior.
Romancing the Stone wasn’t exactly a dark and gritty film, but there was enough violence in the script to convince Newman that he didn’t want to be a part of it, which ended up working out very well for his replacement when the movie went a long way towards reestablishing Douglas’ waning leading man credentials.
Joe Gideon (All That Jazz, Bob Fosse, 1979)
Newman was at least self-aware to realise with the benefit of hindsight that turning down the lead role in Bob Fosse’s musical drama was the wrong call, going on to describe it as a “dumb, dumb mistake.”
That might make it sound as though he’s being a little harsh on himself, but it’s not entirely inaccurate when All That Jazz would win the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and accrue nine Academy Award nominations, including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, and ‘Best Actor’ after Roy Scheider stepped into Newman’s shoes and knocked the part of Joe Gideon out of the park.
All That Jazz ended up taking home four Oscars and was rapturously received as one of the best movies of 1979, leaving Newman to stew over the fact top billing was there for the taking and he rejected the opportunity because he “didn’t think the character was redeemable.”
Moses Pray (Paper Moon, Peter Bogdanovich, 1973)
Peter Bogdanovich’s black-and-white family drama made history when Tatum O’Neal was named ‘Best Supporting Actress’ at the Oscars at the age of only ten years old, a record that still stands to this day.
Her real-life father, Ryan O’Neal, anchors the picture as Moses ‘Moze’ Pray, tasked with getting his daughter Addie to family across the country following her mother’s death. Paper Moon was always going to be a family affair, but it began with the Newmans instead of the O’Neals in the two main roles.
The film originated with John Huston, who was set for the director’s chair, and Newman and his daughter Elinor – who’d already started her career under the stage name of Nell Potts – leading the cast. However, when Huston departed, the leading man didn’t stick around when Bogdanovich came aboard.
Garrett Breedlove (Terms of Endearment, James L Brooks, 1983)
Newman wasn’t the only high-profile actor to knock back the part of Garrett Breedlove in James L Brooks’ tear-jerker, which worked out very well for Jack Nicholson.
Harrison Ford wasn’t interested, and neither was Burt Reynolds, which ultimately saw Nicholson capitalise on everybody else’s reluctance to take to the stage at the Oscars and claim his prize for ‘Best Supporting Actor’, which must have stung when Newman was still on the hunt for his elusive first win at the time.
Terms of Endearment also added ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’, and ‘Best Actress’ to its haul, which is enough to make anyone wonder why so many big names were reluctant to take the plunge and play the part.
Superman (Superman, Richard Donner, 1978)
Trying to find the right person to squeeze themselves into the spandex to headline Richard Donner’s Superman remains one of Hollywood’s most arduous casting calls, and Newman was just one of many to politely decline.
It would have been an ill fit to say the least, what with the actor fast approaching his late 50s at the time, which would have presented audiences with the odd prospect of a blonde-haired and middle-aged Superman who happened to look an awful lot like Paul Newman.
An established star was never going to be the solution, and that was proven entirely correct when relative unknown Christopher Reeve swooped into the cape and convinced audiences that not only could they believe a man could fly, but they could look the part even with their underpants on the outside.
Popeye Doyle (The French Connection, William Friedkin, 1971)
Ironically, William Friedkin had no interest whatsoever in casting Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, which sounds ludicrous when he won the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ for giving one of his greatest-ever performances.
Newman was at the very top of the filmmaker’s wish list to play the gruff, grizzled, and no-nonsense cop, but when his asking price was too high for the budget and he refused to budge from being paid his usual rate, Friedkin was forced to look elsewhere.
Needless to say, Hackman soared in the classic crime thriller that took home an additional four Oscars, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’, which might have hinted to Newman that he should consider taking less money for the best parts.
Judah Ben-Hur (Ben-Hur, William Wyler, 1959)
The first film in history to win 11 Oscars, Ben-Hur is one of Hollywood’s definitive historical epics and a rousing success story that reached the critical, commercial, and ticket-selling pinnacle every movie strives to attain.
Newman was no stranger to the genre, which is exactly why he turned it down. The actor had made his feature debut several years previously in The Silver Chalice, which he ended up hating so much he urged people not to watch it when the film aired on television.
Because he’d had such a dismal experience donning a tunic, he had no interest in doing it a second time, even if it would be an understatement to say an 11-time Oscar-winning classic would have done wonders for what was still a fledgling career.
Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry, Don Siegel, 1971)
Even though he turned down the title character, Newman was instrumental to Dirty Harry‘s success after suggesting that Clint Eastwood was the perfect guy to bring the vigilante cop to life.
The role was at odds with Newman’s own personal and political belief system, but he was convinced that one of his peers wouldn’t have any such issues with what he perceived to be a script and a protagonist that veered too far to the right for his liking.
Eastwood seized the opportunity with both hands, crafted one of cinema’s most iconic antiheroes and even got a franchise out of the deal, which wasn’t a bad way to live up to Newman’s recommendation.
