Five lucky actors who narrowly missed out on career-killing roles
Every actor is looking for a big break, but sometimes missing out on a film role is more beneficial than not working at all.
Many of today’s most prominent movie stars have at least a few roles that they regret not getting to play, such as Will Smith, who infamously turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix, John Travolta didn’t accept the titular role in Forrest Gump, and even Al Pacino refused to read for Han Solo in Star Wars.
Choosing a role can be tricky, but sometimes actors just decide to follow their instincts, and as frustrating as it may be to miss out on an amazing role, actors can also thank themselves for not accepting parts that would have destroyed their careers. Hollywood tends to have a short memory, and no amount of good work can erase the immediate effect that a major disaster may have; even an actor as successful as Mike Myers was essentially banished from the industry altogether after The Love Guru was greeted with terrible reviews.
There are certainly cases in which actors are simply miscast, for example, Sofia Coppola’s terrible placement in The Godfather: Part III, but there’s reason to believe that Winona Ryder may have worked in the role had she been cast, as was Francis Ford Coppola’s original intention. Nonetheless, there are some parts that seem so ‘cursed’ that no one could have survived them, regardless of how much talent they may have had.
Five actors who narrowly missed out on disaster movies:
Leonardo DiCaprio: ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'<br>
The role of Anakin Skywalker in the second film in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy was hotly contested, as nearly every young actor was seemingly in contention to play the young Darth Vader.
Although Leonardo DiCaprio met with Lucas to discuss the role, he eventually turned it down, feeling that he wasn’t ready to appear in a major blockbuster. It ended up saving his career, as Hayden Christensen was met with relentless negativity from the moment the film debuted; while many critics felt that he was wooden in the role, it’s hard to blame Christensen for following Lucas’ direction and dialogue, especially since he has given strong non-Star Wars performances in films like Life as a House and Shattered Glass.
The same year that Attack of the Clones was released, DiCaprio hit new heights as an actor by working with Steven Spielberg on Catch Me If You Can and Martin Scorsese on Gangs of New York. It’s unlikely that he would have earned those critical parts had he been obliged to spend another several years making another Star Wars sequel, as shooting with Lucas is notoriously intensive.
Glenn Howerton: ‘Superman Returns’
Superman is a character that has often been associated with a longstanding Hollywood curse.
After the mysterious death of original actor George Reeves and the critical accident suffered by Christopher Reeve, some assumed that anyone cast to play Clark Kent was doomed to face horrific consequences.
Nothing tragic happened to Brandon Routh when he was cast as the ‘Man of Steel’ in Superman Returns, but the film bombed so hard that he effectively became unemployable and has struggled to find significant work ever since. The role of Superman nearly went to Glenn Howerton, best known for his role as Dennis Reynolds on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the show he co-created with Rob McElhenney.
Not only would playing Superman have forced Howerton to cope with the embarrassment of not doing the character justice, but it may have taken him out of his regular role in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which began its first season a year before Superman Returns hit theatres. Staying with the TV show was definitely a better choice in the long run, as the hit FX comedy series became the longest-running live-action sitcom in television history, and continues to have a passionate, loyal fanbase.
Angelina Jolie: ‘Showgirls'<br>
Angelina Jolie may have had the benefit of having a powerful father who worked in the industry, but that doesn’t mean that she’s been immune to criticism.
However, Jolie was able to avoid criticisms that she was ‘spoiled’ or ‘untalented’ when her amazing performance in Girl, Interrupted took the industry by storm and won her the Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’. However, Jolie might likely not have been cast by James Mangold had she accepted the role of Nomi Malone in Showgirls, which had been offered to her by Paul Verhoeven.
The NC-17 erotic drama may have been counting on fans of Verhoeven’s work on Basic Instinct to show up, but it was instantly reviled, and cited by some critics as one of the worst films ever made. Elizabeth Berkley’s career never recovered, as she ended up starring on multiple television shows after being unable to find work in theatrical projects.
Even if Showgirls has ended up earning a critical reappraisal over the years, the role of Nomi was still a toxic one, and Jolie was smart enough to turn down the role and avoid getting involved with the disaster altogether.
Michael Douglas: ‘Cutthroat Island'<br>
There are a few films that bombed so hard that they actually sank a studio, but that’s exactly what happened with Renny Harlin’s notoriously disastrous pirate adventure Cutthroat Island.
Despite a reported budget of over $100million, the film earned less than $20million at the box office, and caused Carloco Pictures to cease operations. The studio wasn’t the only thing that was destroyed either, as the film’s stars, Geena David and Matthew Modine, had their careers obliterated because of their association with one of the biggest disasters in Hollywood history.
Modine’s character, the thief William Shaw, was offered to many Hollywood A-listers, but Michael Douglas got close to landing it. He had agreed to take on the role if he had the same screen time as David, and shooting would start immediately to accommodate his busy schedule, but he eventually dropped out due to changes in the script.
Davis, who was married to Harlin at the time, also tried to drop out, but was forced to stick with the role due to contractual obligations. As a result, one of the most prominent, award-winning actresses of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s had her impact on the industry dwindle almost immediately afterwards.
Val Kilmer: ‘Soul Man’ <br>
Within the history of Hollywood, few films have been as offensive and harmful as Soul Man, a high-concept 1986 comedy about a white law student who dons Blackface so that he can apply for an exclusive scholarship. The film was considered to be racist and ridiculous at the time of its release, and it’s aged even worse by today’s standards.
C Thomas Howell, the film’s star, had previously been a prominent member of the ‘Brat Pack’ thanks to his work in The Outsiders and Red Dawn, but struggled to find any work after Soul Man was subjected to serious backlash.
The role of Mark Watson was offered to Val Kilmer, a then-upcoming star who had proved his comedy chops with Real Genius and Top Secret!, and while he’s expressed regrets about some of the roles that he’s turned down, he had the foresight not to sign up for a film that was always going to provoke some degree of outrage. Kilmer may have had a few flops over the years, but being in Soul Man would have made him completely unemployable, and potentially denied him the opportunity to star in all-time masterpieces such as Tombstone and Heat.
