The iconic role John Lithgow regrets turning down twice: “How about that for stupid?”
Whenever John Lithgow turns up in something, it’s always a guaranteed good time, presenting a reassuring figure in this crazy world of ours.
The cuddly screen equivalent of a beloved grandfather, his list of accomplishments is long and impressive, but even then, like so many of his famous brethren, he hasn’t always made the right decisions when it comes to accepting work.
Lithgow was the first choice to play Frasier Crane on Cheers, but turned down the iconic role because he believed that TV was beneath him at the time. On the other end, he was initially ruled out of playing Roberta in The World According to Garp, a performance that would eventually land him an Oscar nomination, and both of those are all pretty embarrassing in hindsight, but there is one character that must give him nightmares till the end days.
In an interview with Vulture, Lithgow revealed that he had been one of the names in contention to play the Joker in Tim Burton’s first Batman movie in 1989, but things didn’t go so well for the future Dumbledore, as he would describe the audition as the “worst” one of his entire career.
“I tried to persuade him I was not right for the part, and I succeeded,” he revealed, “I didn’t realise it was such a big deal”.
Unfortunately for Lithgow and his bank account, Batman was a huge deal, as this was the first serious attempt to bring the character to the big screen since the Adam West days, with Burton determined to update the story for a more modern audience. A number of performers were associated with the primary antagonist of the story, ranging from Robin Williams to Tim Curry to David Bowie; however, in the end, there was only one choice: Jack Nicholson. The three-time Oscar winner poured his heart and soul into playing the ‘Clown Prince of Crime’ and was arguably the definitive actor associated with the part until Heath Ledger came along.
As it turns out, Burton wasn’t the first director who wanted Lithgow under the clown makeup, as Joe Dante had been offered the chance to make a Batman film after the success of Gremlins, and while that movie never happened, we do know who he wanted to star as the villain. Once again, Lithgow had the chance to bring one of comic books’ most famous characters to life, but once again, he found a reason to say no.
“I was doing M Butterfly on Broadway, and it was an exhausting show,” Lithgow told Entertainment Weekly, “It would have meant leaving that show and going right into a movie, and I said, ‘I just don’t think I can’. How about that for stupid? Actors are not necessarily smart people.”
Ultimately, Lithgow probably made the right move for the Dante movie never happened, and it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Nicholson appearing opposite Michael Keaton, but luckily for him, Hollywood is still completely obsessed with Batman and will keep making films about him until the end of time, so if he ever decides to actually commit to playing the Joker, all he has to do is ask.
