Blockbuster Movie Roles that Were Turned Down by Stars

Some actors are synonymous with the movie roles they played. It's hard to picture anyone but Clark Gable playing Rhett Butler or anyone but Vivien Leigh playing Scarlett. But before a movie is made, the starring roles are often offered to many actors and actresses before the leads are cast. With that in mind, here are some of the biggest roles in movies and the actors and actresses who were originally considered to play the parts. Try to picture the following movie roles with these stars.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future was to originally star Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly and The Office's Melora Hardin as Marty's girlfriend. However, after Stoltz was replaced with Micheal J. Fox, Melora was considered too tall to play opposite Fox and was replaced with Claudia Wells.

Rounding out the original movie cast would have been Jeff Goldblum as Doc Brown.

Pretty Woman

In the movie that made Julia Roberts a household name, the role she played had been offered to Daryl Hannah, Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan. The Richard Geer role was offered to Christopher Reeve and Al Pacino. At one point early in development, Sylvester Stallone was reportedly in consideration for the role played by Richard Gere.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

It's hard to picture anyone but Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, but Christopher Walken, Michael Keaton and Jim Carrey almost got the role. If one of them had, they may have played against Tobey Maquire, Ewan McGregor or Jude Law, who were some of the actors considered for the role of Will Turner.

The Matrix

Sean Connery turned down the role of Morpheus as did Samuel L. Jackson and Russell Crowe before Laurence Fishburne got the part. The role of Neo was turned down by Val Kilmer, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ewan McGregor among others.

Rocky

No actor has been more synonymous with a movie role than Sylvester Stallone with Rocky. However, no one wanted the then-unknown Stallone in the title role - except Stallone who had written the script for himself. Other actors who were considered for the part of Rocky Balboa were Gene Hackman, Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds. The producers offered Stallone $150,000 if he would agree to let Ryan O'Neal play the part in the movie, but Stallone refused. To play Adrian, Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon and Carrie Snodgrass were considered. Midler turned down the role that would make Talia Shire a star.

Forrest Gump

It seems difficult to picture anyone but Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, but supposedly Chevy Chase turned down the role because of script issues. Bill Murray and John Travolta were also considered for the role.

The role of Bubba was a bit harder to cast. Forrest Gump may have featured Dave Chappelle playing Bubba, had the actor not turned down the role for fear of it being a racially-stereotypical role. Ice Cube turned down the role because he didn't want to appear "stupid". Supposedly, Tupac Shakur auditioned for the role as well.

Top Gun

Tom Cruise was already a rising star when the role of Maverick in Top Gun sent him into super-stardom. Scott Baio turned down this role. Other actors considered were Matthew Modine, Charlie Sheen (who would later parody the role in the movie Hot Shots) and John Travolta.

Ally Sheedy turned down the role that would go to Kelly McGillis because she felt the movie wouldn't be successful.

In the miasma that surrounds casting a movie, it's difficult for actors to know what will be a defining role in their careers. No one really knows for sure what movie will be a hit, and what movie will take a hit. But many of the movie roles turned down by many established actors would open up opportunities for new talent to emerge forge unforgettable roles for themselves.