Wow! I had no idea!

[Jack Aubrey]

Thanks to Film Threat

 

THE CASE OF THE ALMOST LEGEND

 

Many iconic film performances only came about because the first person considered for the plum role turned it down. Case in point:

 

Norma Shearer was too vain to accept a part calling for her to have grown children, so she rejected the title role in "Mrs. Miniver." Greer Garson has no such qualms and grabbed the part, winning the Academy Award as Best Actress and later marrying Richard Ney, who played her grown son in the film.

 

Judy Garland, fresh from her comeback role in the extravagant musical "A Star is Born," turned down the title role as a schizophrenic patient in the small, gritty drama "The Three Faces of Eve." Newcomer Joanne Woodward was cast instead and she won the Academy Award.

 

Peter Ustinov turned down the chance to be Inspector Closeau in the 1964 comedy "The Pink Panther." Peter Sellers took the role, creating his most beloved screen character.

 

Jane Fonda turned down the part of Lara in "Doctor Zhivago." A little-known British actress named Julie Christie won the role and the subsequent international superstardom it brought.

 

Charles Grodin had first crack at the role of Benjamin in "The Graduate" and passed on it. Dustin Hoffman took the part and became an overnight sensation. For the same film, Doris Day and Ava Gardner rejected the role of the predatory Mrs. Robinson. Anne Bancroft was signed. Both Hoffman and Bancroft won Oscar nominations.

 

Edward G. Robinson turned down the part of Dr. Zaius in the 1968 version of "Planet of the Apes" due to poor health. British stage actor Maurice Evans won the role and screen immortality as the nefarious orangutan.

 

Jackie Gleason, of all people, was first pegged to play Popeye Doyle in "The French Connection." But the Great One said no and Gene Hackman won his Academy Award in that role.

 

On three occasions, Richard Gere had his career re-energized thanks to John Travolta passing on scripts. Everyone knows that Travolta rejected "American Gigolo," which made Gere a major star. But Travolta also turned down the leading role in "An Officer and a Gentleman," which Gere happily accepted. Gere only got the role when pop singer John Denver passed on the offer to play the part. Denver felt the script was too old-fashioned. Travolta also passed on Chicago (so did Hugh Jackman), enabling Gere to enjoy his first major hit film in many years.

 

Kirsten Dunst turned down the role of Angela in American Beauty." Mena Suvari nabbed the rose pedals in the Oscar-winning drama and was also prominently featured in the film's provocative advertising.

 

JUST A BAD IDEA

 

Not every film performance is a classic, of course, but there are plenty of commercially successful productions which helped the careers of those who allowed another actor to get the part in the hit. For example:

 

Stan Laurel, Harold Lloyd and Groucho Marx declined to be part of the all-star mayhem in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Laurel and Lloyd were retired and did not wish to go back on the screen while Marx refused to work for minimum scale. Dozens of other funnymen happily filled in for them in the 1963 comedy landmark.

 

Liza Minnelli rejected the script for "Rainbow Road," and Barbra Streisand took the project. Along the way, the title was changed to "A Star is Born," which became one of Streisand's biggest film hits.

 

Liza Minnelli also turned down the chance to play Daisy opposite Robert Redford as "The Great Gatsby." Mia Farrow took the role in the hit film. Minnelli's rejection of "Family Plot" gave Barbara Harris the star role in Alfred Hitchcock's final film.

 

Actress Michael Learned (best known as the mother on "The Waltons") turned down a supporting role in the Charles Bronson thriller "St. Ives." The role changed genders and went to the similarly-named actor Michael Lerner, who enjoyed his first high profile exposure in this hit action movie.

 

One-time Australian teen pop idol Jason Donovan hated the script for the drag queen comedy "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" and passed on it. An unknown actor named Guy Pearce loved the script, put on a dress and rode the film's runaway success to Hollywood stardom.

 

Matthew Perry turned down a part of Capt. Jimmy Wilder in "Independence Day," complaining it was too small a part. Harry Connick Jr. took the role in the mega-hit flick and used it to build on further film and TV roles.

 

Chris O'Donnell turned down the starring role in "Men in Black," enabling Will Smith to ride the role to superstardom.

 

Nancy Reagan avoided Albert Brooks' attempts to get her to return to acting via the title role in "Mother." Debbie Reynolds landed the part and scored a late-career comeback.

 

Edward Norton rejected the script for "Hart's War." An unknown Irish actor named Colin Farrell grabbed the part, enjoying his first major Hollywood break.

 

Betty White turned down a role as the neighbor in the Oscar-winning "As Good as it Gets" because of a brief scene of animal cruelty (a dog is deposited down a garbage chute). Shirley Knight took the part instead - the dog was not injured.

 

Jodie Foster would not reprise her Oscar-winning role from "The Silence of the Lambs" for the sequel "Hannibal." Julianne Moore stepped into the part and enjoyed a prominent place in the mega-hit movie.

 

Brad Pitt pushed aside "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!" when the producers could not meet his salary requirements. TV actor Josh Duhamel didn't require such a large salary and snagged the role in the surprise comedy hit, giving Duhamel his first movie success.

 

NOT SUCH A JUICY PLUM

 

But on occasion, sometimes a plum role turns out to be less than promised. And for those who turned down the part, it was not such a loss. For example:

 

Brigitte Bardot turned down the Hollywood comedy "How to Murder Your Wife." Italian sexpot Virna Lisi was imported in her place. No one noticed the film or Lisi, who never achieved Bardot's level of success.

 

Lou Ferrigno rejected the part of the lumbering wrestler in Sylvester Stallone's 1978 "Paradise Alley." Lee Canalito (who?) took the part instead in that notorious flop.

 

Nathan Lane, fresh off his film star-making turn in "The Birdcage," turned down the chance to repeat his Broadway role in the film version of "Love! Valour! Compassion!" because he did not want to be typecast in gay roles. Jason Alexander got his chance at a big screen starring role instead - to no avail, as the film flopped. Lane would later openly acknowledge his own homosexuality, which did not hurt his career.

 

Natalie Portman turned down the title role in the 1997 remake of "Lolita." Dominque Swain secured the eponynous role instead. The film was a flop.

 

Michael Jackson turned down the role of Ari the Chimpanzee in Tim Burton's widely denigrated remake of "Planet of the Apes." The part went to Helena Bonham Carter (of course, one always thinks of Helena Bonham Carter when Michael Jackson is not available).

[Slaine mac Roth]

QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ Jan 4 2005, 03:09 PM)

Michael Jackson turned down the role of Ari the Chimpanzee in Tim Burton's widely denigrated remake of "Planet of the Apes." The part went to Helena Bonham Carter (of course, one always thinks of Helena Bonham Carter when Michael Jackson is not available).

Why did they of Micheal Jackson in the first place, eh?

[Sodoff Baldrick]

QUOTE

Charles Grodin had first crack at the role of Benjamin in "The Graduate" and passed on it. Dustin Hoffman took the part and became an overnight sensation. For the same film, Doris Day and Ava Gardner rejected the role of the predatory Mrs. Robinson. Anne Bancroft was signed. Both Hoffman and Bancroft won Oscar nominations.

 

I had read somewhere that Burt "Robin" Ward claimed to have been offered the role of Ben but was ultimately passed over because the filmmakers feared a Batman backlash.