Actors Who Lost Massive Paychecks By Turning Down Iconic Movie Roles
And so, here are a bunch of actors who, if they could, would probably go back in time and say yes to some very lucrative movie roles they wound up turning down.
Sean Connery - The Lord of the Rings
If James Bond wasn't enough, Sean Connery nearly found himself at the center of another beloved movie franchise — this time, playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Studio executive Mark Ordesky said in 2021 that Sean was offered the part of Gandalf (which eventually went to Ian McKellen) but "said no," because "he read the material and just didn't get it." To make matters more painful, a previous report claimed that the late 007 actor was offered 15% of the franchise's box office gross, too... which would've turned out to be a paycheck for an estimated $450 million. Eeeek.
Will Smith - The Matrix
In 1998, following the release of huge box office hits like Bad Boys, Independence Day, and Men in Black, Will Smith was offered the lead role in The Matrix. As we now know, he turned it down, and the part of Neo went to Keanu Reeves. Years later, Will explained that he passed on the movie because he was unsure about the Wachowskis' pitch for the film.Instead, he made a movie called Wild Wild West, which remains one of the biggest flops of his career, while The Matrix made over $460 million worldwide and sparked a lucrative franchise. Given how big of a movie star Will was in the '90s, it's also possible that the film would've made even more if he'd been in it... Talk about a missed opportunity.
Brad Pitt — The Matrix
Since we're talking about The Matrix, it's worth mentioning that Brad Pitt turned down the opportunity to play Neo as well. 'I did pass on The Matrix. I took the red pill. That's the only one I'm naming,' he said in 2020 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 'I wasn't offered two or three. Only the first one, just to clarify that.'Notably, Brad wasn't willing to divulge any more info about what he may have lost out on, saying: "If I didn't get it, then it wasn't mine." "I really believe [the role] was never mine. It's not mine. It was someone else's, and they go and make it. I really do believe in that," he said. "If we were doing a show on the great movies I've passed on, we would need two nights."
Matt Damon - Avatar
If there's a man who can own his mistakes, it's Matt Damon. The Good Will Hunting star has made no secret of his regret over turning down an offer to star in James Cameron's Avatar in 2009. "I'm sure it's the most money an actor ever turned down," he told Chris Wallace in 2023, explaining that he couldn't do it because he was "in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie." To add insult to injury, he was offered 10% of the box office, and, considering that Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time, it's fair to say he missed out on quite the payday ($250 million, to be exact).
Dougray Scott - X-Men
Today, Wolverine is synonymous with Hugh Jackman; however, the Aussie actor wasn't originally who they had in mind to play the iconic role. Filmmaker Bryan Singer initially wanted Russell Crowe to play Wolverine in the 2000 X-Men movie, and when Russell turned it down, he went to Scottish actor Dougray Scott. Dougray actually accepted the offer, but unfortunately, wasn't able to go ahead with the movie due to filming delays on Mission: Impossible. 'Tom Cruise didn't let me do it," Dougray told the Daily Telegraph in 2020. 'We were doing Mission: Impossible, and he was like, 'You've got to stay and finish the film,' and I said, 'I will, but I'll go and do that as well. ' For whatever reason, he said I couldn't." Now, I'm not necessarily one to hold a grudge, but considering Hugh Jackman is now worth a reported $120 million, I could understand being a little pissed.
Toshiro Mifune - Star Wars
When it comes to lucrative movie franchises, it doesn't really get much bigger than Star Wars. So, just imagine you missed out on an opportunity to be a part of it from the very start. In 2015, the daughter of Toshiro Mifune previously revealed that he father — who starred in iconic movies like Seven Samurai and Rashomon — was approached by George Lucas to appear in the original 1977 Star Wars movie, the one we now know as A New Hope. "He was offered the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he was concerned about how the film would look and that it would cheapen the image of samurai, on which George Lucas had based a lot of the character and fighting style,' his daughter, Mika, said. 'At the time, sci-fi movies still looked quite cheap as the effects were not advanced and he had a lot of samurai pride. There was talk about him taking the Darth Vader role as his face would be covered, but in the end he turned that down too.'
Tom Selleck - Indiana Jones
From one Harrison Ford film franchise to another, it sounds like the Indiana Jones movies very nearly had a different leading man. While promoting his memoir in 2024, Tom Selleck revealed that he was initially approached to play Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981; however, he'd already started working on Magnum, P.I., which made the negotiations a bit complicated. "Steven Spielberg and George Lucas kept the offer out to me," he revealed on Today. 'They said, 'We'll work it out and you can do both.' And the more they wanted me, the more CBS said, 'No, we don't want to let him do it.'' So, Tom had no choice but to turn it down, and Harrison later said he was very "grateful" for the way things played out — I would be, too, if I were worth a reported $300 million thanks (mostly) to the massive movie franchises I started in.
Jared Leto - Titanic
It's hard to imagine a world in which anyone other than our beloved Leonardo DiCaprio played Jack Dawson in Titanic, but it turns out James Cameron had his eyes on some other stars before Leo landed the part. According to reports, Jared Leto was one of the top contenders to play Jack before Leo entered the picture; however, he apparently refused to audition, potentially missing out on a role in a movie that would go on to gross over $2 billion worldwide. Talk about a Sliding Doors moment!
Rachel McAdams - Iron Man
In a 2023 profile with Bustle, Rachel McAdams talked about her break from acting in the 2000s, during which time she turned down five pretty major roles in movies that went on to be very successful: The Devil Wears Prada, Casino Royale, Mission: Impossible III, Iron Man, and Get Smart. Notably, she was apparently Jon Favreau's first choice to play Pepper Potts in Iron Man, which would have made her a part of the MCU from the very beginning. But, despite losing out on a whole lot of money, it sounds like Rachel has no regrets, knowing that turning down the roles was the right choice for her at that time. 'There's certainly things like 'I wish I'd done that.' I step back and go, 'That was the right person for that," she told Bustle. 'I felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given, because I knew I was in such a lucky spot. But I also knew it wasn't quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane.'
There you have it! It's wild to think how different some of these movies and franchises could've been...
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