15 Times We Imagined the Main Roles in Successful Movies Being Played by Different Popular Actors

There are a lot of reasons an actor could decline a potential film offer. They might not believe that the film would be successful, or they had other commitments scheduled for that time. Whatever the reason, actors often take a gamble when choosing roles. It's because they never know which film they'll pass up and will end up becoming the next great thing. There are many examples of actors who deeply regretted their decisions, but occasionally everything works out for the best.
Undoubtedly, some of them would want to have a special tool that would enable them to foresee the success or failure of the role they were offered. If such a device actually existed, we might observe entirely different actors playing a wide variety of cult roles.
Today, we're looking back at some of the most well-known films of all time and imagining how they may have seemed with different actors and actresses playing the main roles.

#1 Christian Bale turned down the role of James Bond in Casino Royale.

Source: © Casino Royale / Columbia Pictureand co-producerss, © Batman Begins / Warner Bros. and co-producers

#2 Henry Cavill turned down the role of Carlisle Cullen in Twilight.

Source: © Twilight / Summit Entertainment and co-producers, © Man of Steel / Warner Bros. and co-producers

#3 Jim Carrey turned down the role of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Source: © Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers, © Liar Liar / Universal Pictures and co-producers

#4 John Travolta turned down the role of Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump.

Source: © Forrest Gump / Paramount Pictures and co-producers, © Grease / Paramount Pictures and co-producers

#5 Kevin Hart turned down the role of Alpa Chino in Tropic Thunder.

Source: © Tropic Thunder / Dreamworks Pictures and co-producers, © Night School / Hartbeat Productions and co-producers

#6 Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

Source: © American Psycho / Lions Gate Films and co-producers, © The Wolf of Wall Street / Red Granite Pictures and co-producers

#7 Marilyn Monroe turned down the role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Source: © Breakfast at Tiffany's / Jurow-Shepherd and co-producers, © New York Sunday News / Wikimedia Commons

#8 Matt Damon turned down the role of Jake Sully in Avatar.

Source: © Avatar / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers, © nicolas genin / 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra) / Wikimedia Commons, © CC BY-SA 2.0

#9 Michael Keaton turned down the role of Phil Connors in Groundhog Day.

Source: © Groundhog Day / Columbia Pictures and co-producers, © Blair-39 / Wikimedia Commons, © CC BY-SA 2.0

#10 Michelle Pfeiffer turned down the role of Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct.

Source: © Basic Instinct / Carolco Pictures and co-producers, © Frankie and Johnny / Paramount Pictures and co-producers

#11 Rachel McAdams turned down the role of Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada.

Source: © The Devil Wears Prada / Fox 2000 Pictures and co-producers, © Passion / Integral Film and co-producers

#12 Reese Witherspoon turned down the role of Sidney Prescott in Scream.

Source: © Scream / Dimension Films and co-producers, © Legally Blonde / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and co-producers

#13 Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

Source: © The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and co-producers, © The Hunt for Red October / Paramount Pictures and co-producers

#14 Tim Roth turned down the role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.

Source: © Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / Warner Bros. and co-producers, © The Incredible Hulk / Universal Pictures and co-producers

#15 Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix.

Source: © The Matrix / Warner Bros. and co-producers, © Bad Boys / Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films and co-producers