11 Hollywood Actors Who Missed A Chance To Portray A Legendary Character

Jessica Wilson
Oct 15, 2022
Oct 15, 2022

Actors and actresses always try to embrace any opportunity to get fame and prove themselves to deserve to be at the top. However, it is true that with any starring role in a blockbuster film comes a string of rejected actors. Even Hollywood actors have to go through an audition process at some point and suffer rejection after rejection.
Some are really beaten out by others while some, even Hollywood stars who were offered major roles turned them down. For example, it’s difficult to imagine the “Titanic” without Leonardo Dicaprio as Jack Dawson. Yet before he was cast, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, and Johnny Depp were all considered for the part. These Hollywood actors had another iconic character in their careers but they turned it down and totally regretted it.
We've gathered a list of actors who come from Hollywood, almost played a legendary character. If you find the topic interesting and are looking for more articles about it, click here, here, and here.

#1 Aragorn — Russell Crowe

Hollywood Actors Source: © The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / Warner Bros., © Gladiator / Scott Free Productions

Russell Crowe said that he never regretted refusing to play Aragorn in the iconic trilogy, “Lord of the Rings”. His instinct told him that Peter Jackson never really wanted to cast him for this role, he seemingly had a name in mind so the actor politely refused the offer.

#2 Daenerys Targaryen — Elizabeth Olsen

Hollywood Actors Source: © Game of Thrones / HBO, © Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP / East News

Elizabeth Olsen had an awful “Game of Thrones” audition for the role of Daenerys Targaryen. She shared, “It was the most awkward audition I’d ever had. I was doing the Khaleesi speech when she comes out of the fire. It was awful. I didn’t get a callback”. Eventually, the role went to Emilia Clarke.

#3 Ellie Sattler — Gwyneth Paltrow

Hollywood Actors Source: © Jurassic Park / Universal Studios, © The Talented Mr. Ripley / Miramax

Gwyneth Paltrow dreamt of playing the role of Dr. Ellie Sattler in “Jurassic Park”, which became a popular franchise. Unfortunately, the star failed and the character was played by Laura Dern.

#4 James Bond — Henry Cavill

Hollywood Actors Source: © Casino Royale / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, © The Tudors / Showtime Networks

Daniel Craig nailed the role of James Bond but before him, Henry Cavill had a chance to become the new Agent 007. Because the actor was “a little chubby”, he wasn’t cast. For this reason, he started to do more physical training which helped him in his future career. He is one of the actors from Hollywood who missed the chance to get famous sooner.

#5 Jane Smith — Gwen Stefani

Hollywood Actors Source: © Mr. & Mrs. Smith / Summit Entertainment, © Warner Bros. Pictures / Miramax / Collection Christophel / East News

It’s hard to imagine anyone but Angelina Jolie playing Jane Smith in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”. But, the singer Gwen Stefani almost landed the role. She went to quite a few auditions but eventually made a choice in favor of a musical career.

#6 Indiana Jones — Tom Selleck

Hollywood Actors Source: © Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark / Lucasfilm, © East News

Tome Selleck got the role of Indiana Jones but he turned it down. At that time, he had already signed on for the magnum, P.I. TV series and the producers didn’t allow him to join two projects.

#7 Prince Caspian — Nicholas Hoult

Hollywood Actors Source: © The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian / Walt Disney Pictures, © AFP / East News

To get the role of Prince Caspian, Nicholas Hoult was asked to speak with a Hispanic accent. He wasn’t prepared for it and felt embarrassed. For him, the audition was the worst in his career. Finally, the role went to Ben Barnes.

#8 Viola De Lesseps — Kate Winslet

After the success of “Titanic”, Kate Winslet was offered to star in many projects. She was invited to take part in “Shakespeare in Love”, but the actress turned it down because she didn’t want to work on more independent projects. Eventually, the character was played by Gwyneth Paltrow, who won an Oscar for it.

#9 Alex Munday — Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie was offered to portray Alex Munday in “Charlie’s Angels” though Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz tried to convince her to play this role. The actress explained her refusal, “I’m not at that point in my career, so audiences won’t have as much fun watching me run around in high heels chasing bad guys and flipping my hair”.

#10 Patrick Bateman — Johnny Depp

The director of “American Psycho” tried his best to persuade Johnny Depp to play Patrick Bateman but the author of the novel changed his mind. He pulled Stuart Gordon's rights to the book and called Johnny Depp a lightweight actor who was too old to play the part. Depp was 28 at the time.

#11 Christian Grey — Charlie Hunnam

Charlie Hunnam initially accepted to star in the screen adaption of “Fifty Shades of Grey” so all the newspapers announced the news in 2013. However, the actor immediately changed his mind and refused to play the role. It turned out that he had a nervous breakdown because of his busy work schedule.

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