As important as it is for a director to carefully select actors who can represent their artistic vision in a film, it is equally crucial for actors to be able to decide which roles might work for them and which ones might not. Making this decision is critical because every single role an actor takes on can dramatically change the course of their career, for better or for worse. Moreover, once the role is accepted, there is often no turning back: the actor must give it all to contribute in the best way possible so that the role becomes a highlight in that actor’s resume.
Actors’ relationships with their roles are quite complex, and it does not simply boil down to a simple offer that they say yes to. Over the course of film history, there have been many stories of actors who were able to successfully pick their roles, despite initial backlash from audiences and critics, like Heath Ledger playing The Joker. Then, there are stories of actors who were fired from what could have been their most important roles, stories of actors who regretted roles that they played, and even stories of those who, per Cosmopolitan, turned down major roles and then regretted it, such as Denzel Washington after rejecting the lead role in Se7en.
In the latter category, there are some artists who luckily reconsidered their decision and ended up taking the role they had initially turned down, with such good fortune that it ended up becoming the most important role of their careers. Below are eight such actors.
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8 Emma Stone — La La Land
Summit Entertainment
Emma Stone was already a well-established actress before she starred as Mia Dolan in the 2016 film La La Land. Yet, this performance, which earned her her first Oscar, came close to not happening: by the time Damien Chazelle offered her the part, STone was starring in Cabaret on Broadway, a job that left her mentally and physically exhausted. In fact, she was determined that, upon finishing that show, she would never take part in musicals again, so she turned down Chazelle’s offer almost immediately. Still, as the director was far from giving up, he showed her some songs and ideas for the film, which fortunately ended up convincing her.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 Jennifer Lawrence — The Hunger Games
Lions Gate Entertainment
The role of Katniss Everdeen made Jennifer Lawrence a Hollywood star and the highest-grossing action heroine of all time. Knowing that this role would be so career-defining, the actress thought long and hard about whether to accept it, fearful of the uncertainty surrounding its outcome. Moreover, Lawrence was a big fan of Suzanne Collins’ saga, and she was worried that a movie adaptation wouldn’t do justice to the novels. However, director Gary Ross assured her that his intention was to honor the books, and this, coupled with her own mother’s advice that she should go for it, made Lawrence eventually embrace what would become her breakthrough role.
6 Chris Evans — Captain America: The First Avenger
Marvel Studios
For many actors, the chance to take part in a franchise as big as the MCU would be the deal of a lifetime. However, there are many obligations and consequences that go along with such a big opportunity, and not everybody is ready to take them on. This was precisely the first thing that crossed Chris Evans’ mind when Joe Johnston offered him the role of Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger. Even though the actor was already experienced in playing superheroes due to his part in Fantastic Four, he had a hunch that this proposal would be much bigger — his contract, per Cinema Blend, was a six-movie deal — and would imply a much wider exposure. Evans ended up saying yes, and none of his fears came to fruition. Quite the opposite: Captain America became the most important and well-known role of his entire career.
5 Ralph Fiennes — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Warner Bros.
Ralph Fiennes is an artist who, prior to his involvement in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, had been treading an acting path that was very far removed from the children’s genre. When the star of films such as Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Schindler’s List and The English Patient was offered the part of Voldemort, he was not interested at all, per CBR: he had not read the books or seen the previous movies, and he considered that such a role was not right for him. Indeed, he would have moved on with his career with no connection to the franchise had it not been for the fact that he happened to mention the offer to his sister, a mother of three kids fanatical about the franchise. She was the one who pushed Fiennes, eventually getting the actor to accept the role of He Who Must Not Be Named.
4 Audrey Hepburn — Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Paramount Pictures
Audrey Hepburn was not the first casting choice to play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Truman Capote, author of the novels, wanted Marilyn Monroe to star in the screen adaptation. However, when Monroe refused, Paramount Pictures offered the role to Hepburn. This went against Capote’s wishes, who felt that this casting decision would represent a huge mistake. Hepburn wasn’t too certain about taking the role either, as she had some reservations about the way the audience was going to perceive it. In the end, however, she agreed to take the part, and it became the most iconic performance of her career.
3 Alan Rickman — Die Hard
20th Century Fox
The role of Hans Gruber in the action film Die Hard was the one that turned the already well-known Alan Rickman into a Hollywood star. Yet, upon receiving the script, the Royal Shakespeare Company actor rejected the offer immediately, stating that he would never do an action movie. Judging from the movies and plays he made prior to Die Hard, it’s easy to understand where that rejection came from: Rickman was mostly a stage performer, starring in plays such as As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. It was his agent who convinced him, making him see the advantages of getting such an important offer just a few days after he moved to the United States. After this role, Rickman not only kept his fame as a stage star, but also became one of the best actors in the movie industry, paving the way for what would later become his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise.
2 Leonardo DiCaprio — Titanic
Paramount Pictures
It is safe to say that Titanic would not have turned into one of the highest-grossing movies of all time without the brilliant performances of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. And, at the same time, the movie also served to launch their careers to stardom. Yet, while Winslet immediately accepted her part, DiCaprio had many reservations when he was offered the role of Jack Dawson, as this young man was departure from the typically tormented characters DiCaprio had been playing previously throughout his career. Despite his initial rejection, director James Cameron was able to convey to him Jack’s complexity, and eventually DiCaprio ended up taking the offer, fascinated by a challenge of such magnitude. In the end, he was not mistaken: the film turned out to be a success and, from that moment on, his career kept on growing.
1 Arnold Schwarzenegger — The Terminator
Orion Pictures
It is almost impossible to imagine the T-800 played by any actor other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it could have happened. In fact, James Cameron, who directed The Terminator, had been considering Schwarzenegger to play Kyle Reese. He quickly changed his mind after meeting the former bodybuilder in person, so he offered him the part of the Terminator, which did not appeal to the actor right away — it was a character that had even fewer lines than Conan the Barbarian, so he was worried about the audience’s reaction. At the same time, Schwarzenegger felt that playing a villain so early in his career would be a long-term disadvantage. However, Cameron was able to convince him that, given the right performance, he could turn the T-800 into a heroic figure, and so it happened: The Terminator became a blockbuster, and Schwarzenegger one of the most popular actors in the industry.
