Actors who turned down major roles or who were strongly considered

[WesCrook]

Halle Berry turned down the role of the "bus driver" in "Speed", which was played by Sandra Bullock

Al Pacino was supposed to play the Captain in "Crimson Tide instead of Gene Hackman

John Cusack was the top candidate as Walter White in Breaking Bad. 100% fact. Thank God that didn't work out.

 

[Deltron]

Will for Neo, did WWW instead

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

Will for Neo, did WWW instead

Will for Django.

 

[Ziggiy]

Will Smith turned down Neo in The Matrix

Robert Deniro turned down Sal in Do The Right Thing

Nas turned down Derek in Save The Last Dance

Donald Glover turned down Cassius in Sorry To Bother You

Will Smith turned down Django in Django Unchained

Denzel Washington turned down Cypher in Fast & The Furious series


Angela Bassett turned down Leticia in Monster’s Ball

Kanye West turned down Chiraq in Chiraq

 

[Deltron]

I think Connery was approached for Morphous but he ain't understand the role so turned it down

 

[I love Latina women]

Mickey rourke turned down roles for the following films:

48 hours
Top gun
Pulp fiction
Rain man
The silence of the lambs
Platoon
Beverly Hills cop

 

[Mʀ2ᴋDᴇᴇᴢ]

Al Pacino as Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas

 

[Ahadi]

Nas in save the last dance

 

[jwinfield]

I think Connery was approached for Morphous but he ain't understand the role so turned it down

Even worse.

He turned down the role of Gandalf because he didn't understand it.

He was offered $30M for the role and 15% of box office

 

[Blankthawtz]

Chris Tucker turned down every role offered to him after Rush Hour 3...

 

[Lootpack]

Oscar Isaac just recently turned down the lead role in Francis Ford Coppola’s upcoming Megalopolis.

 

[AnonymityX1000]

Saoirse Ronan turned down Wanda Maximoff.
Matthew McConaughey turned down Ego the Living Planet.
Amanda Seyfried turned down Gamora.
Jason Momoa turned down Drax.
Joaquin Phoenix turned down Dr. Strange.

 

[Deltron]

Phoenix would've been an interesting Strange

 

[AnonymityX1000]

Phoenix would've been an interesting Strange

Yeah, he didn't like the idea of being obligated to do other movies. He found a good comic lane with Joker.
He was my preference to but Cumberbatch is doing a good job so no big deal.

 

[Raizan]

Jim Kelly turning down the role of Sho'nuff in The Last Dragon.