6 Actors Who Regretted Taking A Role And 6 More Who Regretted NOT Taking One
1.Sandra Bullock was considered for Neo in The Matrix before Keanu Reeves was cast, as the production was having trouble finding the right fit. She was also considered to play Trinity, and says she regrets not taking the role, but ultimately loved the pairing of Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss.
2.As for roles Bullock regrets taking, she thought Speed 2: Cruise Control turned out badly. Roger Ebert had a running joke that he enjoyed the movie more than Bullock did.
3.Sir Alec Guinness regretted playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. He called the dialogue "lamentable."
In fact, in his autobiography, he recounted a story in which a fan asked for an autograph and told Guinness that he had seen Star Wars more than 100 times. Guinness claims he gave the autograph on the condition that the fan never watch the movie again.
4.Sir Christopher Lee was considered for the role of Dr. Rumack in Airplane! but turned it down. The role went to Leslie Nielsen instead, and Lee — who loved comedies — said it was his greatest regret not taking it.
5.Eddie Murphy says he feels like "an idiot" every time he sees Who Framed Roger Rabbit? because he turned down the role of Eddie Valiant (which went to Bob Hoskins instead).
6.Billy Crystal was originally going to play Buzz Lightyear. He regretted turning down the role so much that it's a large part of why he ended up playing Mike Wazowski.
7.The only movie Ben Affleck regrets doing is Daredevil.
8.Sylvester Stallone says that Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is the worst movie he's ever done. "If you ever want someone to confess to murder, just make him or her sit through that film," he said. "They will confess to anything after 15 minutes."
Hilariously, Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed that he baited Stallone into doing the movie because of their rivalry at the time. Schwarzenegger recognized how bad the script was, and feigned interest in the role in order to trick Stallone into taking it.
9.Halle Berry regretted doing Catwoman so much that she actually showed up to accept her Razzie Award that year and lambasted everyone involved with the decision.
Though maybe she's come around on it a bit lately.
10.David Cross hated doing Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked so much that he actively told people not to see it during an appearance on Conan.
11.ESPN anchor Dan Patrick was once under consideration to host The Price Is Right. However, he turned down the job because of an odd stipulation that the salary wouldn't be revealed until the offer was accepted. He found out after turning it down that his salary would've been $10 million a year.
12.And finally a two-fer: Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix because he didn't want to be the "alien movie guy" and regrets having done Wild Wild West instead.
