1.
First, Jenna Ortega initially passed on playing Wednesday Addams in Wednesday because she wanted to focus more on film. Recently, she told Vanity Fair that she “wasn’t married to the job” when she first found out about it, however a call with creator and director Tim Burton “made [her] want it more.”
2.
Richard Harris turned down playing Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films several times. He originally didn’t want to play the role because he thought, “That’s not how I wanted to spend the last years of my life, so I said no over and over again.” Eventually, his granddaughter convinced him to take the role.
3.
After losing out on the role of Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick to Miles Teller, Glen Powell passed on portraying Hangman at first. At the time, Hangman, named Slayer, was a pilot who reportedly only found himself at Top Gun because of nepotism. In order to keep Glen involved, Tom Cruise and director Joe Kosinski reworked the role for him.
4.
Ariana DeBose “refused four times” to come in to audition for Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, according to casting director Cindy Tolan. Cindy told Variety, “I asked her to come in, and she said no … I had to talk her into coming in.”
5.
While he never formally said no to playing Ken in Barbie, Ryan Gosling was extremely hesitant to accept the role and didn’t say yes at first. Director and writer Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie consistently pursued Ryan until he finally accepted the part. Greta told SiriusXM, “Margot was like, ‘Is it weird if I go to his house?’ I was like, ‘Don’t go to his house! Stay put!'”
6.
Ellen Pompeo was initially hesitant to join Grey’s Anatomy. She thought she didn’t want to get “stuck” on a TV show after starring in movies like Old School and Catch Me If You Can. Eventually, her agent convinced her to audition and film the pilot because it was unlikely the pilot would even make it to air.
7.
Chris Evans originally turned down the role of Steve Rogers/Captain American when he was approached by Marvel. According to his mom, he was worried he would lose his “anonymity” and become too famous. Chris’s mom told him it was ultimately his decision; however, she felt it would open up so many doors for him in terms of projects he could do in the future, never having to worry about paying rent, etc.
8.
Amanda Seyfried originally turned down the opportunity to play Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout because it would’ve required her to film in Los Angeles away from her family. After talking through the opportunity with friends and family, she promptly called her agents back the next day.
9.
Rachel Zegler got a call from director Francis Lawrence offering her the role of Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes without even auditioning. However, she turned down the role at first because of having to film overseas and be away from her family for so long. She said she “regretted it” the second she turned it down.
10.
Laurence Fishburne said he turned down the role of Ike Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It “five times” before ultimately accepting the role. In an interview on Jemele Hill’s Unbothered podcast, Laurence explained that the initial script was “really strong with respect to Tina’s character, and it wasn’t strong enough with respect to Ike’s character.” He said he ultimately said yes because Angela Bassett was playing Tina.
11.
One Day breakout star Ambika Mod “turned down the audition multiple times.” In an interview with Elle, she explained that she didn’t even read the script but turned it down because she convinced herself that she “wasn’t the right person for the part,” so she didn’t want “to be a waste of everyone’s time.”
12.
Helen McCrory initially said no to playing the iconic Aunt Polly in Peaky Blinders. She explained that she turned down the role because she worried it would be very one-dimensional. Later, creator Steven Knight approached Helen again and said it was going to be like a Western and it would have an “epic quality” to it, and it wasn’t going to be an “apologetic drama.”
13.
Fantasia Barrino initially turned down Oprah’s request to have her star as Celie in The Color Purple. After playing the emotionally taxing role on Broadway in 2007, Fantasia told Variety that she swore she’d never play the role again. Director Blitz Bazawule was the one who eventually convinced Fantasia to take on the role, as he explained his vision for Celie (and giving her more of a voice) in the new film.
14.
Zoe Saldaña turned down starring as Joe in Lioness for a full year before ultimately taking the role. She told Entertainment Tonight, “I did what every insecure actor does: I ran away. I said no. I self-sabotaged for a year.” Eventually, she texted creator Taylor Sheridan, who texted her back, “I told you, silly, we were waiting for you.”
15.
Matthew Modine revealed that he initially passed on starring as Dr. Martin Brenner in Stranger Things. He told The Guardian, “I didn’t want to do it.” The Duffer brothers told him that the character was “really important” to the story, but he still wasn’t interested. Eventually, after the Duffer brothers kept calling him, he said it became “really difficult for [him] to say no.”
16.
Elisabeth Moss initially passed on playing June/Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale because she was worried about being stuck on another TV show so soon after Mad Men ended. However, after taking a few days to think about it, Elisabeth realized she would’ve been upset if she watched any other actor play the role.
17.
And finally, Al Pacino said the first draft of the script for The Godfather Part II was so bad that he turned it down a few times before agreeing to star in it. He said producers kept offering him more money, hoping he would say yes. Eventually, Francis Ford Coppola convinced them that he didn’t want money, but he wanted a “good script.”
We can’t fit everyone into one post, so which other stories about celebs not taking a role at first but then deciding to? Tell us in the comments below!