Stories breaking stigmas
Jennifer Lawrence was wary of accepting the role of Katniss Everdeen in 'The Hunger Games.' She was a big fan of the book series it was based on, and actually opposed the idea of it being made into a movie!
Lawrence was also scared she'd be pigeonholed for the rest of her career after taking on such a significant role in a blockbuster series. She said she got some sage advice from her mother and decided to jump in feet first.
Hemsworth realized he was worrying that it was all too good to be true, and decided to get over his fears and go for it. It seems like it turned out pretty well, taking him from a relatively unknown actor to a superstar.
Before 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' Chris Pratt was the funny guy with the dad bod on 'Parks and Recreation.' He was offered the opportunity to audition for the superhero franchise, but he had doubts about the physical requirements.
Pratt had bad experiences in the past with directors thinking he didn't have the right physique for action movies, and didn't want to be humiliated again. However, he pushed past his insecurities and got the role after hitting the gym for a few months.
In 1998, Gwyneth Paltrow appeared in five major films. On top of that busy schedule, she was going through a difficult breakup with Brad Pitt and feeling completely overwhelmed.
Fiennes hadn't heard about the books or movies and was inclined to turn down the offer. However, his sister freaked out when he told her about it and enlightened him on the magical world of Harry Potter! The rest is history.
Larson felt that playing such a huge superhero role might limit her future offers. It's not that easy to pivot from action blockbusters to more intimate dramatic roles. In the end, she decided to accept because she found Captain Marvel to be inspiring.
Chris Evans was another actor who had doubts about entering into the superhero world. He was concerned about losing his anonymity after taking on such a high-profile role.
The Coen brothers have a special knack for picking the perfect actors to play their unusual characters. They knew that Jeff Bridges was meant to be "The Dude," long before Jeff Bridges did!
Bridges was concerned about playing a stoner character because he had three young daughters at the time. He went to his family to discuss it with them, and lucky for us, his daughters gave him the green light!
When Truman Capote agreed to turn his book 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' into a movie, he only had one actress in mind to play Holly Golightly: Marilyn Monroe. Monroe's agent didn't want her to take the part, so the studio offered it to Audrey Hepburn instead.
Neither Capote nor Hepburn were thrilled at the idea. Hepburn took some convincing, as she didn't feel she was right for the role. Eventually, director Blake Edwards convinced her to agree. She completely made the character her own, and it would be hard to imagine anyone else playing Holly Golightly.
'Die Hard' is one of the great classics of the action movie genre, but it's not exactly Shakespeare. When the late Alan Rickman was offered the part of the German terrorist, he turned his nose up at it, as he was literally a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the time.
Prior to his stint in a galaxy far, far away, Ewan McGregor was a respected actor known for taking on edgy projects like 'Trainspotting' (1996) and 'Shallow Grave' (1994). McGregor saw himself as a grungy, indie actor and wasn't enticed by a Hollywood blockbuster.
Once he looked into it a little more, he realized that George Lucas was an artist who shunned Hollywood for the most part, and did his own thing. McGregor felt that the movie was going to be something unique, and decided to go for it.
Julie Andrews had hit major success with her role in 'Mary Poppins' (1964), which convinced 20th Century Fox that she was perfect for the leading role in 'The Sound of Music' (1965). Andrews, on the other hand, was dubious about taking on a second role as a nanny so soon.
Luckily, her agent and director Bob Wise managed to convince her, and she expressed her gratitude to them in her memoir. “I’ll be forever grateful for the nudge over the fence that he and Bob gave this nervous and insecure young woman.”
Sources: (Looper) (Screen Crush)
See also: The best ever stage-to-screen musicals
Kate Winslet, director James Cameron, and the rest of the team persuaded him that the role was sophisticated enough for his standards. The success of the movie certainly gave him the freedom to take on some more neurotic characters later on!
His role as Terminator had fewer lines than his previous movie, and he was concerned about playing a villainous character so early in his career. In the end, Cameron convinced him to accept, and it clearly worked out well!
Luckily, Rickman's agent convinced him that it was a great opportunity, and it ended up solidifying him as one of the great Hollywood villains.
When an actor and their role are the perfect fit, it can give way to an iconic status that makes them a huge star. It can also be a little hard to move on from, and often leaves an actor pigeonholed for the rest of their career. You'd think that having a major role handed to you is the ultimate blessing that no one could refuse, but there are downsides that every artist must consider.
Surprisingly, many of the most respected actors in Hollywood have turned down huge opportunities for reasons that would seem trivial to the average person. Click through this gallery to see which actors almost passed on the roles that defined their careers.
Actors who almost turned down their most iconic roles
It was a close shave for some of these stars!
CELEBRITY Near miss
When an actor and their role are the perfect fit, it can give way to an iconic status that makes them a huge star. It can also be a little hard to move on from, and often leaves an actor pigeonholed for the rest of their career. You'd think that having a major role handed to you is the ultimate blessing that no one could refuse, but there are downsides that every artist must consider.
Surprisingly, many of the most respected actors in Hollywood have turned down huge opportunities for reasons that would seem trivial to the average person. Click through this gallery to see which actors almost passed on the roles that defined their careers.