Welcome to LondonCityGirl. Today we’re going to countdown the top 10 Hollywood actors who
unwittingly passed up a great movie role. At number 10 is Sarah Michelle Gellar who
almost played Cher Horowitz in Clueless. The actress had to turn the part down as she was
starring in the soap opera All My Children at the time and filming Clueless would have
conflicted with her schedule.Director Amy Heckerling then asked casting directors to
track down “that girl from the Aerosmith videos” who turned out to be Alicia Silverstone.
Silverstone then made the part her own and Clueless went onto become a modern classic.
At number 9 is Angelina Jolie who was offered the role of Dr. Ryan Stone in Gravity. Both the director
and the studio were keen to work with Jolie believing her to be one of the few actresses
who had the box office pull to carry an entire film, but Jolie turned down the role in order
to focus on her own directing projects. The part eventually went to Sandra Bullock and
the film became one of the most successful box office hits of all time. The film won
seven Academy Awards and Bullock will reportedly earn over $70 million dollars from the film
when all revenue streams are factored in. This is not the first time Bullock has reaped
the benefits of another actresses decision to turn down a role. Halle Berry refused the
part of Annie in Speed which was Bullock’s breakthrough role and Julia Roberts turned
down the part of Leigh Anne Tuohy inThe Blind Side for which Bullock earned her best actress
oscar. At number 8 is Jack Nicholson who turned down an offer to play Michael Corleone in
The Godfather. In an interview with Movieline he gave his reasoning saying: “Back then
I believed that Indians should play Indians and Italians should play Italians … There
were a lot of actors who could have played Michael, myself included, but Al Pacino was
Michael Corleone. I can't think of a better compliment to pay him.” Director Francis
Ford Coppola was of the same opinion and had to fight hard for the studio to accept Pacino
as the lead, in fact it was only the director’s threat of resignation that made studio bosses
relent over the casting choice. Pacino went on to give a performance that has become iconic.
At number 7 is Anne Hathaway who was set to play Alison Scott in Knocked Up. Hathaway
was the original choice for the female lead but she left the project over director Judd
Apatow’s decision to use real footage of a woman giving birth. Then entered Grey’s
Anatomy star Katherine Heigl who won the role and it propelled her career onto the big screen.
Heigl and Apatow later fell out after she criticized the film as sexist. At number 6
is Henry Winkler aka The Fonz from Happy Days who was offered the part of Danny in Grease.
The actor already having played a similar role in coming-of-age drama The Lords of Flatbush
as well as Happy Days turned down the part for fear of being typecast. The part then
went to John Travolta. Winkler later admitted regretting the decision and is quoted as saying
"I was asked to be in Grease. But I decided I didn't want to be typecast. But what I didn't
realise was that I already was. That's why John Travolta went on to buy his own plane
and I just went home." At number 5 is Daryl Hannah who refused the role of kind-hearted
prostitute Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman. Hannah felt that the role was degrading to women
and she was not the only one, a whole host of well known Hollywood actresses turned down
the role including Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan and Molly Ringwald. The part was then
given to a lesser known actress, Julia Roberts. The film became a global smash and made Roberts
a star. At number 4 is Molly Ringwald who refused the chance to play Patrick Swayze's
grieving girlfriend Molly Jensen in Ghost. 80’s teen superstar Ringwald passed up on
not just Pretty woman but also Ghost. Had she taken on both roles her career may have
unfolded quite differently. When asked about the roles in an interview with The Hollywood
Courant she is quoted as saying: “I've made what people would consider mistakes, but I
totally know why I made those choices. You never know when you read a script how it's
going to turn out because so much depends on the collaboration between people. If I'd
been in some of the movies I turned down, maybe they wouldn't have been a success."
At number 3 is Eric Stoltz who almost played Marty McFly in Back to the Future. Michael
J. Fox was always the first choice for the role but he was filming the tv show Family
Ties at the time so Eric Stoltz got the role instead. But four weeks into filming the director
knew Stoltz was miscast and by mutual agreement the filmmakers and Stoltz amicably parted
ways. This decision added $3 million dollars to the filming costs. As luck would have it
Fox’s schedule then opened up and on the understanding that Fox would make Family Ties
his priority he was allowed by his tv network to take on the role of Marty McFly and the
rest is history. At number 2 is Will Smith who was offered the role of Neo in the Matrix.
Smith refused the part when he couldn’t buy into the concept. He later told The Sun
newspaper: "It's a hard movie to pitch. You know, everybody lives inside a computer. It
was only when I saw it that I really got it." Smith opted to star in the critically panned
Wild Wild West instead and the role of Neo went to Keanu Reeves. At number 1 is Marilyn
Monroe who was originally set to star as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In
fact the role was written for the Hollywood sex symbol but then she pulled out on the
advice of her acting coach who felt playing a call-girl would damage the actress's image.
When Paramount then offered the film to Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote was outraged. Capote
was the man behind the original novella on which the film was based and he publicly stating
he felt Hepburn was "grossly miscast." Nevertheless Hepburn was Holly Golightly, bringing to the
movie her characteristic style. The film became a classic and the part is considered one of
Hepburn’s pivotal roles. That concludes our list of top 10 Actors who missed out on
a great role.We hope you enjoyed this video and remember for more videos like this subscribe
to LondonCityGirl and we’ll see you next time.