As movie fans everywhere mourn the passing of Ray Liotta, it's only natural to take a
look back at his career and what could have been.
There's an interesting "lost role," in particular, that's worth exploring.
Here's the major superhero role Ray Liotta regretted turning down.
Ray Liotta is known for his work in gritty crime dramas, often playing an antihero or
a good-cop-gone-bad.
"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster."
The actor played a fictionalized version of New York City mobster Henry Hill in Martin
Scorcese's critically acclaimed "Goodfellas," starred opposite Kurt Russell's sociopathic
police officer in "Unlawful Entry," and stood out amongst a star-studded cast in the Sylvester
Stallone-led "Cop Land."
But that doesn't represent the entirety of his body of work.
Before gaining a reputation for his neo-noir roles, the actor starred in the action-comedy
"Something Wild" and played the ghost of famous baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in the
Kevin Costner-starring fantasy-drama "Field of Dreams."
Liotta has also lent his voice to popular video games like "Grand Theft Auto" and won
an Emmy for his guest appearance on the long-running primetime medical drama, "ER".
He had a venerable career most actors would kill for, but it's always intriguing to consider
what might have been.
Of all the roles he's taken on for the big and small screens, there's one in particular
that Liotta regrets not exploring.
Playing Batman has become something of a badge of honor for actors.
In the same way actors have taken on iconic roles like Hamlet and Macbeth, others have
portrayed the Dark Knight over the years.
It's an exclusive club and one that frequently entices debates about who's the best Batman
of all time.
Interestingly enough, Liotta could have been part of those conversations had he chosen
to take a meeting back in the 1980s.
In a 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times to talk about his work on NBC's "Shades of
Blue," Liotta recounted the time his team received a phone call from Tim Burton, who
would go on to direct 1989's "Batman."
In the mid-1980s, Burton gave Liotta's agent a call while the actor was filming "Something
Wild" and asked if he would be interested in both meeting him and auditioning for the
title role in his then-upcoming "Batman" movie.
He recalled:
"I think Tim Burton is a great, great director, and I always regretted not going and meeting
him, just to talk."
Superhero films weren't widely popular then and Liotta admitted that he thought it was
silly at the time.
The role ultimately went to Michael Keaton, who had just starred in Burton's "Beetlejuice"
the year before and would reprise the role in 1992 for "Batman Returns."
Even though Ray Liotta wasn't too keen on playing Batman back in the '80s, it was still
a highly coveted role.
After all, Batman was already a household name at that point, and Tim Burton was one
of the most promising up-and-coming directors.
Suffice to say, plenty of actors likely auditioned for the role of the Caped Crusader, and fans
love ruminating on what might have been had the role gone to someone else other than Michael
Keaton.
"What are you?"
"I'm Batman."
Perhaps most intriguingly of all, Willem Dafoe was considered for the part of Bruce Wayne.
Given his eclectic and provocative performances, it would be easy to believe that Dafoe would
have been better suited to play Joker back in the day, but according to the actor in
an interview with MTV News, he auditioned for the Dark Knight.
It's unclear how far along in the casting process Dafoe got, but we do know someone
else in contention for the part: "James Bond" actor Pierce Brosnan.
According to Brosnan during a Reddit Ask Me Anything,
"I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman.
But I just couldn't really take it seriously, any man who wears his underpants outside his
pants just cannot be taken seriously.
That was my foolish take on it.
It was a joke, I thought.
But how wrong was I?"
These actors weren't alone in their audition processes.
Mel Gibson was reportedly also sought after for the part, but he had to turn it down due
to his commitment to "Lethal Weapon 2."
These are all many intriguing what ifs, but ultimately, it's perhaps best the role went
to Michael Keaton, who's still considered by many to be the definitive Batman.
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