Here are a handful …
Gary Cooper — Depending on the source, Gary C. was either David O. Selznick’s first choice as Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, or his second.
Story #1: Selznick was trying to set up a deal for a leading man in his new picture. M-G-M initially refused to loan out Gable, and Selznick approached producer Sam Goldwyn about loaning out Mr. Cooper. Goldwyn was non-committal, so Selznick approached Cooper directly … who turned the role down.
(And at some point in there, Warner Brothers offered a package deal — partial financing, Errol Flynn as Rhett, Bette Davis as Scarlett, Olivia de Havilland as Melanie, plus distribution rights and 50% of the profits for Warners. Agreement was never reached, and a while later, M-G-M and Selznick worked out a financing/ distribution contract that included Gable on loan-out to Selznick-International as Rhett Butler.)
A widely circulated quote at the time? Attributed to Coop?
Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I’m glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling flat on his nose, not me.
Story #2: Selznick approached Gary Cooper first, who Was. Not. Interested.
Selznick then went after Gable, almost as unenthusiastic about playing Rhett Butler as Mr. Cooper was, except that girlfriend Carole Lombard urged Clark G. to do it, and (most importantly?) a large bonus was dangled in front of the King of Hollywood’s nose. So … Mr. Gable grew his hair long and became Rhett Butler.
Later, Gary Cooper was reported to have been regretful about passing on the part, saying this:
Rhett Butler was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood … but I said no. I didn’t see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right.
The above quote, however, doesn’t smack of regret. It sounds more like somebody who’s mindful he’s not right for the role.
Burt Lancaster, “The Devil’s Disciple” (1959)
Burt Lancaster said he was offered the part of Judah Ben-Hur by director William Wyler. From reports, he found Karl Tunberg’s original script to be “crap” (an opinion shared by Wyler and screen-writer/novelist Gore Vidal) and turned Ben-Hur down flat, telling Wyler he was wasting his time on the project.
Paul Newman, who also rejected overtures to star in Ben-Hur, had simpler motives. He’d loathed his debut film The Silver Chalice, and declared he had no desire to appear in another Biblical epic wearing “a cocktail dress,” since he didn’t have the legs for it.
And in the 21st Century? …
When you talk big movie roles, you have a duty to talk about the movie star who walked away from one of the biggest.
Matt Damon, you see, was phoned one day by a very hot director…
Jim Cameron called me and offered me ten percent of “Avatar”. You will never meet an actor who turned down more money than me. He goes, “This movie doesn't need you, it doesn't need a movie star at all. The movie is the star. The idea is the star. But if you do it, I will give you ten percent".
Damon had reasons for turning it down:
I was in the middle of shooting “The Bourne Ultimatum” and he (Cameron) wanted to shoot during our post-production and we always needed more work in our post-production, and I needed to be around. I needed to be available to do more work. … I have no defence, other than there was a scheduling conflict, so I literally couldn't do it.
For moral reasons I told him I couldn't walk away from this movie I had spent all these years doing, and he really celebrated that decision. So at least I got a pat on the back from Jim Cameron. …
And thereby let hundreds of millions of dollars flutter through his fingers. The man who made the ten percent offer moved on, and today says this:
He's beaten himself up over this and I think, “Matt you're one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Get over it.”
Win some, lose some. But that’s pretty much the story of life, isn’t it?
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