Stars Who Regretted Passing on Major Movie Roles

Every actor has roles they did not take.

Sometimes the script looked strange. Sometimes the timing was wrong. Sometimes another project felt safer. Sometimes the actor did not want to be typecast, locked into a franchise, or remembered for the wrong thing.

Most rejected roles are forgotten. But a few become classics, Oscar winners, box-office giants, or career-defining performances for someone else.

Here are stars who regretted passing on major movie roles.

Will Smith

Will Smith’s rejected Matrix role is one of Hollywood’s most famous casting regrets.

Before Keanu Reeves became Neo, Smith was offered the role. He passed and chose Wild Wild West instead, a decision he later openly discussed as a career mistake. In 2025, he also revealed that he had turned down Inception, saying he did not understand the pitch at the time and that missing both films still hurt.

Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate was approached for Legally Blonde but backed away from the idea of playing Elle Woods.

At the time, she had just spent years playing Kelly Bundy on Married… with Children and feared another “blonde” comedy role would trap her in the same box. Years later, she called the decision a mistake, joking that it was a “stupid move,” while also praising Reese Witherspoon’s performance.

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer passed on Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs because the material felt too dark.

She later explained that the story disturbed her, especially the way evil seemed to win. But her regret was not only about missing an Oscar-winning film. She said the thing she most regretted was losing the chance to work again with director Jonathan Demme, with whom she had made Married to the Mob.

Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds passed on several major roles, but Han Solo became one of his clearest regrets.

Reynolds later said he simply did not want to play that kind of role at the time. Looking back, he admitted he regretted it and wished he had done it. The role went to Harrison Ford, whose career changed forever after Star Wars.

Madonna

Madonna has been surprisingly honest about the roles she wishes she had taken.

On The Tonight Show, she said she regretted turning down Catwoman in Batman Returns, calling Michelle Pfeiffer’s version “fierce.” She also revealed that she passed on a role in The Matrix, calling the movie one of the best ever and saying a part of her still regretted that decision.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry passed on Speed, and Sandra Bullock took the role that helped make her a movie star.

Berry later joked that she “stupidly” said no, though she also explained that the version she read at the time was not the final version audiences saw. She said the script she received was closer to what she called the “parking lot” version, before the role became the sharp, funny, high-energy character Bullock played opposite Keanu Reeves.

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington has named two roles he regrets passing on: Se7en and Michael Clayton.

When asked in a 2012 interview if there were roles he turned down that he should have taken, Washington answered quickly with those two titles. He said Michael Clayton was some of the best material he had read in a long time, but he was nervous about working with a first-time director and later realized he was wrong.

Matt Damon

Matt Damon’s Avatar story became famous because of the money involved.

Damon has said he passed on the chance to work with James Cameron because of his commitment to the Bourne franchise, and he has joked for years about missing out on a massive payday tied to Avatar’s box-office success.

Al Pacino

Al Pacino was offered Han Solo after The Godfather made him one of the hottest actors in Hollywood.

He later said he did not understand the Star Wars script and passed. In later interviews, he joked that he was “in the mood to make Harrison Ford a career,” because the role eventually went to Ford and became one of his signature parts.

John Travolta

John Travolta was offered Forrest Gump before Tom Hanks made the role famous.

Travolta has acknowledged passing on the film, though he has also said he does not lose sleep over it because he said yes to Pulp Fiction instead. That makes this one more complicated than pure regret. He missed a Best Picture-winning phenomenon, but he also chose the film that revived his career.

Emma Watson

Emma Watson was linked to the lead role in La La Land before Emma Stone starred opposite Ryan Gosling.

Watson later explained that the timing did not work because she was committed to Beauty and the Beast, and that project required months of preparation, singing, dancing, and filming. She said her heart was with Belle at that time.

Sean Connery

Sean Connery famously passed on Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

The widely repeated story is that he did not understand the material and turned it down. Later reporting has said that after the trilogy became a worldwide blockbuster, Connery regretted passing and tried to avoid repeating the same mistake when another fantasy-style script came along.

Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams reportedly passed on Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada during a period when she was stepping back from Hollywood’s pressure.

Anne Hathaway took the role, and the movie became one of the most rewatchable workplace comedies of the 2000s. Reports have grouped the role among major parts McAdams turned down while choosing a quieter path after a wave of sudden fame.

Molly Ringwald

Molly Ringwald has said she passed on Pretty Woman because the original material did not feel right to her.

She described feeling uncomfortable with the story and later said Julia Roberts was perfect for the role. That matters because the version Ringwald read was connected to a darker original concept before the film became the glossy romantic comedy audiences know.

Claire Danes

Claire Danes turned down Rose in Titanic, but she has said she does not regret it.

That makes her an unusual entry for this topic. She passed on one of the biggest movie roles of all time, but she later explained that she had just worked with Leonardo DiCaprio on Romeo + Juliet and did not want the overwhelming fame that Titanic eventually brought.