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Emma Roberts was offered the role of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad but turned it down, choosing to star in Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens instead. Margot Robbie was eventually cast as Harley.
Quentin Tarantino wrote the role of Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight with Jennifer Lawrence in mind but due to a packed schedule, she had to decline the role, which ultimately went to Jennifer Jason Leigh (and got her her first Oscar nomination as well).
Jennifer Lawrence was offered the role of Alice in Steve McQueen’s Widows but turned it down. It eventually went to actress Elizabeth Debicki.
Vince Vaughn, Zooey Deschanel, Mark Wahlberg and Angelina Jolie were all attached to Silver Linings Playbook at one point or another, with the roles ultimately going to Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence who both received Oscar nominations for the movie.
Tom Cruise was offered the role of Edward Scissorhands in Tim Burton’s movie of the same name but turned it down because Burton couldn’t answer specific questions, like how the character went to the bathroom, for him.
Nicolas Cage was cast as the lead in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler but dropped out because he felt that he couldn’t bulk up enough in time for the role. Mickey Rourke was eventually cast.
Al Pacino was approached to star as Han Solo in Star Wars but turned it down because he couldn’t “grasp the script”. The now-iconic role went to Harrison Ford in the end.
Emma Stone was originally cast as Meg in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women but had to drop out due to promotional commitments for The Favourite. Emma Watson was eventually cast in the role.
Jordan Peele offered Tiffany Haddish the role of Georgina, which ultimately went to Betty Gabriel, in Get Out but she turned it down because she wasn’t a fan of horror movies.
Selena Gomez was offered the role of Mitchie Torres in Camp Rock but turned it down, recommending Demi Lovato, her best friend at the time, to the producers instead. The role ended up launching Lovato’s career.
Nicolas Cage passed on the role of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy because he felt like he couldn’t commit three years of his life to the production. The role was eventually played by Viggo Mortensen instead.
Tom Hardy was cast to play Elton John in Rocketman but after the film got stuck in development hell, he dropped out and was replaced with Taron Egerton.
Mark Wahlberg was originally cast as the lead in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko but dropped out due to creative differences; he wanted the character to have a lisp while Kelly didn’t. The role eventually went to Jake Gyllenhaal.
Ryan Gosling was set to star in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones but after he gained 60 pounds because he thought the character should be overweight, he was fired and replaced with Mark Wahlberg, leaving him, in his own words, “fat and unemployed”.
Harry Styles auditioned for and got the part of Prince Eric in Disney’s live action The Little Mermaid remake but ended up turning it down for undisclosed reasons. Jonah Hauer-King was eventually cast instead.
Emilia Clarke was offered the lead role of Anastasia Steele in the 50 Shades franchise but turned it down, fearing she would get typecast due to the nudity involved in both this and Game of Thrones. Dakota Johnson ultimately landed the role instead.
