Rachel McAdams

In the mid aughts, Rachel McAdams was flying high thanks to her leading roles in the hit movies 'The Notebook' (2004) and 'Mean Girls' (2004). Naturally, the young star was inundated with offers after that, but instead of riding the wave, she took a two-year break from Hollywood. McAdams moved to Canada to take a breather and it's taken some hindsight to understand why. "It wasn’t quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane," she told Bustle. "There were definitely some anxious moments of wondering if I was just throwing it all away, and why was I doing that? It’s taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing.”

During that two-year period when McAdams was taking time out to rebalance herself, she turned down some of the biggest feature films of the decade. They included 'Iron man' (2008), 'The Devil Wears Prada' (2006), 'Mission: Impossible III' (2006), 'Get Smart' (2008), and 'Casino Royale' (2006). “I felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given," she recalled, but having seen the success of each of these films, she trusts that the right person got the job.

Madonna - Carrie-Anne Moss

On 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' Madonna revealed that she still has one big regret, and it's that she turned down a role in 'The Matrix.' "Can you believe that? I wanted to kill myself," she said. Though she didn’t specify which character, Trinity, ultimately played by Carrie-Anne Moss, was the only lead female role. “That's like one of the best movies ever made,” Madonna said. “A teeny-tiny part of me regrets just that one moment in my life.”

Rachael Leigh Cook - Anna Paquin

Everyone knows and loves the troubled mutant character Rogue portrayed by Anna Paquin in several 'X-Men' films, but what most people don't know is that the famed role could have been Rachael Leigh Cook's. The 'She's All That' actress revealed in an interview with The New York Times published August 29 that she had turned down the role in 2000's 'X-Men' to avoid acting on a green screen. "As soon as I saw the posters for it, I knew that'd made a mistake," she said, adding that the move a "huge misstep." Apparently it was a time in her career when people were trying to make sure that she would be taken seriously as an actress, and of course she wanted the same. But now she's left with regret, particularly after the continued success of the franchise to this day. "I definitely did things for the wrong reasons."

Alan Cumming - Kenneth Branagh

The actor told the Telegraph he was in the running to play Hogwarts professor Gilderoy Lockhart in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' in 2002, and revealed why he didn't take the coveted role. He explained that they wanted him to do a screen test but said they couldn't pay him more than a certain sum because they "didn’t have any more money in the budget," though he knew Rupert Everett was getting paid more under the same agent. "Blatantly lying, stupidly lying, as well. Like, if you’re going to lie, be clever about it." The actor added that he was surprised when Everett didn't even get the role, explaining, "They made him screen test, and I remember he brought his own wig. And then they gave it to Kenneth Branagh, came out of the shadows.”

Matt Damon - Sam Worthington

Owing to his filming schedule for 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (2007), Damon refused the starring role in 'Avatar,' according to Access. Worthington ended up playing the part instead.

Charlie Hunnam - Jamie Dornan

For a long time it was thought that Hunnam would play the role of Christian Grey in 'Fifty Shades of Grey' (2015). But according to Variety, the actor had to turn down the role due to personal reasons, and it was Dornan who ended up playing the character.

Emily Blunt - Scarlett Johansson

Blunt had been the first choice to play Black Widow in 'Iron Man 2' (2010). According to MTV, conflicts with other movies led Blunt to turn down the role, which went to Johansson instead.

Anne Hathaway - Rachel McAdams

'The Devil Wears Prada' has had an unexpectedly long-lasting impact on audiences, one which clearly wasn't apparent to the actresses who were first sought out for the lead role of Andy Sachs, ultimately played by Anne Hathaway. Ahead of the film's 15th anniversary, director David Frankel revealed that 'The Notebook' star Rachel McAdams turned down the role three times!

“The studio was determined to have her, and she was determined not to do it,” David Frankel told Entertainment Weekly of McAdams’ reluctance. The film’s studio, Fox 2000, had reportedly wanted an “established dramatic actress over Hathaway and her then teen-oriented filmography,” and some of the other actresses preferred over Hathaway included Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, and Kirsten Dunst. Hathaway has previously said she was the ninth choice to star in the film, but she never stopped campaigning for the role.

Emma Roberts - Ashley Benson

According to the New York Post, Roberts would have appeared in 'Spring Breakers' (2012), but creative differences meant that Benson ended up taking the part.

Jennifer Lawrence - Jennifer Jason Leigh

Variety states that Tarantino wanted Lawrence to appear in 'The Hateful Eight' (2015), but the actress was too busy with other movies and so her part went to Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Emma Watson - Emma Stone

Owing to her filming schedule for 'Beauty and the Beast' (2017), Watson had to refuse the part in 'La La Land' (2016), so it went to Stone instead. Entertainment Weekly says that Watson wasn't able to commit herself 100% to the project.

Hugh Jackman - Daniel Craig

According to Variety, Jackman received a call asking if he was interested in taking on the role of James Bond in 'Casino Royale' (2006). But in the end, Daniel Craig made the character his own.

Kevin Hart - Brandon T. Jackson

In an interview with the The Hollywood Reporter, Hart confirmed that he had turned down the role of Alpa Chino in 'Tropic Thunder' (2008) because he wasn't able to commit to the role 100%. Jackson took the role instead.

Al Pacino

The actor gave a talk in New York on April 19 2023 in which he revealed one of the major missed opportunities of his career. "When I first came up, I was the new kid on the block, you know what happens when you first become famous. It’s like, ‘Give it to Al.’ They’d give me Queen Elizabeth to play,” he joked. In the 1970s, he was given a script for 'Star Wars' and invited to play the role of Han Solo. Pacino couldn't understand what the heck it was all about, so he passed. "I gave Harrison Ford a career!" he told the audience. Ford famously played Han Solo for the first time in the 1977 movie 'Star Wars,' and went on to play the iconic character four more times, once as recently as 2019 in the movie 'The Rise of Skywalker.' Pacino may have missed out on the massively successful 'Star Wars' franchise, but it certainly doesn't seem to have harmed his career.

Angela Bassett - Halle Berry

Actress Angela Bassett refused a role in 'Monster's Ball' (2001) because she didn't want to play a prostitute, according to People. Halle Berry got the part instead, and an Oscar for her performance!

Lindsay Lohan - Heather Graham

According to US Weekly the producers of 'The Hangover' (2009) had earmarked Lohan for the role of Jade, but unfortunately the actress turned the role down. In the end, it was Graham who took the part.

Matthew McConaughey - Kurt Russell

In an interview with Playboy, McConaughey revealed that he had turned down a part in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' (2017) for one in 'The Dark Tower' (2017). Russell took on his rejected role instead.

Jennifer Hudson - Gabourey Sidibe

According to the Huffington Post, Hudson refused to play the main role in 'Precious' (2009). Sidibe played the part instead.

Michael B. Jordan - Corey Hawkins

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dr. Dre wanted Jordan to act in 'Straight Outta Compton' (2015), but he was filming 'Fantastic Four' and so Hawkins got the role instead.

Reese Witherspoon - Neve Campbell

According to The Telegraph, the production team on 'Scream' (1996) asked Witherspoon to play the role of Sidney. But she refused, and so Campbell played the role instead.

Sarah Michelle Gellar - Elisa Donovan

According to Vanity Fair, the production team for 'Clueless' (1995) wanted Gellar to appear in the movie. But as that was impossible, Donovan was chosen.

Selena Gomez - Demi Lovato

TigerBeat reported that Gomez was the first choice to play Mitchie Torres in 'Camp Rock.' Since she turned the role down, it went to Lovato.

Jake Gyllenhaal - Joel Kinnaman

According to Variety, Gyllenhaal refused the role of Rick Flag in 'Suicide Squad' (2016), so it went to Kinnaman.

Chiwetel Ejiofor - Andrew Scott

According to an article published in Variety, director Sam Mendes wanted Scott to play the role of C in 'Spectre' (2015) because he could be paid US$1 million less than Ejiofor.

Willow Smith - Quvenzhané Wallis

According to Entertainment Tonight, Smith turned down the main role in 'Annie' (2014) as she was on tour. Wallis took the part instead.

Zendaya - Alexandra Shipp

Zendaya was chosen to play the role of Aaliyah in the biopic about the singer. The choice was a controversial one, as the NY Daily News reports, and Zendaya ended up abandoning the project. Shipp took the part instead.