Some characters can forever change an interpreter's career, either for better or for worse. In Hollywood, they have learned the lesson very well and the stars are very careful about assuming roles that they believe do not suit them. We remember 7 different cases of actors and actresses who said no to juicy roles out of fear.
Denzel Washington
Scared Denzel Washington? We might think that this big cat cannot fear any challenge, no matter how tricky it may seem. But the script for 'Seven' (David Fincher, 1995) seemed to him "too dark and evil", even enough to dirty his pristine image. Morgan Freeman took over the role of him and has since played God, and the President of the United States, so no one would say that his image was tarnished because of that cardboard box.
Bette Midler
"My fans don't want to see me in a toga," Bette Midler said in an interview when asked why she had rejected the role of Deloris in 'Sister Act: A nun of Care' (1992), one of the most relevant in her career. by Whoopi Goldberg. Midler feared the rejection of her followers, perhaps because the script was not read well, since in reality, Deloris was not just any nun. She actually wasn't even a nun, was she?
Brad Pitt
As a producer of the film, Brad Pitt has a brief role in '12 Years of Slavery' (Steve McQueen, 2013). But initially, he considered taking on a bigger role, that of slaver Edwin Epps for which Michael Fassbender received an Oscar nomination. He turned it down, fearing what his young children would think of him if they saw him playing such a ruthless character.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Jonathan Demme fell in love with Michelle Pfeiffer when he directed her in 'Married to Everybody' (1988). So much so that years later he thought of her to play Clarice Sterling in 'The Silence of the Lambs'. But Pfeiffer, overwhelmed by the novel's darkness and violence, did not see herself drawn into such a thing, and she declined the proposal. Jodie Foster should still be thanking you.
Emily Watson
Although today it is impossible to imagine 'Amelie' (2001) without Audrey Tautou, the truth is that the director Jean-Pierre Jeunet thought of another actress as the first choice for the film. Emily Watson was chosen, but the actress rejected the proposal because she did not know how to speak French and she was afraid of not being credible even if she learned the language and her phrases perfectly.
Jennifer Hudson
Although it was published that the Oscar winner of 'Dreamgirls', Jennifer Hudson, rejected the leading role of 'Precious' (Lee Daniels, 2009) for "weighty" reasons (they said that she did not want to gain weight to play the character that Gabourey finally embodied Sibide), the reason was rather the fear of the situations that Precious had to face according to the script of the film. "I felt that the character, at least in the script they gave me, was going places that I didn't want to go and didn't need to go to," the actress explained in an interview.
Mark Wahlberg
"Displaced". She thus confessed to Mark Wahlberg years ago after reading the script (actually not the entire script, but only the first 15 pages) of 'Brokeback Mountain'. The producers thought of him for the role that Jake Gyllenhaal finally assumed, but Wahlberg was afraid to get involved in a project that was advertised as "the first gay western in history". It is understandable, although we assume that today he will be thinking that he was wrong.
