From Emma Watson to Tom Selleck: Ten stars who narrowly missed out on iconic movie roles that would have changed their career

It’s hard to imagine the world’s biggest and most beloved movies with different famous faces portraying the characters we know and love.

The thought of anyone but Leonardo DiCaprio taking on the role of Jack alongside Kate Winslet’s Rose in Titanic is unfathomable –  and the idea that Tom Selleck could have been Indiana Jones in place of Harrison Ford is hard for film fans to imagine.

Undoubtedly, Hollywood actors have a lot to consider when they decide whether or not to commit on a role, and sometimes it’s out of their control completely and they narrowly miss out on the part they were gunning for.

Anya Taylor-Joy decided the risk wasn’t worth it when she dropped out of critical smash Nosferatu in June, with Lily Rose Depp taking her place as the film’s lead.

The French-American actress has since received rave reviews for her performance in the haunting remake, which has left some fans questioning whether Anya regrets her decision.

Here, MailOnline takes a look back at 10 actors who walked away from or narrowly missed out on iconic roles…

Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones

Harrison Ford’s name is synonymous with Indiana Jones.

The actor has played the buccaneering archaeologist in five films, starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981.

But he was actually only cast in the role after his fellow star Tom Selleck – famous for his bushy moustache – dropped out of the role.

In a panel discussion earlier last year, Harrison said he was ‘grateful’ to Tom, who is now best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum.

‘How I got the job? Tom Selleck had the job, but he also incurred an obligation to do a television series and he was unable to get out of that contract,’ he said.

‘I became the second choice, and I’m very grateful for Tom. Thank you, Tom, man. If you’re listening, thank you again.’

Lisa Maxwell as Daphne Moon in Frasier  

Lisa Maxwell was originally lined up for the part of Daphne Moon in Frasier after auditioning in 1993, but the part eventually went to Jane Leeves.

Lisa’s agent had told her that she had already bagged the part, when really, she was just auditioning.

At the time, Lisa was best known for playing Samatha Nixon in the popular British crime drama The Bill.

Thinking she already had the part secured and she was attending a consultation, she turned up to her audition and criticised the script, which didn’t go down very well with producers.

The next day, she was told she didn’t get the part and in an interview with The Mirror, she admitted: ‘I’d never cried over losing a job before, but I cried over that.

‘Frasier went on to be a massive hit and made a fortune for Jane Leeves, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for me. It was a huge lesson. It shook my belief that amazing things would happen for me.’

Emma Watson as Mia in La La Land  

Emma Stone won the highest accolade in the movie world for her all-singing, all-dancing performance in La La Land.

But the role was originally pencilled in for British superstar Emma Watson, who ended up starring in Beauty And The Beast instead.

The star confessed that she turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts during a Town Hall event in New York with Entertainment Weekly Radio SiriusXM in 2017.

She said: ‘It’s one of these frustrating things where sort of names get attached to projects very early on as a way to kind of build anticipation or excitement for something that’s coming before anything is really actually agreed or set in stone.’ 

Emma, who had been committed to Beauty and the Beast for years, just did not feel she could fulfil the requirements of both performances.

The brunette beauty explained: ‘I knew I had horse training, I knew I had dancing, I knew I had three months of singing ahead of me, and I knew I had to be in London to really do that.

‘And this wasn’t a movie I could just kind of parachute into. I knew I had to do the work, and I had to be where I had to be. So scheduling conflict-wise, it just didn’t work out.’

Al Pacino as Han Solo in Star Wars 

The iconic role of Han Solo shot Harrison Ford to superstardom.

Yet Star Wars could have been a very different movie, as Hollywood hard man Al Pacino was initially offered the role – yet he snubbed the sci-fi franchise.

The actor, now 84,  revealed he could have snared the part of the human smuggler in the movies, starting with the first film in the original trilogy in 1977, although he struggled to follow the plot.

When he sat down to chat at An Evening With Pacino previously, the Scarface actor candidly revealed he did not understand the storyline of the intergalactic tale.

He said: ‘It was mine for the taking but I didn’t understand the script.’

The original trilogy of the George Lucas-created movies, which ran from 1977 to 1983, acted to create some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. 

Anya Taylor-Joy as Ellen Hutter in Nosferatu

Most recently, Anya Taylor-Joy dropped her role as the vampire victim Ellen Hutter in Robert Egger’s upcoming reboot of the 1992 horror film, Nosferatu.

Development on the film began years ago with Anya first linked to the project in 2017. Harry Styles was linked in 2022 before he also dropped out. 

The actress reportedly let the role go due to scheduling conflicts.

She was replaced by Lily Rose Depp, who has garnered heaps of acclaim from critics in the role that could have been Anya’s. 

The French-American actress, 25 – who is the daughter of actor Johnny Depp and singer Vanessa Paraids – has received rave reviews for her role in the haunting remake.

The Hollywood Reporter concluded that the ‘movie belongs to Depp, whose performance is a revelation’. 

Matthew McConaughey as Jack Dawson in Titanic

Matthew McConaughey was reportedly handpicked picked by Paramount Studios to play Jack Dawnson in Titanic, but narrowly missed out on the role.

The actor, now 55, auditioned alongside Kate Winslet before bosses insisted on recruiting Leonardo DiCaprio instead.

In 2021, he lifted the lid on his audition for the iconic role on Rob Lowe’s podcast Literally! with Rob Lowe.

He recalled: ‘So I went and read with Kate Winslet and it was not one of the auditions – they filmed it so it was like into screen test time.

‘After we left, you know, it was one of those ones where they, like, followed me and when we got outside they were like, ‘That went great.’ I mean, kind of, like, hugs. I really thought it was going to happen. It did not.’

Amy Schumer as Barbie  

After it’s worldwide success and notoriety, it’s hard to imagine anyone but Margot Robbie portraying Barbie in the beloved live action 2023 movie.

However, hardcore fans will know that actress and comedian Amy Schumer was originally cast to play the doll.

She was attached to the film when it was announced back in 2016 but made a swift exit the following year.

At the same time, the film which was originally being developed at Sony, moved to Warner Bros.

Speaking on the chat show Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen last June, Amy explained: ‘I think we said it was scheduling conflicts. That’s what we said. But it really was just like, creative differences. 

‘But there’s a new team behind it and it looks like it’s very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing this movie.’

Host Andy went on to ask: ‘Was it that it didn’t seem feminist and cool when you were involved in it?,’ to which the actress responded: ‘Yeah’.

The actress also told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2022 that Sony Pictures, ‘definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it.’ 

George Clooney as Noah in The Notebook   

In 2020, George Clooney revealed that he almost starred in popular romance The Notebook.

The actor originally planned to play the lead that later went to Ryan Gosling, while his friend Paul Newman was set to play him as an older man.

‘We were going to do The Notebook together,’ Clooney explained in an interview with Deadline. 

‘Basically, I was going to play him as a young man, and it was funny. We met and said, “This is it. It’s going to be great.’

But his excitement faded away after he watched some of the Cool Hand Luke star’s greatest films and realized he wouldn’t be a believable younger version of Newman.

‘He’s one of the handsomest guys you’ve ever seen. We met up [again] and I said, “I can’t play you. I don’t look anything like you. This is insane,”‘ he continued.

‘We just wanted to do it because we wanted to work together, [but] it ended up being not the right thing for us to do.’

John Travolta as Forrest Gump 

Forrest Gump is a cult classic film, well-known for its memorable quotes, touching story and unforgettable perfornance from Tom Hanks, making it one of the actor’s most famous roles.

Buy at one point, actor John Travolta was in the running to play the famous titular character in the nineties movie.

However, he turned it down for his equally famous part in Pulp Fiction.

The movie became a massive box office hit after its premiere in 1994, and to this day is famous for its dark humour, unexpected twists, and graphic violence. 

Ironically,Tom and John ended up going up against one another for the Best Actor Oscar Award, which Tom ultimately won.

Will Smith as Neo in The Matrix

Finally, Will Smith was the first choice over Keanu Reeves for Neo in The Matrix – a film, and franchise, that went on to set a new standard in the action/sci-fi genre.

In 2019, the actor shared the real story why he turned down the lucrative part in a video he posted on his YouTube channel called, ‘Why I Turned Down The Matrix: Storytime.

It was 1997, and Smith was coming off a huge hit with Independence Day, when he made the tough decision to turn down Men In Black. 

‘I had done Independence Day the year before. So I was like, I’m not going to do another alien movie; I don’t want to be the alien movie guy,’ he said in the video.

He would eventually agree to do MIB, after a chat with producer Steven Spielberg, which also went on to become a big hit.

Coming off the success of two sci-fi films, The Maxtrix was pitched to Will by the writers and directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski.

At the time of the story pitch, the Wachowskis had done only one movie – and Will didn’t quite understand the vision.

‘As it turns out they’re geniuses. But there’s a fine line between genius and what I experienced in the meeting.’

It was at this point in the YouTube video that Smith turned his baseball cap backwards and reenacted the pitch meeting, acting as the Wachowskis.

‘So, dude, we’re thinking like, like imagine you’re in a fight and then you, like, jump. Imagine if you could stop jumping in the middle of the jump. But then, people could see around you… 360 while you’re jumping.

He added: ‘And then we’re going to invent these cameras. And then people can see the whole jump, while you stop in the middle of the jump.’

Will then paused for several seconds, staring straight into the camera, and humbly confessed: ‘So I made Wild Wild West.’

The action-comedy western that co-starred Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek was a critical and commercial disappointment.

‘I’m not proud of it,’ Smith added. ‘But… Keanu [Reeves] was perfect. Laurence Fishbourne was perfect.’

He ended the video by admitted that he didn’t think The Matrix would have been as commercially successful had he taken the role.

‘I probably would’ve messed The Matrix up, I would’ve ruined it. So I did y’all a favor.’