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When you’ve finally made it in Hollywood, you’re no longer having to hunt down small opportunities that could lead ot something bigger. Instead, offers start coming your way. Because of this, you want always get to do everything you want.
Previously, we’ve talked about stars turning down major roles. Whether it was Sandra Bullock turning down The Matrix, Mel Gibson declining Gladiator, or Amanda Seyfried turning away the MCU, some actors swerved left when they should have gone right.
This is what happened for Woody Harrelson years back, and we have the details below!
Woody Harrelson Had A Few Top Tier Roles Throughout His Career
During the 1970s, Woody Harrelson got his first taste of screen acting, and in the following decade, he would pound the pavement looking to secure roles that could thrust him into the limelight. Eventually, Harrelson found the right vehicles, and he’s been a featured performer in Hollywood ever since.
Whether it’s a classic show like Cheers, an iconic movie like White Men Can’t Jump, or a massive franchise like The Hunger Games, Harrelson has done it all.
Harrelson’s ability to consistently be in the right project at the right time has aided his career’s longevity, but even he has not been able to secure every role that’s come his way.
Woody Harrelson Missed Out On Several Major Films
At this point, it’s common knowledge that actors and actresses miss out on roles. We’ve all heard wild tales of actors turning down roles that lead to Oscar nominations (John Travolta turning down Forrest Gump), or even stories of actors being replaced in iconic movies that change the face of cinema (Eric Stoltz getting canned for Back to the Future comes to mind).
So, no on should be surprised to learn that even the great Woody Harrelson has had projects that he could not be part of, for one reason or another.
According to Not Starring, Harrelson has missed out on both Assassins, and A Time To Kill. Instead of landing those projects, Antonio Banderas snagged the former, and Matthew McConaughey got the latter.
Interestingly, Harrelson turned down two huge franchises at one point, but eventually, he wised up and changed his tune.
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“I turned down Hunger Games twice. I didn’t have any idea it would be that big, but I didn’t think it was a good part. I was wrong. It was a terrific part, and it was a terrific thing, but thank God [director] Gary Ross called me. And [executive] Alli Shearmur, too. I turned [the Han Solo movie] down twice, too, and the same person, Alli, wouldn’t take no for an answer,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Back in the ’90s, Harrelson missed out on a movie that became a colossal success, and spawned a number of iconic big screen catchphrases.
Woody Harrelson Didn’t Think A Film On An Agent Would Do Well
1996’s Jerry Maguire remains one of the biggest and best movies from the 1990s, and a lot of this is attributed to what the lead performers were able to do with the film’s fantastic script.
Prior to Tom Cruise landing and subsequently crushing the titular role in the movie, Woody Harrelson was the man that was up for the gig.
US Weekly stated that, “Woody Harrelson revealed that the part nearly went to him. “I was offered Jerry Maguire, and I said to Jim [producer James L. Brooks], ‘Nobody is going to give a s–t about an agent,’” the Cheers alum told Esquire for its September 2019 cover story. However, Harrelson could not have been more wrong about the 1996 film, which went on to earn favorable reviews from critics and drummed up $273.5 million at the global box office.”
Yeah, Harrelson was way off the mark, as Hollywood soon saw that people not only cared a lot about agents, but that they also care about a romantic plot, as well.
Not only was the movie a smash hit at the box office, but it was also nominated for a whopping 5 Academy Awards, one of which was a nomination for Tom Cruise for Best Actor. Though the movie missed out on some of the bigger categories, Cube Gooding Jr. did win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his electric performance in the film.
Woody Harrelson is hardly the first performer to turn down a role that led to an Oscar nomination, and he certainly won’t be the last. It just goes to show how difficult it can be to see the type of potential any given project has.
