5. MICHELLE PFEIFFER COULD’VE BEEN IN SILENCE OF THE LAMBS AND BASIC INSTINCT
Michelle Pfeiffer began her career with a part in Grease 2 in 1982 and quickly became a worldwide sensation. She has since received three Academy Award nominations, as well as BAFTAs and Golden Globes. Some of her more memorable movies are The Witches of Eastwick, Dangerous Liaisons, and I Could Never Be Your Woman. It was her performance in Brian De Palma’s thrilling crime drama Scarface that really caught the public’s attention.
Pfeiffer was offered the parts of Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs and Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct but in the end turned down both. She felt the subject matter of the former was too dark and that there was too much nudity in the latter. It seems a shame for Pfeiffer at least but Jodie Foster’s portrayal is stunning, with a child-like edge that comes with Foster’s natural demeanor.
4. MOLLY RINGWALD COULD’VE BEEN IN PRETTY WOMAN
After being spotted in a small stage production of the musical Annie, Molly Ringwald was offered a part in the TV series The Facts of Life. She then went on to star in over 15 other TV productions including The Outer Limits and Raising Expectations. Her film work also grew in tandem with her TV work and she is credited with films such as Not Another Teen Movie and King Cobra. She won a special MTV Movie Award, the Silver Bucket of Excellence, in 2005 for the 1985 film The Breakfast Club.
Lined up to play Vivian Ward in the 1990 comedy Pretty Woman, Ringwald instead left the United States and settled in France, withdrawing from public life and hanging around cafes. Had she taken the part she would have been remembered for one of the biggest blockbusters of the millennium and we assume would have reaped the financial rewards too.
3. JULIA ROBERTS COULD’VE BEEN IN THE BLIND SIDE, THE PROPOSAL, AND SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
Here are another three big films that Julia Roberts passed over but, really, did such decisions affect her acting career in any way? We don’t think so, especially when we learn that she has amassed over $464 million in production profit from Pretty Woman alone. It would be interesting to have known from an aesthetic point of view how Roberts might have fared in these three films.
Three years after Pretty Woman, Roberts passed over the role of Annie Reed in Sleepless in Seattle which ended up being a hug box-office success. Meg Ryan seems more suited to the role and is more hard-edged than Roberts. Roberts also passed on two roles taken by Sandra Bullock, including the part of Leigh Anne Touhy in The Blind Side. Roberts wasn't too short of major movies however, given the success of, among others, her leading role in the movie about Erin Brockovich of the same name.
2. NICOLAS CAGE COULD’VE BEEN THE WRESTLER
Nicolas Cage was born in 1964 and began acting in 1983 in the film Valley Girl. He then went on to achieve wider recognition for his portrayals of characters in films such as Peggy Sue Got Married, Moonstruck, and Red Rock West. In his time, he has received Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and in 1995 a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as an alcoholic Hollywood writer in Leaving Las Vegas.
After Mikey Rourke was sidelined for the film The Wrestler, director Darren Aronofsky approached Cage as the stand in. However, Cage was not keen on the idea of playing a wrestler who was battling with addiction to steroids and believed he would not attain the stature needed for a realistic portrayal. He therefore declined the part. Aronofsky was able to secure Rourke after all and the film was released to critical acclaim.
1. TOM CRUISE COULD’VE BEEN IN FOOTLOOSE
Tom Cruise has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards. He began his career in 1981 at the age of 19 in the film Endless Love and has since been credited with over 46 hugely successful titles. These include Mission: Impossible, Vanilla Sky, War of the Worlds, and Jack Reacher to name but a few. He is also credited with singing nine of the songs on the soundtrack of Rock of Ages.
Cruise was offered the part of Ren McCormack in the 1984 film Footloose but turned it down reluctantly due to scheduling conflicts. Luckily, the charismatic Kevin Bacon stepped in and the film turned out to be a huge success earning over $80 million at the box office. Although critics gave mixed impressions of the flick, Bacon came out glowing. “Bacon gives a cocky but likeable Mr. Cool performance,” wrote the New York Magazine in 1984.