By Iris Goldsztajn
10:44am PST, Jan 19, 2026
Michael B. Jordan: Dr. Dre, Straight Outta Compton
Corey Hawkins perfectly portrayed a young
Dr. Dre in 2015's
Straight Outta Compton, but another talented actor almost took his place.
Michael B. Jordan was reportedly Dre's top pick to play him, but the
Sinners actor couldn't make it work because he was already committed to
The Fantastic Four, per
The Hollywood Reporter.
Julia Roberts: Annie Reed, Sleepless in Seattle
It's hard — nay, darn near impossible — to imagine anyone but
Meg Ryan in the rom-com classic
Sleepless in Seattle, yet the 1993 movie very nearly starred
Julia Roberts as Annie Reed. Roberts once told
InStyle that she'd been offered the role but "couldn't do it," not revealing any further details (via
ABC News).
Emma Stone: Alice, Alice in Wonderland
Emma Stone could have played the titular character in 2010's
Alice in Wonderland instead of
Mia Wasikowska, but it wasn't that much of a close call. "
Tim Burton's a crusher," Stone told
Timothée Chalamet for
Variety's
Actors on Actors series in 2018. "Oh, my God, when I auditioned for
Alice in Wonderland, and not getting a Tim Burton movie is really devastating."
Vince Vaughn: Joey Tribbiani, Friends
Matt LeBlanc IS Joey Tribbiani… but he almost wasn't! Casting director
Ellie Kanner told
HuffPost in 2015 that
Vince Vaughn auditioned for the role of airhead heartthrob Joey, noting he was "handsome and tall" and a "good actor," but he ultimately wasn't the right choice for the show.
Blake Lively: Karen Smith, Mean Girls
Amanda Seyfried was a perfect Karen Smith, but the original
Mean Girls cast was totally shuffled around before the final cast came together. "I'd first auditioned for Regina," Seyfried explained to
Vanity Fair in 2023. "I'd flown out to L.A. for the first time with my mother. It was very exciting, I met
Lacey Chabert for the first time, and
Lindsay Lohan was in the room, and
Blake Lively was playing Karen, and I was Regina. I flew home, and they were like, 'You know what, we think you're more correct for Karen.'"
Jane Krakowski: Rachel Green, Friends
According to
30 Rock star
Jane Krakowski, nearly everyone tried to land a role on
Friends in the mid-'90s, herself included. "I, like almost every actor in the world, auditioned for
Friends," Krakowski told
E! in 2015 (via
Us Weekly). "I wish I had gotten that one. I actually auditioned for Rachel and didn't go very far."
We're spinning out at the thought of anyone but
Jennifer Aniston ever playing Rachel Green.
Matthew McConaughey: Jack Dawson, Titanic
Matthew McConaughey lost the role of Jack Dawson in
Titanic when he refused to try a scene in a Wisconsin accent rather than in his own Texan one, producer
Jon Landau revealed in his memoir. Up until then, he was a favorite for the part and even read with
Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater. You don't need us to tell you that the role went to
Leonardo DiCaprio instead.
Taylor Lautner: Shane Gray, Camp Rock
Taylor Lautner as Shane Gray? Honestly, we can see it. "Taylor Lautner did audition, and we liked him a lot,"
Camp Rock director
Matthew Diamond told
Business Insider in 2023. In the end, though, decision-makers felt that Lautner wasn't "quite Shane Gray enough," and the iconic Disney Channel role went to
Joe Jonas. Lautner went on to find his big break in
Twilight instead, so all's well that ends well.
Will Smith: Neo, The Matrix
Will Smith was offered the legendary role of Neo in
The Matrix, but it went to
Keanu Reeves. His reason for turning it down? "I didn't get it," he told SiriusXM's
Sway In The Morning in 2025, explaining that the pitch the filmmakers made to him didn't make any sense. "I was like, 'I'm making
Wild Wild West,'" Smith said. However, he admitted to regretting this choice once he saw the movie.
Christina Applegate: Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods is everything to us — but had
Christina Applegate portrayed the pink-clad genius, we wouldn't have been mad either. In fact, Applegate was actually offered the role at the time, but declined because she felt the vibe was too similar to
Married…With Children. "Um, big f****** mistake," she joked to
Vanity Fair in 2023. "I'd have Witherspoon money!"
Eminem: Max Rockatansky, Mad Max: Fury Road
This one's pretty rogue, but we're kind of into it:
Eminem could have played the titular character in
Mad Max: Fury Road instead of
Tom Hardy. Director
George Miller told
Vulture of possibly casting the rapper, "He'd done
8 Mile, and I found that really interesting — I thought, 'He's got that quality.'" In the end, they contacted Eminem, but he didn't want to leave the U.S. to film in Australia.
Tom Selleck: Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark
A somewhat mind-blowing fun fact:
Tom Selleck could have played Indiana Jones instead of
Harrison Ford. "I was offered the role and wanted it, but I had done a pilot of
Magnum," Selleck told
TODAY With Hoda & Jenna in 2024. "And
Steven Spielberg and
George Lucas kept the offer out to me. They said, 'We'll work it out, and you can do both.' And the more they wanted me, the more CBS said, 'No, we don't want to let him do it.'" Selleck said he had no regrets.
Beyoncé: Ally, A Star Is Born
A different pop diva could have ended up as Ally in 2018's
A Star Is Born. When
Bradley Cooper started working on the movie, he met with
Beyoncé. "I went to Beyoncé's house, and
Jay-Z was watching
Judge Judy, I still remember," he said as part of
SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations. "And she was incredible, and so was he, and we developed it for like a year together. I mean, she's one of the greatest people of all time. And then that fell through."
Adele was considered next, before
Lady Gaga emerged as the frontrunner.
Liam Hemsworth: Thor, Thor
Sounds like family dinners were awkward for a while. You may think that
Chris Hemsworth was the obvious choice to portray Thor, but his brother
Liam Hemsworth really wanted the role, too. Liam auditioned and was initially considered for the role, while Chris was not, before the situation reversed and Chris ultimately landed the superhero part, he told
Vanity Fair.
Molly Ringwald: Vivian Ward, Pretty Woman
From
Pretty in Pink to
Pretty Woman would have been quite the cinematic graduation for
Molly Ringwald. She was offered the role, but she wasn't interested. "
Julia Roberts was wonderful in it, but I didn't really like the story," she told
The Guardian in 2023. "Even then, I felt like there was something icky about it."
Emma Watson: Mia Dolan, La La Land
If you can believe it,
Emma Stone's 2017 Best Actress Oscar for
La La Land could have never materialized. It was her namesake,
Emma Watson, who was originally slated for the role of Mia Dolan. Unfortunately, the
Harry Potter star couldn't do it because her prep for
Beauty and the Beast was just too intense. "So, you know, scheduling conflict-wise, it just didn't work out," she told
Vanity Fair.
John Travolta: Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump
John Travolta was reportedly the first choice to star as the titular character in
Forrest Gump, but turned it down to film
Pulp Fiction instead, per
Collider.
Tom Hanks landed the coveted role.
Rachel McAdams: Andy Sachs, The Devil Wears Prada
Rachel McAdams turned down the role of Andy Sachs in
The Devil Wears Prada as well as several other iconic roles at the same time. Though she admitted to
Bustle that she has some regrets about that, "I step back and go, 'That was the right person for that.'" In this case, that "right person" was
Anne Hathaway.
Jennifer Lawrence: Bella Swan, Twilight
Jennifer Lawrence auditioned to play Bella Swan in
Twilight, but it didn't go very well. "They turned me down immediately," she once
revealed. "I didn't even get a callback." The movies launched
Kristen Stewart's career instead.
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Amber Mariens, Clueless
Ugh, as if!
Sarah Michelle Gellar was the frontrunner for the role of Cher's enemy Amber in
Clueless, but things didn't work out. "I really loved Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was on
All My Children at the time," producer
Adam Schroeder told
Vanity Fair (via
People). "She played Erica Kane's daughter, and she was just kind of wicked, beautiful. I showed Amy tapes of her. We ended up offering her the part of Amber. There became a big negotiation for
All My Children to let her out. It was just for a couple of weeks, and they absolutely stuck their feet in [and] wouldn't let her." The part went to
Elisa Donovan.
John Krasinski: Steve "Captain America" Rogers, Captain America
John Krasinski was seriously considered as Captain America, going as far as doing a screen test and trying on the suit — but he got put off by …
Chris Hemsworth's biceps? Krasinski told Conan O'Brien (via
GQ), "The only bummer of [the audition] was, I was putting on the suit…and I got to right about my waist, I was still shirtless, feeling pretty good about myself — it wasn't
13 Hours yet — but I felt pretty good, and all of a sudden
Chris Hemsworth walked by as Thor and he's like, 'Hey, mate,' and I went, 'I'm good. This is stupid. It's okay. I'm not Captain America.'" The part eventually went to a different Chris,
Chris Evans.
Ben Affleck: Josh Lucas, Clueless
Ben Affleck's first major role in Hollywood was in
Good Will Hunting in 1997, but he could have another couple of years of A-lister status had he been cast as Josh Lucas in 1995's
Clueless. Casting director
Carrie Frazier told
Vanity Fair (via
People), "I brought in Ben Affleck for the role of Josh. I thought he would be fabulous for it. I was really trying to get Ben Affleck the part." But the stars weren't aligned, and
Paul Rudd pinched the iconic role.
Gwen Stefani: Jane Smith, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
We'd rather not imagine the breaches in the space-time continuum had
Gwen Stefani landed the leading role in
Mr. & Mrs. Smith over
Angelina Jolie. Stefani revealed to
Ellen DeGeneres she'd auditioned for the part, with the No Doubt singer quipping, "That could've been a different
story!" (via
People).
Claire Danes: Rose DeWitt Bukater, Titanic
Just as
Matthew McConaughey could have been the Jack to our Rose,
Claire Danes could have been the Rose to our Jack. The actress was offered the leading role that went to
Kate Winslet, but turned it down because she'd just filmed
Romeo and Juliet with
Leonardo DiCaprio. "'Honestly, I had just made this romantic epic with Leo in Mexico City, which is where they were going to shoot
Titanic, and I just didn't have it in me," she told
Dax Shepard on the "Armchair Expert" podcast
(via
ELLE UK).
Emily Blunt: Natalia "Black Widow" Romanoff, Iron Man 2
Emily Blunt could have been Black Widow, but had to abide by her contract for
Gulliver's Travels instead, she
told Howard Stern. Still, she holds no hard feelings toward
Scarlett Johansson: "Come on, the best girl got it," she once
said.
Mindy Kaling: Lillian Donovan, Bridesmaids
Mindy Kaling was up for the role of Lillian (the bride) in
Bridesmaids and was devastated when she missed out, she once
admitted to
Andy Cohen. In the end, the role went to the inimitable
Maya Rudolph.
Renee Zellweger: Jenna Rink, 13 Going on 30
Renee Zellweger was reportedly up for the role of Jenna in 2004's
13 Going on 30, per
BuzzFeed.
Jennifer Garner ended up being the right person for the job.
Viggo Mortensen: Wolverine, X-Men
Question: If
Viggo Mortensen had been Wolverine, would
he be besties with
Ryan Reynolds in lieu of
Hugh Jackman? We'd rather not think about it. Anyway, the
Lord of the Rings star almost led the
X-Men franchise, but he turned down the opportunity because he didn't really want to do a franchise film (ironically). "The thing that bothered me at the time was just the commitment of endless movies of that same character over and over," he said on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast (via
NME).
