Over the years some famous movie roles were almost handed to someone other than the actor you know. Both of Harrison Ford’s famous roles, Han Solo and Indiana Jones almost went to someone else. Matthew Broderick almost didn’t land Ferris Bueller, and John Travolta almost didn’t play Danny Zuko in Grease. Somewhere in an alternate universe, Harrison Ford is on a street corner in Hollywood begging for money. In the universe where we live, however, these are the people who came close to landing some famous roles.
Marilyn Monroe as Holly Golightly
Monroe and Capote | garuyo.com
Movie: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Played by: Audrey Hepburn
Hepburn is Golightly, now. Marilyn Monroe lacked the chops to play a character as quirky as Truman Capote’s famous ingénue… or, that’s how it seems in the rearview. As a point of fact, Capote wanted Monroe for the role. She turned it down as she thought it would mar her image. Oh, Marilyn.
Jack Nicholson as Michael Corleone
Movie: Godfather (1972)
Played by: Al Pacino
In that alternative universe, Pacino would have still been an actor, but without the role of Michael Corleone, we would not have witnessed the endless trail of good fellas churned out my Pacino and the Hollywood machine. Nicholson skipped the role because he felt, as he said in an interview with Movieline, “back then I believed that Indians should play Indians and Italians should play Italians.”