Now we all know that people do not like looking back at mistakes they have made in the past, and Michelle is no exception to the rule, but I thought this would be quite interesting. Michelle is undoubtedly an A-List star, meaning that she is among that select group of actresses who are given the option of looking at certain scripts before they are sent to other lesser stars.Usually you don't think, or even know, about the roles the stars turn down, so I thought it would be intruiging to look at some of the hit films Michelle has turned down...
But before that, let's see what some
directors think of Michelle's hesitancy around committing to
certain projects:
George Miller: 'I think one of the problems has been the choices
she has made. She's a hesitant decider- she tends to withdraw
when she get's scared. And what we really ought to be doing is
what scares us most.'
Frankie & Johnny director Garry Marshall said the following: 'She never says, "I shoulda." She doesn't dwell.'
Let's take a look at a gallery of roles that almost were...
| Basic Instinct (1992) |  |
Michelle was one of
the actresses offered the role of bisexual author
Catherine Trammel. She did consider taking it, but flatly
refused to do the nude scenes with Michael Douglas.
Instead, she asked for the sex scenes to be toned down or
rewritten, but that didn't happen. The result: Sharon Stone stepped into the sensational role to become an international star. Michelle's regrets: None really |
| Sleepless in Seattle (1993) |
 |
Michelle was offered
the role of journalist Annie Reed but eventually turned
it down. The result: Meg Ryan notched up another Romantic comedy hit on her CV, and the film grossed $126.7 million in the USA alone. Michelle's regrets: 'I kind of liked the script. But I thought, "Oh right! Some woman is going to fly all the way to Seattle for some man" and I got too logical. When I saw the movie I thought, "You're such an ass! It's such a nice movie and you should have been in it."' |
| Disclosure (1994) |  |
If you look at the
book Disclosure by Michael Crichton, the
description of Meredith Johnson bears a very close
resemblance to Michelle. But once again the script did
not appeal to Michelle when she was offered the role in
this sensationalist sexual harassment film, and she
turned it down. The result: The film went on to take $80.6 million at the US Box Office Michelle's regrets: None that she's voiced. |
| Lorenzo's Oil (1992) |
 |
The part of Michaela
Odone in the true story of Lorenzo's Oil was
originally Michelle's. She almost committed but dropped
out, just after Andy Garcia, originally Nick Nolte's
role, did as well. Director George Miller said the
following about Michelle's cold feet: 'Michelle met
Michaela and sort of got this sense that she wasn't up to
the role. It's thsi terrible inferiority she's got about
being uneducated. You know, she said, "I'm from
Orange County, and I worked as a checkout girl." And
I kept saying, " And you're extremely
intelligent."' The result: An Oscar nomination for Susan Sarandon Michelle's regrets: None that she's voiced |
| The Silence of the Lambs (1991) |
 |
Director Johnathan
Demme's first choice for the role of FBI agent Clarice
Starling was Michelle Pfeiffer. Michelle however, after
struggling with a decision to committ, eventually dropped
out of the project. The result: Jodie Foster stepped in and won her 2nd Best Actress Oscar. Michelle's reason for her actions and her regrets: 'The reason was I was nervous about the subject matter. I was concerned about the glorification of serial killers- not that they glorified it, but I think that Anthony Hopkins' part was the most charming and smartest. And he wins at the end. So that kind of made me nervous. There was only one time after that that I regretted turning it down and that was when I actually met Antony Hopkins, and there was a moment when I thought: Oh, I should have done that movie with him. But that was the only time.' |
| Evita (1996) |
 |
After years of
pre-production this Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was
finally set to come to the screen starring Michelle as
Eva Peron, after numerous other actresses like Meryl
Streep were considered for the lead. However when Oliver
Stone was no longer directing, and production meant that
filming would keep Michelle away from home for months,
just after she had finally got the family she always
wanted, she decided to pass. The result: Madonna stepped in to take the role she was born to play, and the film was a huge hit. Still, I'd love to get hold of those demo tapes of Michelle singing... Michelle's regrets: 'It was a very hard decision. I worked my ass off for that part. I was 6 months pregnant, doing Dangerous Minds, taking voice lessons, and making demos on the weekend. Then it got too expensive to keep the production in Los Angeles.' She also said: 'Within 18 months I got a husband and 2 children; I want to spend time with them and live my new life without the pressure of work.' |
| Thelma & Louise (1992) |  |
Originally intended as
a vehicle for Michelle and Jodie Foster, to be directed
by Stephen Frears, both actresses turned down the title
roles. The result: Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis replacd them, and Ridley Scott directed what was to become a huge hit, with Susan and Geena both appearing on the cover of Time magazine, and receiving numerous award nominations. Michelle's regrets: None that I've heard... |
| Double Jeopardy (1999) |
 |
Michelle was
originally offered the lead in this Fugitive-type
thriller, with a woman out for revenge after her husband
framed her for his murder so he could elope with her best
friend. Michelle turned the project down, and after Jodie
Foster was offered it and refused, the decision went back
to Michelle. She passed again... The result: The film raised Ashley Judd to star status, and remained top of the box office for 3 weeks. It later prevented Michelle's The Story of Us from reaching the #2 Box Office spot on it's opening weekend. Michelle's regrets: None that I've heard... |
| Passion In Mind (1999) |
Coming soon... | Coming out soon is
this film, with Demi Moore in a role originally intended
for Michelle, about a woman who leads two lives- one as a
20th Century businesswoman and the other a 16th Century
woman, both looking for love. The two actresses made a
deal where Michelle took the role of Katie Jordan in The
Story of Us while Demi got this role. The result: Both films faired very poorly, both at the box office and critically. But The Story of Us did somewhat better. After the much delayed release of Passion In Mind in the summer of 2000, many magazines took its failure as a sign that Demi Moore was 'over.' |
A very interesting role that got away:
| Mistress of the Seas... |  |
A potentially very interesting role that got away from Michelle was Mistress of the Seas, to be directed by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Jon Peters. It was to have centered around the true story of 2 female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read who sailed the seas with 'Calico Jack' in the Caribbean during the 18th Century. Michelle and Geena Davis were to be involved, but Geena had already signed up to do her own pirate flick, Cutthroat Island and Michelle, after meetings with Verhoeven, withdrew from the project, stating that all the conversations 'were about how much skin I would show.' |
