Eliza Dushku is pretty much known for playing the part of the gorgeous femme fatale. She had her breakout role as Faith, the bad girl on ‘Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’, and years later went on to play super spy Echo in Joss Whedon’s ‘Dollhouse’ – a role that she even learned some Russian for. But that didn’t make much of a difference to studio execs in charge of casting for the role of the Black Widow in Marvel’s ‘Iron Man 2’.
When Dushku heard the role was available, she took to the Howard Stern Radio Show to throw her hat in the ring. She told the audience that she was perfect for the role and that they just needed to “get into it.” She’s not wrong – Eliza would’ve made a great Black Widow.
Matt Damon Almost Played Two-Face
Matt Damon knows his stuff when it comes to kicking butt on camera, thanks to his lengthy stint as superspy Jason Bourne. So, producers offered him the chance to play the iconic role of Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face, in 'The Dark Knight' – but he had to pass it up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to play the part, because he did tell MTV he’s a Christopher Nolan fan, but scheduling issues prevented him from accepting.
The A-lister gave an interview after the film came out and said that Aaron Eckhart, who ended up with the role, did a great job and obviously the movie “didn’t suffer.” No, no it did not. 'The Dark Knight' is one of the best Batman films of all time.
Rikki Lee Travolta: Thor
This actor may be a little less known than the majority of names on this list, but he’s a talented guy, nonetheless. Rikki Lee is the nephew of Hollywood icon John Travolta, which gave him a leg up in the industry. He’s been in a few films, including 'Crime Fiction', but for the most part, he acts on stage (like in 'Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat') and writes plays, himself. Rikki does have formal training, a hard bod just like the director wanted in 'Thor' – which is why he was on the list of actors up for the role.
But no matter how good of an actor he and the others in the running were, none of that mattered once Chris Hemsworth auditioned. As soon as he showed up on the scene and displayed his comedic badassery, the contest was over.
Will Smith Says “No” to Superman
Before Brandon Routh was cast as DC’s kryptonite-allergen having superhero in 'Man of Steel', 'Men in Black' star Will Smith was offered the part. But Smith shot the role down without giving it much consideration, citing that the reason he wouldn’t take it is that he was nervous about the prospect of ruining it, saying “you mess up white people's heroes and you won’t work in this town again.” He must have been having some flashbacks to all of the outrage he faced when he played James West.
There’s no reason for him to regret taking that role, considering how awful 'Man of Steel' turned out to be. No doubt things would have turned out a lot like he imagined when saying “no” in the first place. Of course, the movie still made plenty of money in theatres, bringing in nearly three times its budget.
Jon Hamm: The Green Lantern
The 2011 'Green Lantern' movie starring Ryan Reynolds pretty much bombed, both in theaters and among critics and general reviews. It has a whopping 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the general critic consensus is that the movie was poorly written and produced. And since critics mostly went after the writing and production, Jon Hamm, who was initially contacted for the starring role, couldn’t have done much to save it.
Hamm said in an interview that they “came after him pretty hard” for the role, but he turned it down because he isn’t a fan of superheroes. He made sure to add, "never say never", but that superhero movies just weren’t the type that he’s interested in. Hey, nothing wrong with that…although Jon Hamm would definitely make an awesome superhero. Let’s hope he reconsiders in the near future!