When it comes to movies and TV shows, some characters become so associated with the actors who played them that it can be nearly impossible to think of another performer in that role. But often the most memorable roles could’ve been inhabited by other people. In fact, here are 14 celebs that not only were in the running to play legendary characters but in fact are genuinely happy they didn’t end up in the role:
“The thing that’s so exciting about what Margot [Robbie] and Greta [Gerwig]…they hit a bullseye. And the bullseye caused the entire world to reach this level of ecstasy,” she said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast earlier this week about the version of Barbie she was attached to star in not being made. “Now imagine that version — that much energy, that much anticipation, that much emotion — but it’s not the right version. So I actually think of it as a lucky thing.”
2.
Britney Spears: Allie in The Notebook
“The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on the Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it,” she wrote in her memoir The Woman in Me, per an excerpt published by People. “If I had, instead of working on my album In the Zone I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night.”
3.
Jennifer Lawrence: Bella in Twilight
In 2012, Jennifer was asked if she was “glad” she didn’t play Bella Swan in Twilight. Kristen Stewart was eventually cast in the role. “Oh yeah, for sure. I remember when the first movie came out, seeing Kristen Stewart on the red carpet and getting papped wherever she went. I’d had no idea Twilight would be such a big deal,” Jennifer told the Guardian at the time. “For me, and assuming for her, it was just another audition. Then it turned into this whole other thing.”
4.
Ashley Greene: Bella in Twilight
“I’m glad that I did not get that role. I just was not ready for it,” Ashley told Elite Daily in August. “I wouldn’t have been ready for the responsibilities that came with it. I was very young, and if I had had a negative kind of response, I think it would have crushed me.” She was instead cast as Alice Cullen in the film franchise.
5.
Alexander Ludwig: Peeta in The Hunger Games
“It was between Josh, myself, and another actor. I met with Gary [Ross, the director], and he gave me this script for Cato. He’s like ‘Would you want to read this?'” he told Entertainment Tonight in 2016, noting that he was happy to play the bad guy and found the casting to be “perfect.” “I’m really, really happy that it turned out the way it did, especially with Vikings. Because had that happened, for me it’s like, I really had to work hard and when I got that show…when I got Vikings…I realized how much more I had to learn.”
6.
Rachel McAdams: The Devil Wears Prada, Get Smart, Iron Man, Mission: Impossible III, and Casino Royale
“There’s certainly things like ‘I wish I’d done that,'” Rachel told Bustle in April. But after some of those movies came out and were successes, she reconsidered. “I step back and go, ‘That was the right person for that.'”
7.
Cillian Murphy: Batman in Batman Begins
“Yes, I think it was for the best because we got Christian Bale’s performance, which is a stunning interpretation of that role. I never considered myself as the right physical specimen for Batman. To me, it was always going to be Christian Bale,” he told GQ UK in July of Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise. Cillian was instead cast as Dr. Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow.
8.
Sebastian Stan: Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger
“I was completely taken with that character,” Sebastian said of Bucky Barnes in the book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Abrams Books, according to CBR. “I definitely want to be clear about this: I am extremely grateful I got this role and not the Captain America role. I looked at it like it was meant to be.”
9.
Elizabeth Olsen: Spy Kids
“It was my first audition, and I had a callback immediately, they gave me the script, and I met [director] Robert Rodriguez — who would not remember me,” Elizabeth told the Daily Beast in 2012. “They asked me if I’d read the script, and I said yes, but it was a lie because it was the biggest thing I’d ever seen. And I’m very happy I didn’t get it because I didn’t want to be a child actor.”
10.
Taylor Momsen: Hannah Montana
“Honestly, if I’d have ended up as Hannah Montana, I don’t know if the show would have gone as well. I probably would have told them all to go f**k themselves by the time I hit 11. And I don’t know how that would have gone down. It’s great for Miley, but I really like where I am right now, and I feel really fortunate to be able to really be myself,” Taylor reportedly told the Times years ago, according to Variety.
11.
John Cameron Mitchell: The Breakfast Club
“I’m so glad it didn’t happen. You know, there’s certain things I wanted at the time at 22. And I’m glad they didn’t happen because I wouldn’t have made some of the things I’m proud of,” John Cameron told the Wrap in May. “I would have been in LA, and I think I would have been less happy there. I always like to work there, but I’m not really an LA person.”
12.
Chris Pratt: Superman in Superman Returns
“It just goes to show, you know, it’s all divinely planned. So if it’s not working out in the moment, just have faith that it might work out in the future,” he said on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2017. “The ‘No’s you might get today might mean an even more powerful yes in the future, do you know what I mean? I’m glad I was not Superman.”
13.
Naomie Harris: Bond Girl in Skyfall
“I just feel like I don’t have the kind of assets that are normally associated with a Bond girl, and I’ve never traded on sexuality,” Naomie told the Independent in 2022. “It’s a powerful tool, right? As a woman, you can have it in your arsenal of weapons to get ahead in life, but it’s not one I’ve really used. So I thought, how is this going to work? Because to be a Bond girl, traditionally, was all about that allure and that sexuality, and I didn’t understand how that fitted with me.” She was instead cast as Moneypenny in the film.
14.
Finally, Tom Felton: Harry or Ron in Harry Potter
“I’m very grateful I am in the film at all, but even more grateful that I got the character of Draco,” Tom told MTV News in 2011. “I think Rupert [Grint, who played Ron] and Dan [Radcliffe, who played Harry], there’s no question in my mind, there’s no one else in the world that, A) could have played the character better, but B) could have handled the behind-the-scenes pressure those guys have dealt with over the last decade.”
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