The Seven Actors Who Really Should've Taken The Role
3. Christopher Lee
Source: Graham Wiltshire/Getty Images
Lee, for a while, was the face of horror, Dracula himself, and also the classiest manly man who ever existed. He‘s not only over six feet of pure muscle, he‘s also an opera singer. He was offered a role in a weird sci-fi movie nobody thought was going to make a nickel, and he politely bowed out, recommending his close friend Peter Cushing for the role instead (which was especially nice because Cushing needed the money just as badly as Lee).
That role would be the only guy who ever insulted Darth Vader to his face, Grand Moff Tarkin. So it wasn’t exactly Luke. It’s still frickin’ Star Wars.
Of course, Lee did eventually get to work with George Lucas as Count Dooku. Now, we can’t prove that Lee saw what was coming, and protected his good friend from being in the later Star Wars movies. But we can heavily imply it.
2. Molly Ringwald
Source: Darlene Hammond/Getty Images
Molly Ringwald was, for a time, the queen of John Hughes movies. Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, she, like, totally dominated the ‘80s mall scene, but wisely let Ally Sheedy and Charlie Sheen have all the coke. But we all must grow, and Ringwald had an awkward, uncertain postadolescence. When offered a lead role, she turned it down because playing a hooker just wasn't consistent with her clean image.
So for Pretty Woman, the producers wound up going with the one woman even less believable as a prostitute, Julia Roberts, cementing Roberts as a bona fide star and triggering a string of romantic comedies that made men the world over prefer church to the movie date whenever one of her pictures came out.
1. Richard Harrison
Source: LOUAI BESHARA/Getty Images
Richard Harrison was a B-movie actor who cranked out literally dozens of god-awful b-movies. In the '80s, every movie ever made with the word "Ninja" in the title had to feature Harrison, by law if his filmography is to be believed. But before that he was making sword-and-sandal movies over in Italy. He also starred in the first Italian-shot western, and had such a fun time he refused to make another one, recommending a buddy of his instead.
Source: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
But we have to admit, as manly as Clint is, Clint didn’t spend his career kicking the crap out of ninjas. So Richard Harrison might actually have won this one.
Latest Features
The Top 10 Bad '80s Movies We Love
The Top 10 Iconic Badasses (Who Will Fit in Your Pocket)
The Top 10 Reasons Playing Madden is Better than Real Football
