Tupac as Jody in Baby Boy
Deceased rapper Tupac Shakur was originally supposed to play Jody in the film Baby Boy. According to reports, the role was written for him in 1996, and director John Singleton wanted the West Coast rapper in the movie. The rapper was killed that year, and the movie was put on hold. It came out in 2001, with Jody being portrayed by R&B singer Tyrese Gibson.
Gabrielle Union as Olivia Pope in Scandal
Actress Gabrielle Union revealed in an interview that she originally auditioned for the role of Olivia Pope on ABC‘s hit show Scandal.
“There’s the whole group of us who auditioned for Scandal that not just fell in love with that project and (show creator) Shonda (Rhimes), but the process, the level of respect that we were given even in the audition process and the world that Shonda created even for us trying. It was like, is there ever gonna be another situation for you like that?”
The role went to actress Kerry Washington, and Union ended up playing Mary Jane Paul in BET’s Being Mary Jane instead.
I'll give you two more:
1) Vanessa Williams was offered "Monster's Ball" and turned it down because had just had her last child. (w/Rick Fox) She didn't want the pressure of having to do nude scenes so soon after having a baby.
2) Halle Berry turned down "Speed" with Keanu Reeves, the film which made Sandra Bullock famous. She actually included this grievance in her case against David Justice during their divorce, saying she turned down big budget films while married to Justice in an effort to work on/save their marriage when it was deteriorating.
Big ups to Angela Bassett on her reason for turning down Monster's Ball. Though Halle Berry won an Oscar for that role, it was a token award, in my opinion.
I am a fan of Halle, but quite frankly, that role was an embarrassment.
What! I could have heard Samuel L. Jackson Screaming at will Smith… "The RED OR THE BLUE PILL! ROFL SO HARD! 🙂