10 Actors Who Were Reluctant To Take On Major Roles

But for those who are established stars, taking on a role comes with a lot of thoughtful consideration — and isn’t always an immediate “yes.”

In fact, quite a few actors have admitted to hesitating before accepting some of their biggest roles, debating whether it was the right opportunity. A few actors even turned down the job completely the first time around. But in the end, these celebs finally decided to accept the offer, even if they did have some initial hesitations.

Find out why these actors were hesitant to take on roles…

1. Ewan McGregor

When Ewan McGregor was first offered the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars franchise, he admits he was “very reluctant” to accept the role. Looking back, Ewan says he didn’t think he was the right fit for the role.

“It wasn’t a done deal for me. I didn’t think it was at all who I was. I believed, at that point, I was a Danny Boyle actor. The Beach was more important and I meant it, it wasn’t flippant. I did ask a lot of people for advice,” Ewan told Variety.

He added, “When these films came out, they were so disliked. That was hard. The first one was panned and we still had to make another two! It was weird to be in a film that was hammered.”

2. Rachel Zegler

Rachel Zegler actually said no when she was first offered the role of Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She explained that she was hesitant to sign on because director Francis Lawrence had told her they were filming in Germany and Poland, which would take her away from home for a long time. But when another movie she was working on got pushed back, she reconsidered The Hunger Games sequel.

“I was away from everybody that I knew and loved, and I said ‘no.’ And I regretted it the second I said it. I had another project lined up that fell through that got pushed into 2023, and I just kind of put my name back into the mix and got it, and I feel really bad for any of the girls…because I put my name back in, and they were just like, ‘Yup, OK, cool, we’ll do it,’” she shared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

3. Jenna Ortega

Jenna Ortega was initially very reluctant to star in Netflix’s Wednesday and it took some convincing — even after she signed on. The actress explained that she was worried how doing another TV show would impact her career when she really wanted to be making movies.

“I was scared that signing on to another television show could prevent me from doing other jobs I really wanted and cared about,” Jenna told The Times, noting that it was Tim Burton who finally convinced her. “[He] is such a legend, and we just happened to get along very well. But even then I said, ‘Ah, no — I think I’m OK,’ a couple [more] times.”

4. Alan Rickman

Alan Rickman was initially not on board for his role in Die Hard. The actor says that when he read the script, he had no interest in doing an action film. Alan eventually agreed to the part but worked with producer Joel Silver to make some changes to his character.

“I read it, and I said, ‘What the hell is this? I’m not doing an action movie,’” Alan shared at a  BAFTA Life in Pictures event. “Agents and people said: ‘Alan, you don’t understand, this doesn’t happen. You’ve only been in L.A. two days, and you’ve been asked to do this film.’”

5. Amanda Seyfried

When Kate McKinnon exited of The Dropout, the role of Elizabeth Holmes was offered to Amanda Seyfried. At first, Amanda wanted to turn it down, explaining that at the time she was already working on a movie away from her New York home and couldn’t see herself spending even more time away.

“Listen, I was having a f–king moment, OK? I had COVID. I was isolating in the basement of a gross townhouse in Savannah, Georgia, because my husband was working on a movie there. And now an LA shoot? Pass!” Amanda shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

The next morning, she called her agents to tell them she had a change of heart and accepted the role.

6. Chris Evans

Back in 2010, Chris Evans was invited for a screen test for Captain America: The First Avenger but he was hesitant about auditioning for the part. At the time, Chris says he had been dealing with anxiety and had recently started having “mini panic attacks” while working on set. Despite turning down the audition, Marvel ended up offering him the part and it took a lot of consideration for him to say yes. After talking with family, therapists and some co-stars, Chris realized he had been “making decisions based on fear” and said yes to the Marvel film.

“It was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I really owe that to [Marvel president] Kevin Feige for being persistent and helping me avoid making a giant mistake,” Chris said on the Awards Chatter podcast.

7. Leonardo DiCaprio

When Leonardo DiCaprio was offered a starring role in Titanic, he almost turned it down. Director James Cameron says that he had to convince Leo to be the leading man. He only accepted the role only once James “convinced him that it was actually a difficult challenge.”

“He didn’t want to do a leading man. I had to really twist his arm to be in the movie. He didn’t want to do it. He thought it was boring,” James told People.

8. Emma Stone

Emma Stone almost didn’t star in La La Land because she had just wrapped working on another musical. She explained that she was “very sick” after doing Cabaret on Broadway and “the idea of doing another musical was like, ‘You’ve got to be out of your mind.’”

“My voice was gone, and I was struggling to get through the shows — I was still doing Cabaret,” Emma told The Hollywood Reporter. “After Cabaret, I wasn’t sure I would ever sing or dance again.”

After a lot of persistence, writer and director Damien Chazelle finally convinced her to accept the role.

9. Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes was close to saying no to his role as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series until the casting director convinced him he needed to sign on. Ralph later explained that he hadn’t read the books and just didn’t understand how big the movies were going to be.

“In my stupid ignorance I hadn’t read the books, I hadn’t seen the first movies, and I was, I have to say, a little snobby about it,” he said on Watch What Happens Live. “Until the casting director, great lady, English Lady, Mary Selway sat me down — I mean, I’ve known Mary for many years. She could be tough, and very insistent, and she just said, ‘You have to do this movie. Just do it, Ralph.’ And she said it with such emphasis. My sister, Martha, who has children, said, ‘You’re not gonna do Voldemort? You’re thinking of saying no?’”

10. Jet Li

Jet Li wasn’t sure about returning to the big screen to play the Chinese emperor in Mulan until his daughter Jada convinced him to take the role. Jet explained that she had reminded him that it was important to promote Chinese culture to the world — and the money he would make on the film didn’t even matter.