STARS WHO TURNED DOWN LEGENDARY ROLES

Matt Damon as Jake Sully in Avatar. He turned down the lead in James Cameron's 'Avatar' (the highest-grossing film in history) due to a scheduling conflict with The Bourne Ultimatum.

Smith was originally offered the role of Neo in 'The Matrix,' before turning it down to make the notorious flop 'Wild, Wild West'. The huge success of The Matrix franchise hasn't seemed to bother Will all that much. Will has said, “You know, 'The Matrix' is a difficult concept to pitch. In the pitch, I just didn't see it. I watched Keanu’s performance – and very rarely do I say this – but I would have messed it up."

Denzel Washington as David Mills in 'Se7en'. Director David Fincher initially offered the role of Det. David Mills to Denzel Washington, but Denzel turned it down because he felt the subject matter was too dark.

Director James Cameron had heavily considered Sylvester Stallone in the lead role in The Terminator. Stallone declined and Arnold became the time-traveling icon that he was seemingly born to play.

"Die Hard" was originally a sequel to the success of 1985's "Commando" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Arnold was not interested in reprising the role. Surprisingly, it's almost impossible to think of anybody other than Bruce Willis playing the role of John McClane.

Matt Damon was Christopher Nolan’s first choice for the role of Harvey Dent, however it seems like the Jason Bourne star wasn't too keen on collaborating with the filmmaker, as he turned down the movie due to a minor (and still unknown) “scheduling conflict!” 

Mel Gibson believed that he was too old and not physically adept for the role. As a result of this, he (regrettably) declined in appearing in the film. Gladiator went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed films of the decade, inspiring a whole sub-genre of ancient historical dramas to come, such as 300 and Alexander.

Brad Pitt turned down the Bourne franchise in 2002, as he favoured portraying another secret agent in the film Spy Game.

Initially director Gore Verbinksi offered Jim Carrey the role of Jack Sparrow. Unfortunately for Carrey, production schedule of The Curse of The Black Pearl coinicided with the shoot of Bruce Almighty, presenting him with no choice but to pass up the role that could easily have proved exceedingly lucrative for his career.

Huge Jackman was too pre-occupied with his X-Men project that he had no choice but to decline the role of James Bond in Casino Royale. He also stated that at the time, he wasn’t interested in the role. However, Jackman has “jokily” stated that he now “cries himself to sleep at night” .