Which Roles Do You Wish Christopher Reeve Accepted?

1980: American Gigolo (Role: Julian Kay) (Actor who got it: Richard Gere) (Reason: He turned it down, he also remarked “I found the idea of a man servicing older women for money quite distasteful…)

1980: Urban Cowboy (Role: Bud Davis) (Actor who got it: John Travolta) (Reason: Couldn;t do due to Scheduling Conflicts)

1981: Body Heat (Role: Ned Racine) (Actor who got it: William Hurt) (Reason: He Turned It Down, He Remade “ [And] I didn’t think I’d be convincing as a seedy lawyer.”)

1982: The World According To Garp (Role: Roberta Muldoon) (Actor who got it: John Lithgow) (Reason: Robin Williams tried to convince him to star with him in this film, but he declined)

1984: Splash (Role: Allen Bauer) (Actor who got it: Tom Hanks) (Reason: He Turned It Down)

1984: Romancing The Stone (Role: Jack T. Colton) (Actor who got it: Michael Douglas) (Reason: He Turned It Down)

1984: The Bounty (Role: Fletcher Christian) (Actor who got it: Mel Gibson) (Reason: He lobbied for the starring role in David Lean’s The Bounty and even had his friend Katharine Hepburn vouch for his “legitimate” acting ability to the director, He ultimately took himself out of the running, saying he’d be “miscast” even after co-star Anthony Hopkins called and begged him to take the role)

1987: Lethal Weapon (Role: Martin Riggs) (Actor who got it: Mel Gibson) (Reason: He Turned It Down)

1987: The Running Man (Role: Benjamin Richards) (Actor who got it: Arnold Schwarzenegger) (Reason: He Turned It Down)

1987: Fatal Attraction (Role: Dan Gallagher) (Actor who got it: Michael Douglas) (Reason: He Turned It Down)

1987: The Princess Bride (Role: Westley) (Actor who got it Cary Elwes) (Reason: He was Considered)

1990: Pretty Woman (Role: Edward Lewis) (Actor who got it: Richard Gere) (Reason: He went in to audition for the male lead in Pretty Woman. When he got to the audition, he was told that Julia Roberts chose to skip the meeting. A bored casting director read the lines from the script. About halfway through the planned audition, Reeves, humiliated and angry, tore the pages of the script in two and stormed out.)

1990: Total Recall (Role: Douglas Quaid) (Actor who got it: Arnold Schwarzenegger) (Reason: He Turned It Down)

1993: Philadelphia (Role: Andrew Beckett) (Actor who got it: Tom Hanks) (Reason: He Declined, Writing a letter to Producers that it was too depressing)

2001: Hannibal (Role: Mason Verger) (Actor who got it: Gary Oldman) (Reason: Reeve was initially enthusiastic about the opportunity. However, upon realizing that Verger was a quadriplegic, facially disfigured child rapist, Reeve withdrew from the project in disgust.)