Share Tweet Pin Email By Iris Goldsztajn 10:44am PST, Jan 19, 2026 What if Sarah Michelle Gellar had been Cher Horowitz? What if Vince Vaughn had been Joey Tribbiani? What if Will Smith had been Neo? And what if we told you that all of those things almost happened?! Keep reading to find out all the actors who missed out on huge roles...
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more top news Michael B. Jordan: Dr. Dre, Straight Outta Compton Corey Hawkins perfectly portrayed a young Dr. Dre in 2015's Straight Outta Compton, but another talented actor almost took his place. Michael B. Jordan was reportedly Dre's top pick to play him, but the Sinners actor couldn't make it work because he was already committed to The Fantastic Four, per The Hollywood Reporter. Julia Roberts: Annie Reed, Sleepless in Seattle It's hard - nay, darn near impossible - to imagine anyone but Meg Ryan in the rom-com classic Sleepless in Seattle, yet the 1993 movie very nearly starred Julia Roberts as Annie Reed. Roberts once told InStyle that she'd been offered the role but "couldn't do it," not revealing any further details (via ABC News). Emma Stone: Alice, Alice in Wonderland Emma Stone could have played the titular character in 2010's Alice in Wonderland instead of Mia Wasikowska, but it wasn't that much of a close call. "Tim Burton's a crusher," Stone told Timothée Chalamet for Variety's Actors on Actors series in 2018. "Oh, my God, when I auditioned for Alice in Wonderland, and not getting a Tim Burton movie is really devastating." Vince Vaughn: Joey Tribbiani, Friends Matt LeBlanc IS Joey Tribbiani... but he almost wasn't! Casting director Ellie Kanner told HuffPost in 2015 that Vince Vaughn auditioned for the role of airhead heartthrob Joey, noting he was "handsome and tall" and a "good actor," but he ultimately wasn't the right choice for the show. Blake Lively: Karen Smith, Mean Girls Amanda Seyfried was a perfect Karen Smith, but the original Mean Girls cast was totally shuffled around before the final cast came together. "I'd first auditioned for Regina," Seyfried explained to Vanity Fair in 2023. "I'd flown out to L.A. for the first time with my mother. It was very exciting, I met Lacey Chabert for the first time, and Lindsay Lohan was in the room, and Blake Lively was playing Karen, and I was Regina. I flew home, and they were like, 'You know what, we think you're more correct for Karen.'" Jane Krakowski: Rachel Green, Friends According to 30 Rock star Jane Krakowski, nearly everyone tried to land a role on Friends in the mid-'90s, herself included. "I, like almost every actor in the world, auditioned for Friends," Krakowski told E! in 2015 (via Us Weekly). "I wish I had gotten that one. I actually auditioned for Rachel and didn't go very far." We're spinning out at the thought of anyone but Jennifer Aniston ever playing Rachel Green. Matthew McConaughey: Jack Dawson, Titanic Matthew McConaughey lost the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic when he refused to try a scene in a Wisconsin accent rather than in his own Texan one, producer Jon Landau revealed in his memoir. Up until then, he was a favorite for the part and even read with Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater. You don't need us to tell you that the role went to Leonardo DiCaprio instead. Taylor Lautner: Shane Gray, Camp Rock Taylor Lautner as Shane Gray? Honestly, we can see it. "Taylor Lautner did audition, and we liked him a lot," Camp Rock director Matthew Diamond told Business Insider in 2023. In the end, though, decision-makers felt that Lautner wasn't "quite Shane Gray enough," and the iconic Disney Channel role went to Joe Jonas. Lautner went on to find his big break in Twilight instead, so all's well that ends well. Will Smith: Neo, The Matrix Will Smith was offered the legendary role of Neo in The Matrix, but it went to Keanu Reeves. His reason for turning it down? "I didn't get it," he told SiriusXM's Sway In The Morning in 2025, explaining that the pitch the filmmakers made to him didn't make any sense. "I was like, 'I'm making Wild Wild West,'" Smith said. However, he admitted to regretting this choice once he saw the movie. Christina Applegate: Elle Woods, Legally Blonde Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods is everything to us - but had Christina Applegate portrayed the pink-clad genius, we wouldn't have been mad either. In fact, Applegate was actually offered the role at the time, but declined because she felt the vibe was too similar to Married...
With Children. "Um, big f****** mistake," she joked to Vanity Fair in 2023. "I'd have Witherspoon money!" Eminem: Max Rockatansky, Mad Max: Fury Road This one's pretty rogue, but we're kind of into it: Eminem could have played the titular character in Mad Max: Fury Road instead of Tom Hardy. Director George Miller told Vulture of possibly casting the rapper, "He'd done 8 Mile, and I found that really interesting - I thought, 'He's got that quality.'" In the end, they contacted Eminem, but he didn't want to leave the U.S. to film