10 Actors Who Must Regret Turning Down Major Movie Roles
7. Meg Ryan - Vivian Ward (Pretty Woman)
For unspecified reasons, Meg Ryan turned down the Julia Roberts role in Pretty Woman, which in retrospect was probably a poor career move, as not only did Roberts get an Oscar nomination for her part (something Ryan has never received), but she was catapulted to fame overnight and has enjoyed steady popularity ever since.
Ryan, meanwhile, did enjoy success in the 90s with films such as Sleepless in Seattle, When a Man Loves a Woman, French Kiss, Courage Under Fire, City of Angels and You've Got Mail, but her career basically fell off a cliff by the late-90s, while Roberts was still knocking out hits and even won the Best Actress Oscar for 2000's Erin Brockovich.
Would It Have Worked?: Almost certainly, considering that Ryan was at a high-point of popularity in her career, though she perhaps wouldn't have brought the same level of sass to the role that Roberts did.