10 Actors Who Must Regret Turning Down Major Movie Roles
5. Michelle Pfeiffer - Clarice Starling (Silence Of The Lambs)
When director Jonathan Demme joined The Silence of the Lambs, he eyed Michelle Pfeiffer for the lead of FBI Agent Clarice Starling, but she turned it down due to finding the script too violent.
Demme then had to go with screenwriter Ted Tally's first choice, Jodie Foster, who went on to win the Best Actress Oscar, while the film itself won the coveted "Big Five", also for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor.
At least Pfeiffer's career wasn't exactly on the skids at the time: she subsequently appeared in Batman Returns, Love Field (for which she earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination) and Scorsese's The Age of Innocence.
However, Pfeiffer still hasn't won an Oscar to date despite three nominations, and had she taken the part, she'd possibly have a little gold guy on her mantle.
Would It Have Worked?: Definitely. It's hard to imagine anyone but Foster in the role, but Pfeiffer would've brought her own energy to the part that would've been electric in its own distinct way.