10 Actors Who Originally Turned Down Their Most Iconic Roles
8. Bill Murray Ignored Requests To Play Bob For Five Months - Lost In Translation
For her dreamy romantic comedy Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola wrote the part of melancholic film star Bob Harris with Bill Murray specifically in mind.
In fact, the filmmaker even said that, had Murray refused to part, she would have scrapped the film entirely. Coppola having such a definitive position on the matter sounds a little over the top, but there is a high chance that the film simply wouldn't have worked without Murray in the lead role.
Though he didn't actively turn down the role of Bob in the same way that many of the other actors on this list did, he might as well have, given that he ignored Coppola's calls, emails and letters for an insane period of five months as she frantically attempted to enlist him for the part.
Murray is known for the fact that he doesn't have an agent; he has an answering machine where anybody who wants to offer him a role leaves a message and hopes and prays that the actor gets back to him. In the case of Lost in Translation, he didn't call back Coppola for almost half a year.
To the director's joy, Murray eventually got in touch, as he ultimately decided that he couldn't face letting her down on her dream project, and - without actually signing a contract - verbally agreed to fly Tokyo a few weeks later.
No contract? Coppola must've been a nervous wreck waiting for him!