10 Actors Who Refused To Return For Sequels To Acclaimed Films

Acting royalty Sean Connery is no stranger to turning down roles most actors would jump at the chance to be cast as.

Over the years, the James Bond superstar has passed up the opportunity to play Gandalf the Grey in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, John Hammond in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park and Albus Dumbledore in the hugely successful Harry Potter film series.

The veteran actor often cites not being able to understand the scripts he's been handed as the reason for refusing to appear in certain features. However, he completely understood what his old pal Spielberg was asking of him when the director came knocking for the most recent Indiana Jones sequel.

Yet, not even the mighty Spielberg could convince Connery to step out of retirement to reprise his role as Jones' brilliant father Henry Jones Sr. in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). In Connery's own words:

'It was not that generous a part, worth getting back into the harness and go for. And they had taken the story in a different line anyway, so the father of Indy was kind of really not that important.'

Had Spielberg opted to make Connery's character a key player in the film, much like he was in the critically adored The Last Crusade (1989), perhaps the fourth instalment in the franchise would've been remembered for more than CGI monkeys and inter-dimensional beings.

In another dimension...maybe it was...