10 Actors Who Turned Down Star Wars

The final of the 'Han Solo' rejected offers trilogy, Burt Reynolds has been one actor who has been very forthcoming in his regret at not taking a Star Wars role. Reynolds was very much an established star upon the release of Star Wars, with the likes of Deliverance and The Longest Yard elevating him to the top tier of Hollywood actors. Lucas offered Reynolds the role of Han, but the actor knocked it back, initially sighting that he was 'too busy'.

While Harrison Ford was obviously superb in the iconic role, there's no doubting that Reynolds would have also been perfect for the role. One gets the feeling that George Lucas wrote the Han Solo character with Reynolds in mind, considering the playboy renegade nature of both character and actor.

Reynolds later acknowledged that he regretted the decision to not appear in Star Wars, while also acknowledging another iconic role he wish he'd taken- James Bond! Reynolds was offered the role when he was still a relative unknown, but turned down the offer because he didn't think that an American could play a British character, something he admitted made little sense in hindsight.

While Reynolds had to live with the regret of not signing up for Star Wars, he shouldn't have felt too bad considering the legacy he left behind. For there was one film that was released in 1977 that did star Mister Reynolds, that just happened to be a classic all on its own- Smokey and the Bandit.