10 Actors Who Turned Down Star Wars
3. Hugh Quarshie - Captain Panaka
A mighty odd decision here, especially considering that Hugh Quarshie wasn't exactly a household name. With this in mind, one would have thought Quarshie would have jumped at the opportunity to star in another film, let alone reprise his role in a Star Wars film. Quarshie did a good job of Captain Panaka in The Phantom Menace while receiving decent screen time in his one appearance in the role. It proved to be the potential lack of screen time in sequel Attack of the Clones that lead Quarshie to abandon his role.
As explained by the actor, Quarshie was given the offer to reprise his role, but was never given a script or an indication of how big his role would be. Refusing to go into a film shoot completely blind, Quarshie pulled the plug, with the character subsequently being removed from the movie.
Quarshie appeared in just two movies after this time, moving to the small screen with his lead role of Hugh Griffin in medical drama Dolby City and crossover show Casualty, both which still run today. While it is great that Quarshie found continued success on the small screen, it is still a real head scratcher that he would choose to leave the biggest opportunity offered to him in his career.