10 Actors Who Were Too Scared To Accept Movie Roles

3. Bette Midler Was "Afraid" Of The Violence In Misery

Jude Law Superman
20th Century Studios

The 1990 thriller Misery is a truly harrowing movie to watch, anchored by Kathy Bates' captivating, frightening performance - a performance that won her an Oscar at the 1991 Academy Awards.

Bates is so perfect in the role that it's impossible to imagine anyone else doing it, but when the movie was originally gathering its cast, she wasn't even in the running. In fact, her role was first offered to Bette Midler, who ultimately declined for a rather unusual reason.

Discussing some of her biggest career mistakes in a 2010 interview, Midler touched on her decision to pass on Misery, explaining that she was scared about some of the movie's shocking violence:

"I also didn’t do Misery and Kathy Bates won an Oscar for it. That’s not to say I would have. It was so violent and I had no relation to it. I was afraid."

To be fair, violent movies aren't for everyone, and considering that Midler's character would've had her head bashed in by a doorstop, you can see why she was reluctant.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.