10 First Choices For Big Movie Roles (That Would Have Totally Sucked)

4. Tom Selleck As Indiana Jones (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)

Sean Connery Gandalf
NBC/Paramount Pictures

Indiana Jones nearly arrived on screen with one of Hollywood's most famous moustaches - at least until Henry Cavill's studio-bothering top lip fuzz - on his face. Tom Selleck was offered the role of Indy for 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, but had to pass up the job as a result of his commitments to TV cop show Magnum P.I.

Ford nearly missed out on the second most iconic role of his career because of executive producer George Lucas - the man who gave him his break with American Graffiti. Having also worked with Ford on Star Wars, Lucas was keen to avoid having Ford as the "Bobby De Niro" to his Martin Scorsese, until director Steven Spielberg talked him round.

As with so many of the entries on this list, it's almost impossible to imagine anyone other than Ford in the role. Selleck never quite ascended to the upper echelons of the Hollywood A-list and is best known to modern audiences for his time as Monica's older partner on Friends. Had he donned a fedora and cracked the whip as Indy, things could have been very different indeed. Tough to get past the 'tache though, right?

Contributor
Contributor

Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.