10 Movie Roles Harrison Ford Turned Down

8. Tom Stall (A History Of Violence)

Viggo Mortensen won a whole heap of praise for his turn in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, but it was actually Harrison Ford who was the first choice for the role of Tom Stall; an apparent quiet soul who thought he'd left his past behind him, only to see it catch up with him in a major way. For whatever reason, Ford passed on the gig. As did one-time Punisher, Tom Jane, leading to Cronenberg turning his attention to Viggo, who himself was experiencing a huge boost in popularity post-Lord of the Rings. Now Ford could have brought a stern, dynamic edge and flip-of-a-switch temper to Tom Stall, but it has to be said that he would've struggled to master the part as well as Viggo Mortensen did. As the final film showed, Mortensen was the perfect choice for the supposed everyman-turned-badass and the actor rightfully received plenty of plaudits for his work, cementing Cronenberg's 2005 movie as a must-see.
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.