11. Paul Walker Turned Down Superman
When Paul Walker worked with Richard Donner on universally panned turkey Timeline, the Fast & Furious star asked his new director for some career advice. Donner had of course directed the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve, and Walker had apparently been offered the chance of the role in Bryan Singer's near-disastrous revival. Unsurprisingly Donner's advice was tainted by his own experience of being screwed out of the sequel:
We had conversations and by the end of it, the closing thing I said, Do you think I need it, should I do it? He said, For what sake? I said, Financially. He said, No kid, you do it if you want to do it. I said, Well I dont think I want to die as Superman. And he said, Well theres your answer, dont do it. And that was it.
It might be easy to say that Walker dodged a bullet in not putting on the cape and tights, but the sorry fact is that being remembered for Superman - even one of the most wayward Superman movies - has got to be a step up from the Fast & The Furious and dross like Timeline. And considering his self-confessed financial motivations (his aspiration was wealth and happiness for his family above all else), it seems odd he'd be concerned about perception. And who knows, with Walker in the lead role, the film might well have ended up being a lot better.