15 Actors You Didn't Know Were Almost Cast In Tarantino Movies

3. Idris Elba - Django (Django Unchained)

The Role: While it's known that Jamie Foxx's role of Django Unchained's titular protagonist was very nearly scooped up by Will Smith, it's lesser known that The Wire star Idris Elba was also considered for the part. What Happened?: When interviewed during press for the film, Tarantino confessed that Elba "never stood a chance of getting the part" because he was British, and the director feared that most audiences wouldn't be able to look past that. Would It Have Worked?: QT might be wrong here, though, given that even most British people didn't know Elba was a Brit while watching The Wire, and a lot of Americans assumed that he was putting on a British accent for the show Luther. Foxx's role certainly isn't one of the movie's more precious parts (he's overshadowed completely by Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio), and Elba is a dab hand at an American accent, so it probably would've been absolutely fine.