20 Actors Who Turned Down Major Movie Roles

Beetlejuice is Tim Burton at his most darkly comical and wacky, and that's mostly thanks to one of his best casts. Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin and Catherine O'Hara all shine. There was no major trouble casting their roles, either (though Angelica Huston was nearly cast in place of O'Hara).

For Lydia, the daughter of the family recently re-located to the house in which Davis and Baldwin now live as ghosts, the casting was a touch more arduous.

A number of keys stars and up-and-comers auditioned for the role, including Juliette Lewis, Jennifer Connolly and Molly Ringwald, but the role was openly offered to Sarah Jessica Parker in the film's early stages of development. She reportedly turned it down because she thought the film was "too dark". The role went to Winona Ryder in the end, and she made an entire career out of it.

Parker must have regretted her decision, though, because she went on to star in two Tim Burton pictures - Mars Attacks! and Ed Wood.