20 Things You Didn't Know About Mission Impossible 2
15. Ian McKellen Could Have Missed Out On X-Men And Lord Of The Rings
From two actors who missed out on stardom because they were in MI2, to one who reached stardom after turning Tom Cruise down.
The great Sir Ian McKellen was offered the role of Mission Commander Swanbeck but, despite pleas from his agent not to, he decided to turn it down after the studio refused to let him read the whole script. This was risky as MI2 could have been a star-making role for McKellen who had spent much of his career on the stage.
Ultimately though it was the right decision. Given that the film ran over-schedule, it is likely that had McKellen said yes, he wouldn't have been able to appear in his career defining roles as Magneto in X-Men and Gandalf in Lord Of The Rings. It is impossible to imagine anyone else playing those two iconic characters although he nearly missed out LOTR after X-Men's filming also ran over scheldule.
The role of Swanbeck eventually went to Sir Anthony Hopkins, which leads us nicely to....