8 Actors Who Quit Movies Because Of Seconds Of Footage
7. Betty White Didn't Like The Dog Abuse Gag - As Good As It Gets
Global treasure Betty White was offered the role of Helen Hunt's mother Shirley Knight in James L. Brooks' much-loved, Oscar-winning 1997 drama As Good As It Gets, though turned it down due to a brief moment entirely unrelated to her part in the film.
At the start of the film, protagonist Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) grows fed up of caring for Simon Bishop's (Greg Kinnear) dog Verdell and decides to throw him down a laundry chute.
White, a lifelong animal rights activist, simply couldn't bring herself to star in a film which played such cruel treatment of an animal for laughs. She said:
"As Good As It Gets, I turned that down...but it was for a very good reason. They had this adorable dog in it, but in one scene the guy goes down the hall and puts the dog down the rubbish chute...Of course it lands on some cushions and it's fine, but I didn't want to set that example, because you never know what nuts or kids will see it and think 'I can do that.' The director said, 'The dog's fine, the dog's fine!'. But I said, 'I just can't do that.' Of course the film was a tremendous hit, but I didn't regret turning it down."