9 Actors Who Quit Major Film Roles

3. Sean Connery -€“ Gandalf

MGM/New Line Cinema

Ah, we had to get to this at some point, if only because it's so goddamned obvious that it had to be mentioned eventually. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, buckle up, because up until now, all you've felt for Sean Connery is justified hero-worship. Well, when I'm done here, there'll be a smattering of pity in there too.

Before they got the Hollywood-via-Auckland treatment, The Lord Of The Rings registered primarily as a few kooky books stuffed with singsongs, Tom Bombadil, and more labyrinthine fantasy than you could shake a stick at, and this is what Sean Connery was presented with when they asked him to be Gandalf. That, and an offer for £19 million and 15% of the series' total gross. Nope, that's not just one film -€“ that's the whole series, and Connery lost £287 million by turning it down.

His problem went thus:€“ he couldn't believe anyone could understand the damn thing, and felt the current fans were nuts for liking it. I guess that dismissal of fandom is one thing, but when it cost a man a quarter of a billion, you can let him off. Plus, the film he chose instead was The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen -€“ which he admitted he didn't understand either, but hot damn, he wasn't going to miss that -€“ which proved so wretched it provoked his retirement from the screen.

Contributor
Contributor

Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.