10 Actors Who Turned Down Iconic TV Roles For Stupid Reasons
3. Bridget Fonda - Ally McBeal (Ally McBeal)
Ally McBeal is a cult classic comedy-drama about the eponymous character - a lawyer who works for a Boston law firm as she tackles the obstacles of her personal life. In the show, she was played by the brilliant Calista Flockhart, with the show running for five seasons between 1998 and 2002.
Before Flockhart secured the role, though, it was offered to Bridget Fonda. Daughter of screen legend Peter Fonda, Bridget Fonda had made a name for herself in films such as Single White Female (1992) and Jackie Brown (1997). When the call came for Ally McBeal, she reportedly refused to read the script in case she "liked it too much."
Ultimately, she turned it down, stating she just loved making movies too much to commit to a series.
This is admirable enough, but given the fact that she only starred in a handful of films whilst Ally McBeal was on air - few of which were well received - it seems that taking on the show would have been a solid career move.
She retired in 2002 to look after her family, which whilst great to see just makes the fact that the last leg of her career was marred by critical and commercial failures when she could have been winning hearts in a fantastic TV series.