10 Actors Who Turned Down Star Trek
4. Tom Hanks Had To Pass Trek Up
Like Robin Williams, Tom Hanks has made no effort to hide his obsessive love for the Star Trek series. The actor is a huge Trekkie, and as such was incredibly eager to take on a role in the franchise. After being offered a part in Star Trek: First Contact in 1996, he was finally given the chance but sadly had to decline due to scheduling conflicts. While it is sad for us, it must have been heartbreaking for Hanks.
The role that the actor behind Forrest Gump was offered happened to be Zefram Cochrane, the eccentric inventor who captured the Vulcan race's attention after creating a warp drive, leading to humanities first contact with alien life. Glenn Corbett first played the role in the 1967 episode Metamorphosis, and whoever took over the part for this movie needed to be perfect.
While Hanks would have been great in this part, the role ended up passing onto James Cromwell - who it was actually written for originally - as Hanks was making his directorial debut in That Thing You Do and couldn't commit to both projects.
Of course, Cromwell was excellent as Zefram and was indeed able to bring some star-power to the part. Still, in another universe, it could have been Hanks.