The Iconic Roles That Jack Nicholson Turned Down

When you look back on the career of Jack Nicholson, it’s hard to not immediately jump to the conclusion of him just being the greatest film actor of all time. I mean, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Chinatown, The Shining, The Departed, his record is undeniable. And it somehow was almost a lot longer.

Nicholson has rejected a lot of big roles in his tenure, so let’s look back on some of the biggest ones.

Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind

'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'Credit: Columbia Pictures

What’s perhaps most strange about this near casting is not that Nicholson almost had Dreyfuss’ part, but that Spielberg’s follow-up film to Jaws struggled to find someone to play the part at all. In addition to Nicholson, the part was offered to actors including Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen, and Dustin Hoffman, who all turned it down due to various conflicts.

Dreyfuss had been loudly campaigning to Spielberg since their time on Jaws for the part, since he felt that he was perfect for the role. Spielberg initially disagreed, citing that he thought Dreyfuss was too young, but then when push came to shove, he ultimately changed his mind. The right decision, in my opinion, as seeing Nicholson in this role is a bit of a weird image to picture.

Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man

‘Rain Man’Credit: United Artists

Another entry involving Dustin Hoffman and Steven Spielberg, the latter was originally slated to direct the film, which would have starred the real-life Quaid brothers in the respective roles. This fell through when Spielberg had scheduling conflicts surrounding Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so the role of Raymond Babbitt got shopped around town a lot with actors like Nicholson, Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, and Mickey Rourke all turning it down, before finally landing on Dustin Hoffman. Once again, absolutely the right call there.

Benjamin L. Willard in Apocalypse Now

‘Apocalypse Now’ Credit: United Artists

No disrespect is meant to Martin Sheen, but this is definitely a pairing that I would love to have seen happen. That also doesn’t mean that Nicholson still may have made the right choice passing on the role. Even though Apocalypse Now has endured the test of time as one of the greatest films ever made, I’m not sure I could have survived fifteen months in the Philippines with Francis Coppola. And Martin Sheen almost didn’t, famously suffering a stress-induced heart attack in the middle of production.

The laundry list of other actors besides Nicholson that passed on the role included Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Nick Nolte, Robert Redford, James Caan, and Tommy Lee Jones.

Michael Corleone in The Godfather

‘The Godfather’Credit: Paramount Pictures

Another Coppola film on the docket, Nicholson actually had a very noble reason for rejecting this offer. Coppola was fighting tooth and nail for Al Pacino for the role, but the studio’s lack of faith in both Coppola and Pacino made them pivot over to Nicholson, who was a much more reliable of a performer at the time, having just had his breakout turn in Easy Rider.

Nicholson wound up turning down the part because he felt strongly that the part should be played by an Italian American actor. After some more internal conflicts, the studio lamented and finally allowed Al Pacino to take the role.

Gordon Gekko in Wall Street

'Wall Street' Credit: 20th Century Fox

This is one of the funniest and most cyclical rejection stories we’ve had yet. Nicholson was initially offered the role in Wall Street, but had to turn it down in order to fulfill his commitment to the films The Witches of Eastwick and Ironweed. The part eventually wound up going to Michael Douglas, who wound up winning a Best Actor Oscar for his work. But not without a tight race with, you guessed it…Jack Nicholson in Ironweed. It’s funny how all of this works out, sometimes.

Sy Parrish in One Hour Photo

‘One Hour Photo’Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Although Robin Williams’ performance in One Hour Photo is one of the best dramatic turns of his career, he’s probably the last person you would have thought to cast at the time. Ironically, the first would probably be Jack Nicholson.

Director Mark Romanek seemed to have felt the same, since he initially approached Nicholson for the part. Nicholson turned the part down because he felt that it was a little too similar to the role he played in The Shining, and felt that someone else would be better suited for it.