- Christophe(r) Lambert, HIghlander, 1985. Once Sean Connery refused the lead (for the splashier role of the 2,000-year-old Ramirez), finding the titular and immortal Connor MacLeod was not easy. Kurt Russell actually won the role but his lover, Goldie Hawn, insisted he stay home; he dealt with Big Trouble in Little China, instead. So you can imagine the anguish of the six producers when, after also being turned down by Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Hulk Hogan, William Hurt, David Keith, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard, Marc Singer (the too busy top choice), Sting (also asked for a song), Patrick Swayze and Peter Weller… they discovered that Australian director Russell Mulcahy’s choice of the new – French! – Tarzan,
- Brian Kerwin, King Kong Lives, 1986. No thank,you, he turneddown the sequel to be RoboCop, instead.And then refused the second sequel to that!
- Robert Burke, RoboCop III, 1992. “They were willing to pay me an awful lot of money but there wasn’t really a choice.” A mime artist took over when Weller threw in the towel – and the RoboSuit, made for the shorter Weller! – to try to prove he could act and make cinematic sense of his favorite book, The Naked Lunch, directed by David Cronenberg. “I heard about it when filming RoboCop II [Cronenberg had turned down the first] and chased after it – still wearing my RoboLegs.” Neither movie impressed me.
- Michael Douglas, Basic Instinct, 1992.
- Christopher Reeve, Morning Glory, TV, 1993. Although once hoping to make it his directing debut, RoboCop was eventually replaced by Superman.
- Tom Cruise, Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, 1994.
- Paul McGann, Doctor Who (The Movie), TV, 1996.
- Eric Roberts, Doctor Who (The Movie), TV, 1996.
- Michael Massee, Rizzoli & Isles, TV, 2010-2013. Main villain of this latest take on Cagney & Lacey was jailed serial killer, Charles Hoyt, planning lto kill his nemesis, Boston PD Detective Jane Rizzoli before he dies of cancer… Hoyt was aimed at the usual oddballs: Brad Dourif, Robert Englund (aka Freddie Krueger), Michael Ironside, John Lithgow. Plus a few surprises like Mark Hamill (helluva switch from Luke Skywalker!), old RoboCopper Peter Weller and, somewhat stupidly, Paul Ruebens – Pee-Wee Herman as a vengeful killer That would have his dumbestt movie since going to the XXX South Trail Cinema. In his Sarasota home town in Florida, on July 26, 1991.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 8