Mistakes: they’re not just for the little people anymore. Even big name celebrities make mistakes.

Take this awesome list Hollywood gossip blog Glamorati posted recently of “20 Actors and Actresses Who Turned Down Important or Popular Roles.” There are some entries on it that will make you jump up from your chair and scream a long, loud “WHYYYY?!” just like the Beastie Boys in “Sabotage.”

At least that’s what I did when I read Gillian Anderson was offered the part of Bethany Sloane in Dogma before it was given to Linda Fiorentino. And all the other people, including Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio, that were offered the part of Neo in The Matrix before Keanu Reeves, well…things don’t look too good for Keanu.

There are, of course, other entries that will make you tear up with relief because you simply cannot imagine one of the most beloved movies in American film being demeaned by the mere thought of its lead being changed. That might be an exaggeration in the case of Clueless and the fact that Sarah Michelle Gellar was supposed to play Cher, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts–but Alicia Silverstone was perfect! I could not imagine that movie any other way.

The list has tons more juicy tidbits about our favorite stars, so head over to Glamorati now to read the rest.

Images: Mahler and Celebrity Details

Tags: movies, film, movie stars, celebrity, celebrity gossip, Glamorati, The Matrix, lead roles

It’s becoming more and more common.  For example, on February 12, 2010, Comcast will cease to be.  In its place will be Xfinity.  No, that’s not a typo; that’s the company’s new name.  In an attempt to escape years of bad publicity due to poor public relations, poor customer service, bad channel selection, and generally […]

Lord Howe Island is a beautiful tropical island some 370 miles off the coast of Australia.  It was declared a World Heritage Site back in 1982 thanks to its pristine beauty and the wide variety of rare animals found there.  However, Lord Howe Island has a bit of a rat problem.  In 1918, a freighter […]

It took 27 years, but something has finally knocked the finale of MASH off the top of the TV ratings pyramid.  When the show, starring Alan Alda as a war-weary, wisecracking doctor in the Korean War, went off the air in 1982, it was watched by 105 million people throughout the United States.  Despite population […]

The ongoing soap opera surrounding the world’s tallest building just continues to swell.  The building, as you might remember, opened a month ago to great fanfare, despite not being completely booked up with tenants and not actually being finished.   Now, with the first tenants scheduled to move in this month, the building’s only officially […]

Right now, it’s snowing outside.  All day yesterday, I listened to people who were planning on running out to the stores to pick up three things:  milk, eggs, and bread.  Any time bad weather hits, or threatens, or is even suspected, the first three things anyone picks up are milk, eggs, and bread, as if […]

If you’ve always wanted to own a relic of the Cold War, a one-of-a-kind item was recently auctioned off.  The town of Skrunda, in what is now Latvia, is not on any map.  During the Cold War, it was known as Skrunda-1, and was one of Russia’s secret cities, serving as a Soviet radar base […]

Taking a page from the playbook of one Sho Kosugi, when a disgruntled former graduate student had a score to settle, he didn’t go for a gun.  No sir or ma’am, firearms are for fools.   Kshitij Shrotri went for the more civilized implement of death, the sword.  Police say he went back to Georgia […]