Regretful roles

Sarah Taryam , Arts Editor

When you picture your favourite movie with its lead actors in it, could you imagine swapping them out for a completely different cast? This week we are taking a look at a list of actors who regret not starring in movies which became huge successes without them.

spoke about her regret at not taking the lead actress role in the movie “Speed,” which came out back in 1994. The role went to Sandra Bullock instead who turned out to be pretty great starring opposite Keanu Reeves. Apparently, Berry was not too impressed with the script when she first read it.

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer has had a really successful career, but she also has a lot of regrets when it comes to passing up good film roles. She turned down roles in movies including “Thelma & Louise,” “Pretty Woman” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” Pfeiffer also turned down the role of Clarice Starling in the movie “The Silence of the Lambs,” which she said she found “too evil.” Jodie Foster got the role and an Oscar to go with it.

“Avatar” is one of the most successful movies ever made, and Matt Damon could have been a part of it. Damon refused the chance to star in James Cameron’s masterpiece with the lead role going to Sam Worthington instead. Damon reportedly lost out on $200 million.

In other news this week, turn to our Health pages to read about the benefits of having hot baths. There a numerous good reasons to have a good soak in the tub, one of them includes the fact that a study found that soaking in an hour-long hot bath burned around 140 calories, which is approximately the same as taking a 30-minute walk.