John Leguizamo recently told Business Insider about some big acting jobs he turned down and now wishes he hadn’t.
He passed on roles like Stanley Tucci’s part in The Devil Wears Prada, Robin Williams’ voice role in Happy Feet, and Vince Vaughn’s role in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
John Leguizamo reveals why he turned down big acting jobs
John Leguizamo told Business Insider, “For Mr. & Mrs. Smith it was because they were paying them $20 million and they were going to pay me scale. I felt dissed, and they probably weren’t dissing me, but I felt dissed.”
Leguizamo added, “Sometimes when you’re a person of color, you’re so used to being dissed that you think you’re being dissed, and sometimes you’re not being dissed. So that’s what happens, and you have to go to a lot of therapy to fix that.”
In Happy Feet, Leguizamo already had success with the Ice Age movies and didn’t want to keep doing similar roles. He now sees it as a missed opportunity for millions. John said, “I don’t want to be doing all these ice movies. Such a stupid reason. But it seemed logical to me at the moment, and then I lost out on millions.”
John Leguizamo on why he turned down the role of Vulture in Spider-Man
John also almost joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Negotiations fell through, though, and he feels Marvel didn’t treat him right. They offered him a small part instead, which he turned down.
The Romeo & Juliet actor said, “I was supposed to be the Vulture, we had negotiated and I was about to play him, and they said that Michael Keaton wanted it back and they asked me if I would give it up. I said, ‘Well, okay I guess.’ They said, ‘No, we’ll work with you again, we’re gonna…’ That’s what happened there.”
Leguizamo feels hurt by these experiences, saying he’d rather not be part of something if he’s not wanted. He compared it to not going to a party if you’re not invited. When asked if he’d consider big franchises again, he said maybe if they offered him a significant role, like The Riddler, but not for small parts.
