36. Laurence Fishburne
Project: Die Hard With a Vengeance
Proposed Salary: Unknown
Outcome: Samuel L. Jackson else got the job
Since Laurence Fishburne and Samuel L. Jackson were both rising stars in the industry at the same time, their stories are frequently interwoven. The role of Jules in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction was initially offered to Laurence Fishburne. Still, the part was ultimately taken by Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson also ended up taking another role that was initially offered to Fishburne.
Jackson replaced Fishburne as Zeus in Die Hard With a Vengeance at the last minute because the studio could not find a cheaper replacement for the actor at the time. Although it is not known how much Laurence requested, it is believed that executives were simply looking to save money on their expenses.
36. Laurence Fishburne
37. Jack Nicholson
Project: Hercules
Proposed Salary: $10-$15 million*
Outcome: Someone else was cast
As an actor, Jack Nicholson is the kind of talent that the world only gets to see once in a blue moon. He’s so devilishly talented that he would have been a knockout as Hades in Disney’s Hercules, but Jack isn’t one to take any chances with his career. For his participation, Jack was offered $500,000; nevertheless, he demanded $10-$15 million in addition to a share of the earnings.
Disney was never going to pay that much for what they considered a subsidiary role, so Jack went off to work on other projects. At the same time, James Woods took over as the character’s voice actor. It all went okay in the end, with Woods putting up an outstanding performance.
37. Jack Nicholson
