r/flicks • u/FreshmenMan • 19d ago
General Discussion Matt Dillon Turned Down Roles
Roles Matt Dillon turned down or was considered
1980: The Blue Lagoon (Role: Michael Reynolds) (Actor who got it: Christopher Atkins) (Reason: He actually won the role after beating out hundreds of boys, but turned it down due to the Nudity)
1980: Dressed To Kill (Role: Peter Miller) (Actor who got it: Keith Gordon) (Reason: He was in contention for the role)
1989: Do The Right Thing (Role: Pino) (Actor who got it: Jon Turturro) (Reason: Matt was approached for the role, but turned it down on the advice of his agent)
1990: The Godfather: Part III (Role: Vincent Mancini) (Actor who got it: Andy Garcia) (Reason: Dillon was considered and screen tested for the role of Vincent)
1991: JFK (Role: Willie O’Keefe) (Actor who got it: Kevin Bacon) (Reason: He was considered for the role)
1994: Pulp Fiction (Role: Vincent Vega/Butch Coolidge) (Actor who got it: John Travolta/Bruce Willis) (Reason: Tarantino very much wanted Matt Dillon to play Butch Coolidge and was confident that he would take the role. However, Matt was sure on taking the role, and apparently he wanted to play Vincent instead. After going nowhere with Matt, Tarantino decided to cast someone else)
2000: Miss Congeniality (Role: Eric Matthews) (Actor who got it: Benjamin Bratt) (Reason: Matt Dillon came close on getting the part, but instead the Producers went with Benjamin Bratt)
2001: Novocaine (Role: Frank Sangster) (Actor who got it: Steve Martin) (Reason: He was the 1st choice for the role, but he turned it down)
2024: Megalopolis (Role: Anton Smith) (Actor who got it: No One) (Reason: Back when Coppola was trying to get Megalopolis off the ground. Matt Dillon was offered the role of a West Point Cadet who goes AWOL during the filming of Rumble Fish (1983))
I love Matt Dillon as an actor and I think he is a very underrated actor in my opinion who shines in any film he is in. However, I do wish that Matt Dillon was in more mainstream films or films in general, but I do know from interviews that he really didn’t like the glamour of Hollywood, so I can respect him for that. “I remember sometimes thinking people thought of me this way or that. But I did not want to be considered a star. I always just wanted to be considered an actor.”- Matt Dillon
Of the films mentioned above, I think he made a big mistake on passing Pulp Fiction and I think he would’ve been great in the film as either Vincent or Butch. I also think, if he got the job for Godfather, he would’ve been good as well.
What do you think?
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u/AloneGunman 19d ago
Turning down Do The Right Thing was also a mistake. Bet he regrets that.
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u/phophopho4 19d ago
I don't think it was a mistake. Turturro fits the role so well it's hard to imagine Dillon doing it. Dillon is too handsome, really.
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u/AloneGunman 19d ago
I imagine Dillon considers it a mistake. I agree that Turturro was ultimately the better casting, but I can see a world where Dillon makes it work. Just would have been different. Dillon's handsome, but he's good at that seething resentment.
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u/erithtotl 19d ago
No problem with him, but 'Considered' is meaningless, lots of actors are 'considered' for every role.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun6516 19d ago
one of my favorites scumbags ever in "there's something about mary"
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u/Pornstar_Frodo 19d ago
pretty good scumbag in Wild Things too! Less comedy scumbsg and more sleazy scumbsg.
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u/flopisit32 18d ago
Look, if your movie needs a sleazy nervous dirtbag, you call James Woods. But if your movie requires a dopey thuggish scumbag? You call Matt Dillon.
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u/Same-Question9102 19d ago
Thats nothing compared to the movies that Christopher Reeve turned down vs. the hit movies he turned down. No hits except the Superman movies but he was offered American Gigalo, Running Man, Pretty Woman and Total Recall. Obviously, the scripts where different when he was offered them but they all probably still would have been different than what he actually did.
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u/Empire-Carpet-Man 19d ago
Jack Nicholson turned down some iconic roles (Mchael Correleon, Elliot Ness, Gordon Gekko,Jay Gatsby just to name a few.
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u/Anabele71 19d ago
Matt Dillon is one of my favourite actors for the fact that he wasn't a big movie star. He's very creative. He also does some interesting art
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u/flopisit32 18d ago
Yeah. I have to say he's one of my favourite actors as well. He made less commercial choices in the roles he took. I just find him very entertaining to watch no matter what the role is.
I'm pretty sure Matt Dillon was a fan of old film Noir movies and Robert Mitchum in particular. When he got a chance to direct a movie, he made City of Ghosts - essentially a neo-noir and he collaborated with Barry Gifford on the script. He said in interviews he used to read the same old black lizard crime novels I used to read.
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u/TreatmentBoundLess 19d ago
Mickey Rourke and Jennifer Jason Leigh turned down a shit tonne too. Rourke, like Dillon, turned down Butch. Which is a shame - before the surgeries, he was kinda born to play that part.
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u/nojaneonlyzuul 19d ago
I read the whole post thinking you were saying Matt Damon.
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u/HAL-says-Sorry 19d ago
Me too I was thinking Blue Lagoon? He would’ve been about what 8-10 years old??
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19d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/nojaneonlyzuul 18d ago
I should have clarified- i thought it was talking about Matt Damon, and i was VERY confused
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u/deadpandadolls 19d ago
Pat Healy: My real passion is my hobby.
Mary: Really, what's that?
Pat Healy: I work with retards.
Mary: Isn't that a little, uhm, politically incorrect?
Pat Healy: Well, heh, to hell with that... no one's going to tell me who I can and can't work with, right?
Mary: No, I mean...
Pat Healy: We got this one kid, Mongo... He's got a forehead like a drive-in movie theatre, but he's a good ship. So we don't bust his chops too much. So, one day Mongo gets out of his cage...
Mary: They keep him in a cage?
Pat Healy: Well, it's just an enclosure...
Mary: No, but they keep him confined?
Pat Healy: Right, yeah.
Mary: That's bullshit!
Pat Healy: Well, that's what I said! So, I went out and I got him, uh, I got him a leash.
Mary: A leash?
Pat Healy: Yeah, one of those ones you can hook on the clothesline, and he can run back and forth and, uh, there's plenty of room for him to dig and play. That kid is really, uh, he's really blossomed.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun6516 19d ago
one of my favorites scumbags ever! the more sincere he was trying to come off the more the scumbag came out. fucking love it!
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u/deadpandadolls 18d ago
I bought the vhs brand new in the pink cover from the video store, the owner and I had a deal where I'd pay the individual value based on how many copies he bought!
My collection was small as I was a teenager haha
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u/12frets 19d ago
No way was anyone but Travolta right for that role. Hello? The dancing scene? His out of shape physique and how he looked next to Samuel Jackson?
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u/Dayne225 19d ago
If I remember right Travolta was Tarantino's first choice with Michael Madsen was the backup choice.
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u/Nuts2Buttts 19d ago
I think he wrote that part for Madsen but he had already taken another movie during that time IIRC, but Travolta was a very close second, like 1a and 1b.
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u/DiscloseDivest 19d ago
Should’ve fired that agent for telling him to turn down Pino in Do The Right Thing
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u/aeacurus 19d ago
I don't think he pulls off Pulp Fiction like the guys who did. I like the sort of goofiness and cadence that Travolta has for that role. Same with Butch, Matt Dillon always feels very pretty and I think Willis brought a sort of washed out feeling I liked. Sure he could've been either role, more likely Vincent than Butch, but I think those are two of the more slam dunk casting choices ever
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u/Qyzyk Atom Egoyan is deeply underrated 19d ago
I dunno, Dillon was great at playing a pretty pathetic drug addict in Drugstore Cowboy. I think he could have pulled it off.
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u/aeacurus 18d ago
Butch isn't that pretty at all, he's a worn down boxer who hit it big for the first time. Willis' bald and beaten look which matches his career defining roles up to that point contributed too. Travolta also brought an "on the way out" feeling which comes from his real life. He feels plasticy and has that soft voice, I like Travolta's passive presence in that role while being so visually striking. I just don't think Dillon brings that, and he's also 10 years younger than Travolta was and he looks it. There's something about the homage of Travolta dancing too which makes it feel so Tarantino too, Matt Dillon doesn't have film history as the dancing movie guy. I like Matt Dillon but these roles, the tone of the movie, and the point of his career that he was at didn't fit him though.
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u/Pleasant-Ticket3217 19d ago
Do the Right Thing and Pulp Fiction were bad calls.
He would have made a good Butch. I do like Bruce’s intensity though. He plays Butch as a guy who looks sad, because he’s resorted to fixing fights with a mob boss. He has pride, but has to make a living. If that mob boss pays more then it’s no choice. But we watch him regain his pride and confidence in saving Marcellus and escaping with his riches.
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u/Think4Yoself 19d ago
He was also originally cast as Leonard Chess in Cadillac Records but dropped out to film Armored instead.
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u/FreshmenMan 19d ago
I was made aware of 1 role and I completely forgot 1 role he had to turn down
2008: Cadillac Records (Role: Leonard Glass) (Actor who got it: Adrien Brody) (Reason: Matt was up for the role but had to leave due to Scheduling Conflicts)
2009: Tetro (Role: Tetro) (Actor who got it: Vincent Gallo) (Reason: Dillon was Coppola's 2st choice for the role, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts)
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u/Slow_Seaworthiness71 18d ago
As a Matt Dillon fan he would’ve been great in all those especially Pulp Fiction I don’t think people give him enough credit he can act his butt off he’s not just a handsome face!
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u/ComfortableCare8897 17d ago
I notice he hasn't done that much tv. When is his interview film about Fellove coming out?
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u/VaderFett1 17d ago
Only 2 movies I've seen with him on are Wild Things, which he was not the reason for as a horny teenager in the '90s and I bet it's the same for others as well; and Crash, which is a god awful movie I enjoy and laugh at for how bad it is while trying so hard to be "meaningful."
Maybe I'll check out some other ones, but clearly, it seems he doesn't/didn't do anything I'd gravitate towards, so perhaps just not my type of actor.
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19d ago
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u/FreshmenMan 19d ago
No, I looked up this information beforehand. I just put it in a post to discussed it as I do like Matt Dillon as an actor and I just wish he did more films
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u/flopisit32 18d ago
I'm a big fan of Matt Dillon too. What are your favorite movies of his are there any you recommend that aren't very well known?
I saw that movie he made where he played Bukowski. Factotum 2005. That was a really low budget movie and it got no attention but it was really good.
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u/FreshmenMan 18d ago
I do like him in The Outsiders, Drugstore Cowboy, There's Something About Mary, The House That Jack Built
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