Oh, how quickly things could change in the world of Hollywood. Brad Pitt's entire like could've changed, had Gwen Stefani landed the role alongside the actor instead of Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. That's far from the only 'what if' moment. Denzel Washington was very much into a certain project, especially after he watched the Brad Pitt film. Denzel revealed that he rejected the gig for being too dark, but ultimately, the actor admitted it was the wrong choice.
Brad Pitt Thrived In The Film Seven
From a financial standpoint, the 1995 David Fincher film definitely thrived. The film had a budget of $33 million and in turn, made $327 million at the box office.
Brad Pitt himself did have certain clauses when he agreed to the role, one of them involved his character, “With Se7en, I said, ‘I will do it on one condition — the head stays in the box. Put in the contract that the head stays in the box,'” he told EW over a decade ago. “Actually, there was a second thing, too: ‘He’s got to shoot the killer in the end. He doesn’t do the ‘right’ thing, he does the thing of passion.’”
Pitt was a huge fan of the film's ending, though he was not thrilled about how it was received at first. "OK if you remember, the movie ends, they flick on the lights and I look at people. And they just kind of slowly get up from their seats and no one’s talking. Then, they just kind of disappear from the screening. I remember just looking at Fincher and going, ‘Oh my god, what the f*** did we do? What happened. What’s going? I thought this shit was great."
The film was indeed great, and some Hollywood legends weren't exactly thrilled that they turned on the project, this includes Denzel Washington.
Denzel Washington Regretted Turning Seven Down After Watching The Film
Denzel isn't one to chase down scripts. When speaking alongside Jamie Foxx, he did however reveal to feeling some regret over snubbing certain projects. One of those projects, was Brad Pitt's Seven. After watching the film, the actor revealed he regretted the decision immediately, thinking it was going to be something else.
"'Seven' was brought to me years ago. I said no. Brad Pitt wound up playing the part. Go figure. I blew that one. In general I've never been one to go after stuff. I'm not out shmoozing. There are enough roles out there for me, and they seem to come along regularly enough. Since my recent Oscar win, I'm getting more offers, though there's a lot of garbage out there, too. It's always hard to find good material."
"I turned down 'Seven.' They wanted me to play the Brad Pitt role. I thought the script was too demonic. Then I saw the movie, and I was like 'Aw. I blew it.' But it's worked out alright."
It certainly was alright at Denzel continued to thrive with his career. In truth, there's a lengthy list of actors that turned down notable projects, and that includes the man himself who starred in Seven, Brad Pitt.
Brad Pitt Has A Few Regrets Of His Own
Hilariously enough, Brad Pitt's mother was upset at the actor for taking on the role in Seven. Why? Well, she wanted Pitt to appear in Apollo 13 instead, "I was talking to my mom the other night and she said, "I just saw the best movie called Apollo [13]." She said, "You have to do more movies like this!" I said, "Mom, I turned Apollo 13 down for Se7en! Wait until you see that movie!"
Almost Famous, The Matrix and American Psycho are other films that could have looked drastically different had Brad Pitt agreed.
Ultimately, all actors miss out on huge roles but for the most part, they're able to make up for it with other blockbuster performances. Pitt and Washington have had more than a few during their time.