Six Iconic Films Sylvester Stallone Turned Down

Few actors have left as indelible a mark on the world of cinema as Sylvester Stallone. His rise from the underdog in Rocky to a household name was nothing short of meteoric, and his dominance throughout the 1980s, particularly with the Rocky sequels and the Rambo series, is the stuff of legend. Yet, for all his successes, Stallone’s journey is also defined by the opportunities he let slip through his fingers—roles in films that would go on to become cultural touchstones.

Missed Action Classics

Stallone’s association with the action genre is well established, but it’s remarkable to consider just how many genre-defining films he nearly fronted. Before Bruce Willis became synonymous with John McClane, Stallone was among the first choices for Die Hard. The screenwriter, Steven de Souza, later remarked:

They went to Arnold [Schwarzenegger]. They went to Sly, who turned it down. They went to Richard Gere—turned it down. They went to James Caan—turned it down. They went to Burt Reynolds, and all of these people rejected it.

Willis’s everyman approach ultimately set Die Hard apart, but one can’t help but wonder how different the film might have been with Stallone at the helm. Similarly, The Terminator could have looked very different. Stallone was reportedly considered for the role of the T-800, alongside Mel Gibson and O.J. Simpson. Years later, Stallone himself joked about the prospect:

I don’t look like any comic-book character. Like I could have never played The Terminator. No one would make a robot with a crooked mouth and voice that sounds like a pallbearer. It just doesn’t work.

It’s a curious twist of fate that his refusal paved the way for Schwarzenegger’s own ascent as an action icon.

Comedic and Dramatic Detours

Comedy was never Stallone’s natural territory, but that didn’t stop producers from sending him the script for Beverly Hills Cop after Mickey Rourke dropped out. Stallone, however, reimagined the film as a straight action drama, stripping away its comedic heart. Director Martin Brest recalled:

My conception of it at the time was to do something with Stallone that nobody had ever seen before, It had some comedic elements by virtue of the fish out of water, but he wrote this thing that was a straight-out action drama.

Ultimately, Stallone’s vision didn’t align with the producers’, and the role went to Eddie Murphy, whose performance became legendary. Stallone would later channel his action-heavy rewrite into Cobra, a film that, while memorable, never achieved the same acclaim.

Romancing the Stone presented another fork in the road. Stallone had to choose between that and Rhinestone, a musical comedy with Dolly Parton. He later admitted, with a laugh:

The third thing was picking between Rhinestone and Romancing The Stone and you know which I ended up going for… (Laughs)

Romancing the Stone became a box office hit and helped Michael Douglas transition into leading man status, while Rhinestone is often cited as one of Stallone’s more questionable career moves.

Brushes with Auteur Filmmaking

Stallone’s reluctance to step outside his established image extended to working with Quentin Tarantino. He turned down the role of Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, a film now regarded as one of Tarantino’s most mature works. While he never explained his reasons for passing on Jackie Brown, he was more forthcoming about declining a part in Death Proof:

There’s no way. I have two daughters, and this fellow, his hobby is putting teenagers in his car and smashing them into a wall’. That’s not going to work.

Rumours once swirled that Stallone was considered for Butch in Pulp Fiction, but he later clarified that he was never in the running for that particular role.

Opportunities for Reinvention

Among all the roles he declined, perhaps the one that stings most is Witness. The film offered a chance to break free from his action star persona, much as it did for Harrison Ford, who earned his only Best Actor Oscar nomination for the part. Stallone has since called turning down Witness a significant misstep:

Witness killed me… Witness was a mistake.

For years, Stallone remained typecast, only finding opportunities to showcase his range much later in his career. Had he taken on projects like Beverly Hills Cop or Witness, the trajectory of his career—and perhaps the landscape of popular cinema—might have looked rather different.