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Those famous faces who simply didn't fancy a trip to Springfield.
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00:00Few things in life go hand in hand as much as The Simpsons does with guest stars.
00:04A quick scan through the official list of guest stars reveals an absolute almanac of famous faces,
00:09from actors to musicians to sports personalities.
00:12But it might surprise you to learn that not everyone was eager to get their name on the list.
00:17I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and these are 10 actors who turned down voicing characters on The Simpsons.
00:23Number 10, William Shatner.
00:24William Shatner is the purported first ever guest star to have turned down The Simpsons,
00:29so it makes sense to talk about him first.
00:32Now it's unknown which episode specifically the writers had penned Shatner into.
00:36Though according to Al Gore, it was very early into the show's run,
00:40within the first four seasons presumably,
00:42given the comments were made on the fourth season's DVD release.
00:45Taking to social media in December 2020, Shatner directly responded to a fan,
00:49questioning why he had refused to appear on the Matt Groening helmed cartoon,
00:54while signing up as a guest on Futurama.
00:56And quite simply, he didn't know what The Simpsons was.
01:00He said, quote,
01:00I didn't know what The Simpsons was and I was told Futurama was a sci-fi cartoon.
01:05There you go.
01:05So yeah, while Shatner did appear on that show,
01:08The Simpsons just gave up on trying and had Hank Azaria voice his character instead.
01:13Number 9, Sir Michael Caine.
01:14One of British cinema's greatest minds,
01:16Sir Michael Caine's exemplary body of work dates back to the 40s.
01:20But a ticket to Springfield was not an offer that he was willing to accept.
01:24Desperately wanted by the writers for the hilarious season 5 episode,
01:28Homer and Apu,
01:29as detailed by David Merkin on the season's DVD release,
01:32the role would have seen the legendary Dark Knight actor star as Apu's celebrity apprentice.
01:37Once he rejected the offer,
01:38the role was rewritten to have James Wood slot in instead.
01:41Why exactly Michael Caine declined the opportunity to star in The Simpsons remains unknown to this day though.
01:48A caricature of the Englishman appeared in future season 5 episode Burns' air,
01:52though he was voiced by Dan Castellaneda,
01:54as Caine, once more, had declined an invitation.
01:57Number 8, William Hickey.
01:59The circumstances surrounding this one are a tad tricky to investigate,
02:03with so few details being publicly known,
02:05but William Hickey is believed to have been in the running
02:08to voice Chester J. Lampwick in season 7's The Day the Violence Died.
02:13Reportedly, the writer's first choice for the voice,
02:15Hickey had to turn the offer down for reasons currently unknown.
02:18Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein,
02:20then writers and producers on The Simpsons,
02:22believed that William Hickey would have been perfect for the role,
02:25his harsh, raspy voice being the style that they were aiming for.
02:28And that he was famed for portraying what had been described as
02:31grouchy, mean old men,
02:33only furthered the justification for Hickey to play the role.
02:36However, the character instead went to Kirk Douglas,
02:39who, per Nancy Cartwright and her excellent My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy book,
02:43was a struggle once in the recording studio,
02:45refusing to wear the provided headphones
02:47and rushing through his lines with two takes at most, amongst other issues.
02:52Number 7, Don Rickles.
02:54Though a renowned comedian in his own right,
02:56the incomparable Don Rickles took to acting tremendously,
03:00perhaps most known for voicing Mr. Potato Head
03:02in the beloved children's franchise Toy Story.
03:05Rickles was reportedly in line for his substantial role in Season 4's New Kid on the Block,
03:09tentatively scheduled for the episode's subplot
03:11that would see him and Homer come to blows during one of the former's comedy gigs.
03:16This, it's said in Season 4's DVD commentary,
03:18would have resulted in the pair attending court.
03:21Now, Don Rickles ultimately turned the role down,
03:23outraged at how he was perceived in the episode.
03:26Don also accused the writing team of illegally recording his gigs
03:30in order to have access to his material,
03:32ready to be implemented into the script to ensure a genuine performance from the actor.
03:37Of course, this wasn't the case.
03:38Copies of Rickles' shows had been purchased by the staff
03:41as they were actually fans of his work at the time.
03:44So instead, the subplot, still revolving around Homer,
03:47saw the Simpson patriarch and Marge attending an all-you-can-eat buffet
03:50that introduced the recurring sea captain as a character.
03:54Number 6, Quentin Tarantino.
03:56As will become a persistent theme throughout this list,
03:58Quentin Tarantino is one of many familiar faces
04:01who has technically appeared in The Simpsons without voicing himself.
04:05And yes, he is an actor, by the way,
04:06even if the quality of his performances might suggest otherwise.
04:10See, Tarantino was asked to guest star in The Eighth Season,
04:13Simpsons' califragilistic expialer annoyed grunt,
04:17Oshus.
04:17Though he rejected the offer after finding issues with his proposed dialogue.
04:21And by the way, I've never actually thought about how you're supposed to pronounce that title.
04:25Like, do you do the dough?
04:26Or do you just say annoyed grunt?
04:28I don't know what's funnier.
04:29Probably the latter.
04:30Anyway, the episode was slated to see Tarantino as a guest director
04:33on The Itchy and Scratchy Show,
04:35working on an episode entitled Reservoir Cats.
04:37In itself, a not-so-subtle nod to his 1992 feature film debut,
04:41Reservoir Dogs.
04:43Now, the famed director turned the opportunity down,
04:45but Matt Groening wasn't one to take no for an answer,
04:48so still included the character of Quentin Tarantino,
04:51even though they couldn't get Quentin Tarantino.
04:53Number 5, Clint Eastwood.
04:55Similarly to fellow Hollywood buff Quentin Tarantino,
04:58Clint Eastwood has technically appeared on The Simpsons,
05:01but again, he didn't voice himself.
05:02The skit in question from season 9's All Singing, All Dancing
05:06featured the supposed Eastwood starring as an outlaw
05:09in Western musical Paint Your Wagon,
05:11which saw him confronted by an unnamed man in a village
05:14who informed Clint that his wagon was sorry-looking.
05:17Eastwood then states that it could do with a coat of paint
05:19before bursting into a big song and dance,
05:22hence the episode's name.
05:23Now, as far as the actual Clint Eastwood is concerned, however,
05:26he was offered and subsequently rejected the role of Dr. Wolf,
05:29Lisa's sadistic dentist in season 4's Last Exit Springfield.
05:34The role went through a number of possible voice artists,
05:37as Anthony Hopkins also turned down the offer
05:40following Eastwood's unexpected rejection.
05:42It eventually went to series regular Hank Azaria,
05:44who replaced the iconic Psycho star, Anthony Perkins,
05:47after the six-year-old tragically passed away prior to recording.
05:51Number 4, Sheldon Leonard.
05:52Guest appearances on The Simpsons don't always guarantee a recurring role,
05:56but it does happen on occasion.
05:58Notable occurrences include Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel,
06:01Phil Hartman as both Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure,
06:04and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony.
06:06The Simpsons' writers almost had a different idea in mind for the latter of those,
06:10having reportedly tried and failed to obtain the illustrious Sheldon Leonard for the role of Springfield's mob boss.
06:16Now Sheldon was renowned for playing heavy gangster characters,
06:20with his thick New York accent making him a convincing choice for any such role, Fat Tony included.
06:26Season 3's Bart the Murderer featured the first appearance of the mob gangster,
06:30which sees Bart hired to bartend for the Springfield Mafia at their demand.
06:33It's unknown as to why Sheldon Leonard was unable to appear in the role,
06:37though he passed away just a few years after the character's first appearance at 89 years old.
06:42Number 3, Bruce Willis.
06:44Seemingly adamant against The Simpsons as a concept,
06:47Bruce Willis was approached on two known occasions for a guest appearance,
06:50both of which were ultimately refuted.
06:52The first saw him, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger requested to star in Season 5's 10th episode,
06:59a spot they had allegedly agreed to so long as their restaurant brand, Planet Hollywood, was worked into the script.
07:05This, it seems, was executed by the writers,
07:08written as the subplot for Springfield, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling.
07:13Ultimately, though, the trio were unable to record their lines,
07:15and their appearances and associated plot were dropped as a result.
07:19A few seasons later, Bruce Willis was again requested by the writers,
07:23this time for Season 9's When You Dish Upon a Star.
07:26He, alongside then-wife Demi Moore, was the second choice to play a celebrity couple in the episode,
07:31replaced by Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger in the final product.
07:34Reportedly, numerous other big names were considered for this turbulent role,
07:38including Bruce Springsteen, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Goldie Hawn, and Kurt Russell.
07:43Speaking of...
07:44Number 2, Tom Cruise.
07:45The Simpsons as a staff shouldn't take it too personally that Tom Cruise has never lent his voice to their show.
07:51After all, Cruise has yet to sign up for a voiceover role in his career,
07:54preferring to stick to live-action pieces.
07:57Regardless, though, twice has Tom Cruise been approached by Matt Groening's team with a role in mind for him,
08:02and twice he has refused their offers.
08:05The first of these came in the aforementioned 10th season episode,
08:08When You Dish Upon a Star.
08:09As mentioned, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were ultimately chosen to play the celebrity couple in the episode,
08:14but Tom Cruise and his then-wife, Nicole Kidman, were approached before them,
08:18following Bruce Willis and Demi Moore turning the show down.
08:21More notable, however, was The Simpsons' first attempt at landing the actor.
08:24The writers had hoped for Cruise to appear in Season 4's Brother from the Same Planet,
08:29and would have seen him play Bart's mentor, purposefully also named Tom.
08:33Once the Mission Impossible star rejected their plans, though, the role went to Phil Hartman.
08:37Despite the lack of Tom Cruise in the episode,
08:40the character itself was, of course, heavily influenced on Tom Cruise's role in the Top Gun franchise,
08:45being an F-14 pilot in the US Navy, and, of course, riding a motorcycle.
08:50Number 1, OJ Simpson.
08:51As revealed in 2018 by showrunner Al Jean,
08:54OJ Simpson was being eyed up for a potential appearance on The Simpsons in 1993.
09:00Jean wrote via Twitter on the 11th of March 2018,
09:02that it was ironic of Fox to air the 2006 OJ Simpson The Last Confession special,
09:0825 years to the day that The Simpsons episode that he was pinned for,
09:12that being Season 4's classic Last Exit to Springfield, originally premiered.
09:16And that's because he was set to star as the SmartLine panelist
09:19before Dr. Joyce Brothers was selected upon Simpson turning down the gig.
09:23And, of course, OJ Simpson himself soon after was tried for the murder of his ex-wife
09:27and her friend in 1994.
09:30Needless to say, then, OJ's acting career was all but finished by the mid-90s.
09:34So that's our list.
09:35I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below.
09:37Are there any other actors who nearly starred on The Simpsons that I missed off here?
09:41Let me know, and while you're down there, if you could,
09:43please give us a like, share, subscribe,
09:44and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day.
09:48Even if you don't though, I've been Josh.
09:50Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.
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