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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
00:09faces, from 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
00:17list.
00:17I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and these are 10 actors who turned down voicing characters
00:21on The Simpsons.
00:2310.
00:23William Shatner William Shatner is the purported first ever
00:27guest star to have turned down The Simpsons, so it makes sense to talk about him first.
00:32Now it's unknown which episode specifically the writers had penned Shatner into, though
00:36according to Al Gore it was very early into the show's run, within the first four seasons
00:41presumably, given 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, questioning why
00:50he had refused to appear on the Matt Groening helmed cartoon while signing up as a guest
00:55on Futurama.
00:56And quite simply, he didn't know what The Simpsons was.
01:00He said quote, I 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, The Simpsons just gave up on trying and had
01:10Hank Azaria voice his character instead.
01:139.
01:13Sir Michael Caine
01:14One of British cinema's greatest minds, Sir Michael Caine's exemplary body of work dates
01:19back 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 Homer and Apu,
01:29as detailed by David Merkin on the season's DVD release, the role would have seen the legendary
01:34Dark Knight actor star as Apu's celebrity apprentice.
01:37Once he rejected the offer, the 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
01:47this day though.
01:48A caricature of the Englishman appeared in future season 5 episode Burns' air, though
01:52he was voiced by Dan Castellaneda, as Caine, once more, had declined an invitation.
01:578.
01:58William Hickey
01:59The circumstances surrounding this one are a tad tricky to investigate, with so few details
02:04being publicly known, but William Hickey is believed to have been in the running to voice
02:08Chester J. Lampwick in season 7's The Day the Violence Died.
02:13Reportedly the writer's first choice for the voice, Hickey had to turn the offer down for
02:17reasons currently unknown. Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, then writers and producers on The Simpsons,
02:22believe that William Hickey would have been perfect for the role, his harsh, raspy voice
02:26being the style that they were aiming for. And that he was famed for portraying what had been
02:30described as grouchy, mean old men, only furthered the justification for Hickey to play the role.
02:36However, the character instead went to Kirk Douglas, who, per Nancy Cartwright and her
02:40excellent My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy book, was a struggle once in the recording studio,
02:45refusing to wear the provided headphones and rushing through his lines with two takes at most,
02:51amongst other issues.
02:527. Don Rickles
02:54Though a renowned comedian in his own right, the incomparable Don Rickles took to acting
02:58tremendously, perhaps most known for voicing Mr. Potato Head in the beloved children's franchise
03:04Toy Story. Rickles was reportedly in line for his substantial role in season 4's New Kid on the
03:09Block, tentatively scheduled for the episode's subplot that would see him and Homer come to blows
03:14during one of the Falmer's comedy gigs. This, it's said in season 4's DVD commentary, would have
03:18resulted in the pair attending court. Now, Don Rickles ultimately turned the role down, outraged at
03:24how he was perceived in the episode. Don also accused the writing team of illegally recording his gigs in
03:30order to have access to his material, ready to be implemented into the script to ensure a genuine
03:35performance from the actor. Of course, this wasn't the case, copies of Rickles' shows had been
03:40purchased by the staff as they were actually fans of his work at the time. So instead, the subplot,
03:46still revolving around Homer, saw the Simpson patriarch and Marge attending an all-you-can-eat buffet
03:51that introduced the recurring sea captain as a character.
03:546. Quentin Tarantino
03:55As will become a persistent theme throughout this list, Quentin Tarantino is one of many familiar
04:00faces who has technically appeared in The Simpsons without voicing himself. And yes,
04:05he is an actor by the way, even if the quality of his performances might suggest otherwise.
04:10See, Tarantino was asked to guest star in the 8th season's Simpsons' califragilistic
04:15expialer annoyed grunt, Oshus, though 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 or do you just say annoyed grunt? I don't know what's funnier.
04:29Probably the latter.
04:30Anyway, the episode was slated to see Tarantino as a guest director on the Itchy & Scratchy Show,
04:35working on an episode entitled Reservoir Cats, in itself a not-so-subtle nod to his 1992 feature
04:40film debut, Reservoir Dogs. Now the famed director turned the opportunity down, but Matt Groening
04:46wasn't one to take no for an answer, so still included the character of Quentin Tarantino,
04:51even though they couldn't get Quentin Tarantino.
04:53Number 5, Clint Eastwood. Similarly to fellow Hollywood buff Quentin Tarantino,
04:58Clint Eastwood has technically appeared on The Simpsons, but again, he didn't voice himself.
05:02The skit in question from season 9's All Singing All Dancing featured the supposed Eastwood
05:08starring as an outlaw in western musical Paint Your Wagon, which saw him confronted by an unnamed man
05:13in a village who informed Clint that his wagon was sorry-looking. Eastwood then states that it could
05:18do with a coat of paint before bursting into a big song and dance, hence the episode's name.
05:23Now as far as the actual Clint Eastwood is concerned however, he was offered and subsequently
05:27rejected the role of Dr. Wolf, Lisa's sadistic dentist in season 4's Last Exit Springfield.
05:34The role went through a number of possible voice artists as Anthony Hopkins also turned down the
05:39offer following Eastwood's unexpected rejection. It eventually went to series regular Hank Azaria,
05:45who replaced the iconic Psycho star Anthony Perkins after the six-year-old tragically passed
05:49way prior to recording. 4. Sheldon Leonard
05:52Guest appearances on The Simpsons don't always guarantee a recurring role,
05:56but it does happen on occasion. Notable occurrences include Marcia Wallace as Edna Crabapple,
06:01Phil Hartman as both Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure, and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony.
06:06The Simpsons' writers almost had a different idea in mind for the latter of those though,
06:10having reportedly tried and failed to obtain the illustrious Sheldon Leonard for the role of
06:15Springfield's mob boss. Now Sheldon was renowned for playing heavy gangster characters, with his
06:20thick 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. It's unknown as to why
06:35Sheldon Leonard was unable to appear in the role, though he passed away just a few years after the
06:39character's first appearance at 89 years old. 3. Bruce Willis
06:43Seemingly adamant against The Simpsons as a concept, Bruce Willis was approached on two
06:48known occasions for a guest appearance, both of which were ultimately refuted. The first saw him,
06:53Sylvester 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
07:04into the script. This, it seems, was executed by the writers, written as the subplot for Springfield
07:09or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling.
07:12Ultimately though, the trio were unable to record their lines and their appearances and associated
07:17plot were dropped as a result. A few seasons later, Bruce Willis was again requested by the writers,
07:23this time for Season 9's When You Dish Upon A Star. He, alongside then-wife Demi Moore,
07:28was the second choice to play a celebrity couple in the episode, replaced by Alec Baldwin and Kim
07:32Basinger in the final product. Reportedly, 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, number 2, Tom Cruise. The Simpsons as staff shouldn't take it too personally that Tom
07:48Cruise has never lent his voice to their show. After all, Cruise has yet to sign up for a voiceover
07:53role in his career, preferring to stick to live-action pieces. Regardless though, twice has Tom Cruise been
07:59approached by Matt Groening's team with a role in mind for him, and twice he has refused their offers.
08:05The first of these came in the aforementioned 10th season episode, When You Dish Upon A Star.
08:09As mentioned, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were ultimately chosen to play the celebrity couple
08:13in the episode, but Tom Cruise and his then-wife Nicole Kidman were approached before them,
08:18following Bruce Willis and Demi Moore turning the show down. More notable, however, was The Simpsons'
08:22first attempt at landing the actor. The writers had hoped for Cruise to appear in Season 4's Brother
08:28from the Same Planet, and 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, the character itself was of course heavily
08:42influenced on Tom Cruise's role in the Top Gun franchise, being an F-14 pilot in the US Navy,
08:48and of course riding a motorcycle.
08:50Number one, OJ Simpson. As revealed in 2018 by showrunner Al Jean, OJ Simpson was being eyed up
08:56for a potential appearance on The Simpsons in 1993. Jean 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, 25 years to
09:09the day that the Simpsons episode that he was pinned for, that being Season 4's classic Last Exit
09:14to Springfield, originally premiered. And that's because he was set to star as the Smartline
09:18panelist before Dr. Joyce Brothers was selected upon Simpson turning down the gig. And of course,
09:24OJ Simpson himself soon after was tried for the murder of his ex-wife and 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, I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below. Are there any
09:38other actors who nearly starred on The Simpsons that I missed off here? Let me know and while you're
09:42down there, if you could, please give us a like, share, subscribe and head over to whatculture.com
09:46for more lists and news like this every single day. Even if you don't though, I've been Josh,
09:49thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.
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