Nic Cage Regrets Refusing The Role Of Shrek, Joins Our List Of 20 Stars Who Turned Down Iconic Roles

Nicolas Cage has played some pretty insane characters in his day, which is why we guess it makes sense that Dreamworks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg asked him to provide voice to Shrek, the lovable green ogre in the film of the same name. But amazingly for a guy who has made The Wicker Man, Con-Air, The Rock, and Bangkok Dangerous (we could go on), Nic turned him down!

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The character is so heavily identified with Mike Myers, but Nic was actually the first choice for the role. Sadly seems like Nic has some self esteem issues, because the thought of playing an ugly monster proved a little too much for him. "We were talking about Shrek and I just didn't want to look like an ogre," he told the Daily Mail during the red carpet premiere of The Croods. "Maybe I should have done it looking back." Errr, considering the multi-billion dollar franchise it turned into, it probably couldn't have hurt! But don't feel bad, Nic. Passing on life-changing roles happens to actors all the time. Just another hazard of the job, really. Check out the gallery above to see 20 other stars who turned down iconic parts of a lifetime.

[Photo: Getty Images/Dreamworks]