Ocean’s Eleven leading man George Clooney says Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp turned down key roles

George Clooney says both Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp turned down the role of Linus Caldwell, eventually played by Matt Damon, in the hit 2001 film Ocean’s Eleven.

“Some very famous people told us to fuck right away — Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp — there were others,” the Oscar winner, 61, said Friday at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Los Angeles, according to Weekly entertainment.

Clooney said, “They’re sorry now,” adding, “I’m sorry I did Batman” of his stint as the Caped Crusader in 1997’s Batman & Robin.

Clooney appeared alongside Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh to commemorate the hit ensemble’s remake released more than 21 years ago.

The comedy crime thriller, which hit theaters in December 2001, spawned the sequels Ocean’s Twelve in 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Clooney played Danny Ocean in the trilogy and led a cast that included Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck and the late Bernie Mac.

The A-list actor noted that it was easy to sell the star cast in remaking the 1960 film with Soderbergh at the helm.

“Steven had just made Erin Brockovich and Traffic, and he was nominated to direct both movies,” Clooney said of the filmmaker, who won the 2001 Best Director award for Traffic. “So people really wanted to work with Steven.”

Soderbergh said he made the film, which tells the story of a rogue crew who robbed three Las Vegas casinos under Clooney’s Ocean, at a time when he was looking for big-budget films and independent cinema values.

“It felt like the next iteration of my desire to work in the mainstream movie business and make movies that could be released in many movie theaters,” said the director, who has also made memorable movies like Sex, Lies and Videotape. Contagion and Magic Mike.

Clooney noted that the Sin City-based movie — which grossed $183 million at the domestic box office and $450 million worldwide Box office Mojo – was a departure from the cinema rate in theaters in 2001.

“It’s also important to understand where we were at the time,” he said. “The studios were making really big, wide, not very good movies at the time.

“Steven had the idea to try and bring all this independent film stuff that all these young filmmakers were learning back into the studio system. It would go back to the things they did from, say, 1964 to 1975.”

Both Wahlberg and Depp were offered roles in the 2001 hit, which spawned two sequels

Clooney played bonaire leader Danny Ocean in the 2001 film

Clooney was portrayed alongside Matt Damon in the first film, which spawned two sequels