John Leguizamo reveals he TURNED DOWN Stanley Tucci’s role in The Devil Wears Prada
John Leguizamo plays a few roles he turned down during his career that ultimately felt like major mistakes on his part.
During a new interview with Business insiderthe Colombian wasted little time in revealing that he regretted turning down a key role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).
‘Oh yeah. The Devil Wears Prada, the role of Stanley Tucci’, Leguizamo, 63, confessed.
Tucci memorably played Nigel Kipling, the art director of Runway magazine, in the comedy-drama starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt.
The Devil Wears Prada was a box office success, as it grossed $326.7 million worldwide on a budget of $35–41 million.
John Leguizamo is guilty of a number of roles he turned down during his career that ultimately felt like big mistakes on his part. During a new interview with Business Insider, the Colombian wasted little time in revealing that he regretted turning down a key role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).
Leguizamo hasn’t revealed exactly why he decided to turn down the role of Nigel Kipling.
But he did share two other films he regretted passing on.
‘Happy Feet, the Robin Williams party. And Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Vince Vaughn role,” he said.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) is an action comedy film starring Brad Pitt and Angelia Jolie.
“Well, for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it was because they paid them $20 million and they were going to pay me a bowl,” he said, referring to Pitt and Jolie.
“I felt discriminated against, and they probably didn’t discriminate against me, but I did feel discriminated against,” he explained, adding, “When you’re a person of color, sometimes you’re so used to being discriminated against you think you’re being rejected, and sometimes you’re not being rejected. So that’s what happens, and you have to do a lot of therapy to resolve that.”
Leguizamo was offered the role of Eddie, who was given the third spot among the two superstars ultimately played by Vince Vaughn, 54.
Once again, this proved to be another smash hit, with the Doug Liman-directed film grossing $487.3 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $110 million.
As for Happy Feet, the Encanto actor worried about being typecast after appearing in the animated adventure comedy Ice Age (2002), which ultimately became a big enough hit, earning $383.2 million, that he set up a franchise run.
After Leguizamo’s death, the late Robin Williams ended up playing Ramón, Cletus, Lovelace and the narrator.
‘Oh yeah. The Devil Wears Prada, the role of Stanley Tucci’, famous Leguizamo, 63. Tucci (pictured) memorably played Nigel Kipling, the art director of Runway magazine, in the comedy-drama starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt
Leguizamo also regretted passing on Happy Feet, based on the fact that he didn’t want to be typecast after his success with Ice Age. Instead, the late Robin Williams got the role
‘I said, “I don’t want to do all these ice cream movies.” What a stupid reason. But at the time it made sense to me, and then I lost out on millions,” he admitted.
After the original, Leguizamo played Sid, a ground sloth, in the sequels Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) , all blockbusters.
While speaking with the publication, the Broadway star also revealed that he turned down the crime drama film Carlito’s Way starring Al Pacino a few times before agreeing to sign on.
“I studied with some of the best acting teachers and all I get to play are drug dealers,” he said of his hesitation to take on the role of Benny Blanco from the Bronx. “So it was a mixed blessing.”
But then they came to him one last time to share with him the actor they were also considering for the character.
The Carlito’s Way star said he met Mr. & Mrs. Smith, who went to Vince Vaughn, had passed on when he went on to make scale, compared to Brad Pitt and Angelia Jolie’s lead roles, which he said raked in $20 million.
With Ice Age, the Colombian ended up scoring a major franchise with four successful sequels. Leguizamo played Sid the Sloth in the Ice Age films and its four sequels
“They told me they were going to give it to Benicio [del Toro] and I said, “Okay, I’ll do it,” he confessed about his change of heart.
In retrospect, Carlito’s Way and Super Mario Bros (both 1993) are considered Leguizamo’s breakthrough roles.
His lengthy Hollywood resume also includes appearances in films such as Die Hard 2 (1990), Regarding Henry (1991), Executive Decision (1996), Summer Of Sam (1999), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Chef (2014), John Wick (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and The Survivor (2021).
He also has a number of television acting credits, including The Brothers Garcia (200-2004), ER (2005-2006), Bloodline (2016-2017) and Latin History For Morons (2018).