The big movie role that Paul Rudd missed

Rudd is an everyman who covers pretty much every film genre an actor can play in. “He always had this quality that made him hard to categorize,” Bill Hader said of the actor to GQ“He could do anything, effortlessly.”

However, a casting team wasn't entirely sold on the idea and he was turned down for a role in a major motion picture. In what must remain as a lingering “what if,” leaving him pondering what path his career would have taken had he gotten the role, Rudd almost landed a role in The Convicts.

“I read for it,” Rudd told Dax Shephard in his podcast Armchair Expert“For the role of Gil Bellows.” The actor was considered for the role of Tommy Williams, the youngest convict in the cast who served time for burglary. It's a deeply emotional role in the middle of a heavy drama film based on a Steven King novel.

The film is undoubtedly one of the greatest films of modern times. Led by the impressive performances of Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, the film received seven Oscar nominations, among numerous other accolades. But most importantly, it was a box office hit, grossing an estimated $73 million, so it was a big role that Rudd missed out on.

However, he is the first to admit that, although he is proud of his range, he is not the right person for the role. “By the way, [I] “I couldn't have been more wrong,” he said, knowing full well he couldn't have played the role. But when the casting process began, he had hope. “At the very beginning, I want to say,” he continued, “I read the script and thought, 'This is really, really good. This is Stephen King?!'”

But beyond Rudd, The Convicts had difficulty casting most of their roles. Because it was such a meaty film, full of emotional scenes and dramatic moments, finding the right actors was crucial. Big names like Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman were considered for the lead role of Andy Dufresne. The role Rudd auditioned for was originally offered to Brad Pitt. But in the end, it was Gil Bellows who played Tommy Williams in his very first film.

So even though Rudd didn't have a chance, he still had a hugely successful career and the film helped an unknown star rise into the spotlight instead.

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