Actors: TV Roles they refused or didn't get

6.5  

Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
Turned down the role of Carrie Bradshaw.

Bree Van de Camp, Desperate Housewives
Turned down the role of Bree Van de Camp (a few times, I believe). But 4 years later, she joined the cast as Katherine Mayfair.

6.3  

Don Draper, Mad Men
Slattery originally auditioned for the role of Don Draper before he was asked to play Roger Sterling.

7.7  

Francis, Malcolm in the Middle
Before working with Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad, Paul had auditioned to play Cranston's character's oldest son, Francis, on Malcolm in the Middle.

6.9  

Jack Shephard, Lost
Was originally cast to play the role of Jack Shephard on Lost. However, this was back when Jack was supposed to die at the end of the first episode. When the creators decided not to kill off Jack and instead make him a main character, Keaton was out.

According to the creators, Keaton was only interested in appearing in one episode, but had no interest in a long term project. It is unclear whether or not creators actually would have wanted Keaton for the revised lead role of Jack Shephard.

7.1  

Kate Austen, Lost
Originally read for the role of Kate on Lost. It was then that the Yunjin inspired the writers to create the character of Sun Kwon (and also the character of Jin).

7.5  

Charlotte S. Lewis, Lost
Was in talks to play Charlotte S. Lewis on Lost. But passed on the role because she did not want to relocate to Hawaii.

6.7  

Cordelia Chase, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Was originally considered/brought in for the role of Cordelia on BTVS.

7.2  

Riley Finn, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Originally auditioned/was considered for the role of Riley Finn on BTVS. Joss Whedon saw Christian playing a darker role, which led to him casting Christian as Lindsay on Angel.

6.4  

Christian Troy, Nip/Tuck
Was the 2nd choice for the role of Christian on Nip/Tuck and thus would have been casted as Christian if Julian McMahon refused the role. Campos was later cast on the show as Quentin Costa.

However, Campos was more of what creator Ryan Murphy originally had in mind when he first wrote the character of Christian. Christian was originally named Dr. Christian Vega and was supposed to be Latin American. Murphy changed the character's name to Dr. Christian Troy when Julian McMahon accepted the role.

7  

Agent John Doggett, The X-Files
Auditioned for the role.

6.3  

Agent John Doggett, The X-Files
Auditioned for the role.

6.3  

Agent John Doggett, The X-Files
Auditioned for the role.

7.5  

Agent John Doggett, The X-Files
Auditioned for the role.

6.9  

Agent Dana Scully, The X-Files
David Duchovny originally suggested Beals, his former Yale classmate, to play the role of Scully.
I am unsure as to what extent Jennifer Beals was considered for this role but I thought it was interesting so I decided to include it.

Source: IMDB

6.1  

Alex Krycek, The X-Files
Refused the role of Alex Krycek, not wanting to commit to a TV show.

Source: IMDB

7.2  

Michael Scott, The Office
Was a top choice for the role of Michael for the US adaption of the British show, but refused it.

7  

CSI
Considered as a replacement for William Peterson on CSI before Laurence Fishburne was cast.

Source: IMDB

7.6  

CSI
Considered as a replacement for William Peterson on CSI before Laurence Fishburne was cast.

Source: IMDB

7.3  

Admiral Helena Cain, Battlestar Galactica
Offered the role but refused. Therefore, the role went to Michelle Forbes.

7  

Ellen Tigh, Battlestar Galactica
Was offered the role but turned it down because she did not feel she was right for the part. She later took the role of D'Anna Biers, which was written with her in mind.

7.6  

Agent Paul Ballard, Dollhouse
According to E!'s Kristin, James was one of the actor's in the running to play Eliza Dushku's leading man on Dollhouse.

6.9  

Rachel Green, Friends
Was originally cast to play Rachel.