Richard Gere Was Set to Play One of The Biggest Action Movie Heroes of The 80s. The Studio Offered The Pretty Woman Star A Huge Amount of Money
Richard Gere turned down a role in a now iconic action film. Not even big money encouraged him to change his mind.
Many iconic films could have looked very different, as very often the actors starring in them weren’t the first choices of the filmmakers at all. And it's no different in the case of Die Hard, with Bruce Willis in the lead role.
The actor, however, wasn’t at all the first choice for the role of John McClane. It may surprise some, but Richard Gere, known for Pretty Woman, was seen as this character. He was the one who was contacted in the first place to ask if he would like to star in this action movie, however, the artist declined, despite being offered a lot of money. Gere wasn’t interested in the project. This information was revealed in the book Casting Might-Have-Beens by Eila Mell.
Gere turned it down, saying he had no interest in the project. Producer Joel Silver wanted Gere so much that he added another million dollars to the actor's proposed salary in order to get him to sign on.
We can’t judge how Richard Gere would have fared as John McClane, but it can't be said that his refusal hurt the production, as Die Hard is already a cult film and it's hard to imagine anyone other than Bruce Willis in the lead role. Before he was able to join the project, however, he previously had to wait in line, as there were reportedly many other actors ahead of him.
Coming back to Richard Gere, it isn’t impossible that had he accepted the role in Die Hard, his career might have taken a very different turn.
