Unfortunately for both parties, this approach came just a little too late. Little wonder, then, that Ocean’s Eleven producers approached him to appear in their star-studded ensemble. But in 2000, he was still one of Hollywood’s most bankable names. Bruce Willis also passed.īruce Willis might now be stuck in VOD action movie purgatory. I made two bad movies instead- Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie-but doing that was better than sitting with Brad and George, telling the press how great everybody is!” 3. In fact, he later told Today, “People tell George Clooney it's great, but we all know it sucked. Despite the latter’s critical mauling, Wahlberg doesn’t appear to believe he missed out. However, another remake of a ‘60s classic, Planet of the Apes, proved to be more tempting. Mark Wahlberg’s loss turned out to be Matt Damon’s gain as the one-time Calvin Klein model was the first actor to be offered the part of pickpocket Linus Caldwell. Mark Wahlberg turned down a role in the movie. Owen, in particular, is unlikely to have regretted the decision: Alongside regular collaborator Wes Anderson, he picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for the dysfunctional family dramedy.

Yes, director Steven Soderbergh’s first choices for those roles were Luke and Owen Wilson, but the pair had to pass due to their commitments on The Royal Tenenbaums. But a real-life pair of brothers were initially tapped to play the crafty mechanics. Warner Home VideoĪ then-relatively unknown Casey Affleck and Scott Caan more than held their own against their A-list co-stars as siblings Virgil and Turk Malloy. Scott Caan and Casey Affleck in Ocean's Eleven (2001).

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