American actor Edward Norton has appeared in many incredible films throughout his career. But there have also been films that he passed up, which could have been valuable additions to his successful career. The actor was offered a role in James Cameron’s high-budget film, Avatar 2, but due to a bizarre reason, he turned down the role.
Interestingly, he isn’t the only one who missed out on the opportunity to be cast in Cameron’s mind-bogglingly expensive film. Previously, actor Matt Damon also rejected a role in the first installment of Avatar, due to some prior commitments.
Why did Edward Norton turn down the opportunity to be cast in Avatar 2?
Oscar Nominated actor, Edward Norton was offered a role in James Cameron’s directed film Avatar: The Way of Water. However, the actor turned down the role as he couldn’t get the role of his choice. Norton was offered to portray the role of the antagonist, but the actor refused to take the role as he had something else in mind. The actor wanted to play the role of a Na’vi, in the film. During an interview, the actor revealed about the conversation he had with the filmmaker. He said,
“I am friends with Jim [Cameron], and actually enormously admire and kind of adore him… So when he wanted me to do something in Avatar 2, I basically told him, ‘If I’m not a Na’vi, I’m not doing it. I’m not being part of the industrial world, coming in to destroy Pandora. I’m either a Na’vi or nothing.’ He was like, ‘OK, maybe in 3, 4 or 5, then.'”
Norton being a big fan of the original film, wished to play the role of the humanoid species Na’vi in the film, but Cameron already had a character in mind for Norton. Since Norton was adamant about playing Na’vi, Cameron had no choice but to drop the idea of casting Norton in the film.
This isn’t the first time an actor missed the opportunity to be a part of the Avatar franchise. Previously, during the filming of the first installment of the film, Matt Damon’s name was considered to be a part of the film, but he had his reasons for not signing the film.
Why did Matt Damon not join the Avatar Franchise?
Being a part of a high-budget film like Avatar is indeed a dream for many actors. Matt Damon could have been one of the actors who would have lived up to this dream if he had not turned down the opportunity to be cast in the film. What’s more interesting is the fact that the actor was offered 10% profit from the box office collection, which would have earned him a $250 million payday as the film was the highest-grossing film of its time, with a box office collection of $2.9 billion worldwide.
During an interview, the actor said, “I’m sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down.” The actor further explained that accepting a role in Avatar was not an option for him as he was already working on Jason Bourne‘s film at that time. Damon said,
“I had a contract. I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie and I knew that we were going to need work at the end and I had to get it all the way to the finish line and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit and I didn’t want to do that. I desperately wanted to work with Cameron. I mean, because he worked so rarely.”
Despite his willingness to collaborate with Cameron, Damon had regrettfully passed on the project.
Avatar and Avatar:The Way of Water.are available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: Cinemablend, Variety
