Out of all the characters of Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora is perhaps one of the most famous ones among fans. The adopted daughter of the purple supervillain Thanos, the-girl-in-green’s exceptional superhuman strength and agility combined with her incredible accelerated healing ability and hand-to-hand combat fighting techniques not only earned her the title of the ‘most dangerous woman in the universe’ but also one of the fan-favorite characters from the MCU.
However, one famous star failed to acknowledge Gamora’s worth and ended up turning her down thinking that Guardians of the Galaxy would be a huge flop–only to regret it later. This famous celebrity was none other than Amanda Seyfried.
Amanda Seyfried’s Story Of Turning Down MCU’s Gamora
Best known for breakthrough superhit comedy/drama Mean Girls, Amanda Seyfried once revealed on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast that she turned down a role in Guardians of the Galaxy because she was under the impression that it would be a box-office bomb.
“I didn’t want to be part of the first Marvel movie that bombed. I said, ‘Who wants to see a movie about a talking tree and a raccoon?’ Which is clearly — I was very wrong.”
However, in her defense, neither Gamora nor GOTG was the finest known concept by the MCU at the time, and Seyfried was not in for a risk.
“The script was great, it was all based on not wanting to be ‘that guy,’ Because if you are the star of a giant movie like that, and it bombs, Hollywood does not forgive you. I’ve seen that happen to people and it was a giant, giant fear and I thought, is it worth it?”
During another interview with ComicBook, the Mamma Mia! star shared how the fact that she had to paint herself in green every day to play the superheroine was one of the biggest turnoffs for her for the role.
How Zoe Saldaña Bagged The Role Of Gamora
While Zoe Saldaña aced her performance as Gamora in every Guardians of the Galaxy film, the director of the movie series revealed how she was actually his original choice for the character right from the beginning.
In the documentary Marvel Studios’ Assembled: The Making of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn was seen saying:
“When I first went to Marvel and I pitched ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ I brought a little book. I had worked very hard trying to put this little book together of all the little pictures and photo references, and all that stuff. And in that book, there were all the characters listed and who I thought should play those characters. And of course, none of those actors who were in that book ended up playing the characters, except for Zoe Saldaña, who I met and loved from the beginning.”
Although her interesting character of Neytiri in Avatar must have played an incredible role in helping her prepare for playing Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, what truly matters at the end of the day is how Zoe Saldaña perfectly nailed her character–something that pretty much makes Amanda Seyfried‘s rejection of the role close to meaningless.
