Keanu Reeves Turned Down The Lead Role in PLATOON Because "He Didn't Want To Do Violence"

There are so many “what if?” casting moments in the history of Hollywood. Lots of actors were originally cast in roles that ultimately ended up going to other actors. For example, O.J. Simpson was originally The Terminator, Eric Stoltz was famously cast as Marty McFly before Michael J. Fox was cast, Tom Selleck was cast as Indiana Jones, and Kurt Russell was originally wanted to for the role of Han Solo.

Well, did you know that Keanu Reeves was originally up for the lead role of U.S. Army volunteer Chris Taylor in Oliver Stone’s Platoon? A role that ultimately went to Charlie Sheen.

In a past interview with Entertainment Weekly celebrating the 25th anniversary of Platoon, Oliver Stone confirmed that Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) and Keanu Reeves were all up for the role of Chris Taylor.

Depp actually ended up playing a different soldier and Stone "clearly believed he was going to be a star," but when Reeves was offered the role, he turned the role down because "he didn't want to do violence."

This is actually pretty funny to learn because now Reeves is best known for his action movies that are completely filled with violence such as The Matrix and John Wick franchises. But, obviously, at that time in Reeves’ career, those weren’t the type of movies that he wanted to make. In the end, not taking the role didn’t really hurt his career.

Platoon came out in 1986 and Reeves did a slew of different projects in that time including Youngblood, The Magical World of Disney, Teenage Dream, The Brotherhood of Justice, River’s Edge, Under the Influence, and Babes in Toyland. I’m sure a lot of you have never seen any of the projects as many of them are TV movies. He just took his own journey and look where it led him!

As for Sheen being cast in the movie, Stone said that he was perfect for the role because he was "perfectly wide-eyed and had a vaguely privileged look” and he properly "conveys the horror of the place.”

What do you think about Reeves turning down the lead role in Platoon? It makes you wonder what his career trajectory would have been like had he taken that role. It’s an interesting multiverse thought, maybe Sheen would have ended up starring in The Matrix and John Wick in another universe!

Via: /film