Star Wars Actor Timothy Olyphant Nearly Derailed Vin Diesel’s Career Before Refusing $7.3B Franchise for a Bizarre Reason
The legendary American actor Timothy Olyphant has been in the entertainment industry for over a period of two decades. With his major to minor roles, the 55-year-old actor has left a mark in Holywood. He has been associated with projects like Gone In 60 Seconds, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Die Hard, Hitman series, A Perfect Gateway, This Is Where I Leave You, The Mandalorian, and Live Free or Die Hard.
Not many people know that Star Wars star Timothy Olyphant was the first choice for the action-drama franchise Fast and Furious. He was about to put a brake on Vin Diesel’s billion-dollar acting career. To have the Scream actor onboard was the studio’s demand.
Timothy Olyphant Was Supposed To Play Dominic Toretto in the Fast And Furious Series
After decades of watching Vin Diesel playing the character of Dominic Toretto, it is completely next to impossible to imagine anyone in his shoes. He has been the face of the billion-dollar franchise ever since its inception in the early 2000s. According to the oral history of the entertainment outlet Entertainment Weekly, producer Neal H. Moritz revealed the conditions kept by the studio back then. He confessed-
“The studio said, ‘If you get Timothy Olyphant to play the role of Dominic Toretto, the movie’s greenlit.’ We went to Tim and he passed, and we wondered if we were going to get to make it.”
Timothy Olyphant
During an appearance on the famous chat show, Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Timothy Olyphant mentioned why he did not go ahead with the proposition. The actor amusingly said-
“I just thought, well, this will just be stupid, and I thought no one is gonna wanna see this movie eight or nine different times. I mean, by the third or fourth sequel, people are gonna definitely get bored of it. Right?”
The Crazies actor would be seen in the sequel of the Justified series, Justified: City Primeval.
Timothy Olyphant On The New Chapter Of Justified
Timothy Olyphant would be seen playing the character of the quirky and dedicated marshall Raylan Givens in the sequel of the action-crime drama series. During an interview, the actor spoke about playing the character. He said-
“With all due respect to our original cast, who I loved, adored, and miss, it was really a fun experience being with all these new cast members but still feeling like we were doing our show. This feels right in the sweet spot, but I don’t know, it could be a total failure.”
Read Also: Quentin Tarantino In Talks To Direct FX’s Justified
While talking about being pigeonholed by portraying similar kinds of characters, the actor mentioned-
“I’m going to tell you a story, and forgive me for dropping a name, but the most amazing, talented Eric Stonestreet said he read an article where they asked me if I was concerned about being typecast. He read that and said out loud to himself, “As what—a badass?” [laughs] Like, what’s the fucking problem? Who’s had trouble with that problem?
Developed by the Canadian television screenwriter Graham Yost, Justified is based on the stories by Elmore Leonard on Raylan Givens portrayed by Timothy Olyphant.
Justified: City Primeval is currently available on FX and Hulu.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
