Amanda Seyfried has spoken about her decision to turn down a role in a Marvel blockbuster, admitting she was “wrong” about how the movie would turn out.
The Dropout star, 40, was offered the role of Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy before it ultimately went to Zoe Saldaña.
At the time, Seyfried thought the space-set superhero adventure — featuring a talking tree and a wisecracking raccoon — could derail her career.
“I think turning down Guardians of the Galaxy was just so obvious to me at the time,” she said during a recent question-and-answer session with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
“I’m like: ‘This is not going to be a hit. The tree and the raccoon are talking to each other. And also they’re all in space.’ And I was just like: ‘This will ruin my career if this is bad. And there’s a high chance that this could be bad’.”
The movie was a huge hit, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2014, and it went on to spawn two successful sequels while the cast also appeared in the Avengers series.
Amanda now admits she was “wrong” about the film, but she doesn’t regret her decision.
She added: “I mean, obviously I was wrong. But I still don’t take back that decision. I made it for myself. I made it for my family that I knew I wanted to have.
“And I just don’t want to spend all the time in the make-up trailer. I just can’t sit still anyway. I really don’t like stunts, and I don’t like heights, and I don’t like pretending the entire world. I need something to hold on to.”
It comes after Saldaña previously confirmed she is walking away from the role of Gamora, but she’s hoping another actor will revive the character in the future.
She told Variety: “I keep saying this time and time again — I can’t wait to see what’s next for Gamora. I hope they’re not done with her, and I hope a woman of color or a woman with special needs can take on the role next. That would be incredible.”
Saldaña also previously told the publication she didn’t fully understand the character until she’d finished work on the films, saying: “I wish I could go back and reshoot what Gamora was going through in the Avengers movies.
“I was not quite understanding what the Russo Brothers [were doing]. They’re excellent filmmakers and the opportunity they gave me was of a lifetime. To highlight Gamora in such a way in their films is something I’ll always be grateful.
“I wish I could go back and redo it so I could push a little harder because it was such a great opportunity to play a daughter having issues with a dad and whether or not she’s having this opportunity to reconciliate or to simply just walk away.
“That would’ve been a great opportunity had I been a little more aware of it then.”
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