9 Times Actors Accepted Roles as a Practical Joke

You never know what is going through an actor's mind when they accept a role. It could be money, prestige, or something more absurd. Some of the most recognizable movie roles resulted from hilarious choices by the actors who filled them.

Money is a great motivator, but it's not always the dollars that make the most sense. Several actors have accepted roles as a joke, a mistake, or more strangely, to buy a certain ceremonial rug. Let's explore nine hilarious reasons that well-known actors accepted film and television roles.

When NBA phenom Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took a role in "Airplane!" he was at the height of his athletic career, and many people wondered why. It turns out that he just wanted to buy an expensive rug. He was initially offered $30,000 for the role, but his agent insisted on $35,000. That was the exact price of an oriental rug Abdul-Jabbar had his eye on. That's a hilarious reason to do a movie.

When reclusive comedian Dave Chappelle showed up in "A Star is Born" as the main character's best friend George "Noodles" Stone, audiences wondered why. It turns out that filmmaker and lead actor Bradley Cooper would not stop pestering him. After reading the script, Chappelle declined, but Cooper would not take no for an answer. He called Chappelle every day until the comedian gave in.

Star Wars helped build Harrison Ford's reputation as a leading man. As the series dragged on, however, Ford reportedly asked for his character to be killed off. He grew tired of playing the mercurial space pirate and asked director George Lucas to put an end to Han Solo. Hilariously, Ford finally got his wish with "The Force Awakens" when the character's son, Kylo Ren, kills Solo in a heartbreaking act of betrayal.

Al Pacino may be one of the greatest living actors, but that doesn't mean he holds his nose up at poor quality films. Audiences were shocked when he appeared in Adam Sandler's critically panned "Jack and Jill" as Jill's love interest. Hilariously, he told GQ that he liked the challenge of making bad movies better. That said, he also revealed a more tragic need for money in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Pacino said, "Adam Sandler wanted me, and they paid me a lot for it. So I went out and did it, and it helped."

The romantic teen comedy "The Kissing Booth" became a fan favorite after it hit Netflix in May 2018. It's lead actor, Jacob Elordi, however, wasn't as much of a fan. He admitted to a reporter that he had yet to watch it and knew almost nothing about the plot. It's hard to say exactly why he took the role, but it's hilarious that he didn't even care about the movie.

Ignoring peer pressure can have unexpected benefits. Take Josephine Langford's role in "After." According to her, all her friends were auditioning for the movie, but they told Langford she couldn't because she didn't have a green card, and "After" conflicted with other projects she was working on. Luckily, she ignored her friends and showed up for auditions anyway as a goof. This landed her the film's lead role.

When the first Harry Potter movie began production, the studio vied for Richard Harris to take the role of Albus Dumbledore. They kept offering him more money, but Harris turned them down three times. It took his granddaughter's threat to never speak to him again for Harris to change his mind.

People were surprised when legendary actor Bill Murray voiced the role of Garfield in the animated movie of the same name. Bill Murray was also surprised. As he recounted, he received a script written by Joel Cohen. He assumed this to be one part of the award-winning filmmaking duo, The Coen Brothers. Murray realized halfway through the voice-acting process that a different Joel Cohen wrote the script.

"Terminator 3" sat in development limbo for years. That is, until Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to reprise his legendary role. It wasn't out of a love for the character, however. Schwarzenegger instead used the movie's publicity process to promote his run for California Governor. Surprisingly, it worked. The film was a box office success, and Schwarzenegger was elected Governor during the 2003 gubernatorial recall election.