She's All That star Rachel Leigh Cook says turning down the role of Rogue in 2000's X-Men was a mistake. Cook got her start at a young age, first appearing in The Baby-Sitter's Club movie, before making a name for herself with the viral anti-drug video known as Frying Pan, which coined the phrase, "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs." From there, Cook was cast in a number of films and TV shows, most notably the teen comedy, She's All That, which made her even more of a household name, and later in the adaptation of Josie and the Pussycats, which was a much-hyped flop. She later appeared on such shows as Las Vegas, Psych and Perception.
Cook has also made a name for herself as a voice actor, supplying her talents to such projects as Robot Chicken, Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of Final Fantasy, amongst others. While the actress hasn't had a hit like She's All That since it was released, she has worked steadily nonetheless and has maintained her household name status, if even just from her earlier work. Her most recent work is a role in the She's All That remake with a twist, He's All That, which looks primed to get a sequel.
Talking to the NY Times, Cook talked about how prior to taking the role in Josie and the Pussycats, she had turned down the role of Rogue in director Bryan Singer's 2000 mutant superhero film, X-Men. The role instead went to her She's All That co-star, Anna Paquin, which changed that star's career forever, eventually leading to the main role of Sookie Stackhouse in HBO's True Blood. Cook, instead took on a bunch of smaller roles and wanted to avoid acting on a green screen, but upon seeing the posters for X-Men, knew that she'd made a "huge misstep," saying, “As soon as I saw the posters for it, I knew that I’d made a mistake."
Paquin plays Rogue for three more X-Men films, including X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past. The actress has gone on to have great success otherwise, including a role in the cult anthology horror film, Trick R Treat, and a number of different TV projects, including True Blood, Bellevue, The Affair, and Flack. She's currently shooting the true-life drama, True Spirit.
While the role may feel like a loss for Cook, she's not in short supply of company that have passed on big projects that they later regretted. Will Smith has famously passed on high-profile projects that later became massive hits, including The Matrix, while the late Sean Connery toiled with taking on projects he didn't understand, which ended up being huge, including Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. And, while Cook didn't get to join the ranks of mutant superheroes, there's nothing saying she couldn't get another shot in some capacity once Marvel reignites the X-Men franchise.
Source: NY Times