Sarah Michelle Gellar became a household name during her tenure as the lead in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer; the actress had a stellar career after its finale in 2003, but turned down many major movie roles in the interim.
Gellar started as a child actor doing commercials for companies like Burger King and modeling, and got her big break early. She hit the Broadway stage at only nine years old, joining stars Matthew Broderick and Eric Stoltz in The Widow Claire. More notably, she ended up a star of the small screen with her role as Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) daughter, Kendall Hart, on the soap opera All My Children. For this role, she ended up winning a Daytime Emmy Award in 1995 at the age of 18. Two years later, she made her debut as Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was based off the 1992 movie, which starred Kristy Swanson as the lead.
Gellar met her now-husband Freddie Prinze Jr. on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and went on to star with him in the live-action version of Scooby-Doo as well as its sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, as Daphne opposite Prinze's Fred. She's also held other roles within the horror genre, such as a minor role in Wes Craven's Scream 2, and as the star of the American remake of The Grudge and its sequel, The Grudge 2. The majority of Gellar's success came in the late 1990s and early 2000s, during her Buffy years, and allowed her to show an impressive range. While often the heroine or "good girl", Gellar showcased a flip side to this in roles like the wicked Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions, opposite Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon. Several of the major movie roles Gellar turned down were during the height of her career, and pose an interesting discussion as to what her career would be like, had she been able to make them work.
Clueless
Director Amy Heckerling's 1995 movie, Clueless, boasted a number of fresh-faced talent who went on to have impressive careers including Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Donald Faison, and Alicia Silverstone. However, the lead role of Cher Horowitz (Silverstone) almost went to Sarah Michelle Gellar. Spoiled, popular rich girl Cher made sense for Sarah Michelle Gellar at the time. The movie released before her tenure on Buffy in the early days of her career, and her Californian blonde good looks would have certainly meshed with the character. In many ways, Cher's character was similar to the role she'd end up taking on Buffy the Vampire Slayer other than the fact that Buffy's trajectory and character development ended up showcasing that the Slayer was far more than a pretty face armed with a sharp wit and clever one-liner. However, Gellar ended up turning down the role due to her contract on All My Children.
Fight Club
Arguably one of the stranger roles Gellar turned down, the role of Marla Singer—which later went to Helena Bonham Carter—in Fight Club would have given the Buffy star ample opportunity to show her darker side. Her role in Cruel Intentions did prove her ability to play a bad girl, and several episodes of Buffy gave her the opportunity to flex this muscle as well, albeit briefly. Released in 1999, two years after Buffy the Vampire Slayer released on The WB, David Fincher's movie, which also starred Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, has become a pop culture phenomenon.
Given Fight Club's pitch black humor and graphic content, Marla Singer would have been a more extreme role for Gellar to play, and an opportunity for her to step out of the box. The role was reportedly offered to her Cruel Intentions co-star Reese Witherspoon as well, but Fincher thought Witherspoon looked too young. Ultimately, Gellar passed on the role not due to content, but an inability to make the shooting schedule work with her already busy schedule on Buffy.
The Faculty
Though not as big of a movie as others Gellar passed on, it's notable to mention that she turned down a role in The Faculty, which boasted numerous up and comers, including Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, and Usher Raymond. Another star in the making was Jordana Brewster, who went on to make a name for herself as Mia Toretto in The Fast and the Furious. The 1998 sci-fi/horror movie was directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson. Interestingly, Gellar went on to compete with Brewster for the role of Mia Toretto, which was initially written for her Buffy co-star, Eliza Dushku, who turned down that role.
Gangs of New York
Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002) featured many prominent actors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent, Liam Neeson, John C. Reilly, and Brendan Gleeson. The role of DiCaprio's love interest, Jenny Everdeane, eventually went to Cameron Diaz, who was more known for her comedic talents at the time. However, Sarah Michelle Gellar was offered the role before Diaz stepped in. Diaz was criticized for her performance in the role, with many critics citing that her dramatic acting skills weren't up to par, especially when placed opposite actors like DiCaprio and Day-Lewis in a graphically violent period drama. Gellar might not seem like she would have been a better choice, but her acting chops were tested on Buffy, most notably during seasons 5 and 6 of the show, when it took a darker turn.
Romeo + Juliet
Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet would have given Gellar her first opportunity to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio romantically. While the director's first choice for the role of Juliet was actually Natalie Portman, she was only 13 years old at the time, which made producers uncomfortable with placing her opposite a 21 year old DiCaprio. Other names such as Kate Winslet and Jennifer Love Hewitt were tossed around for the role afterward, as was Sarah Michelle Gellar. Released in 1996, one year before Gellar was attached to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the movie would have been an opportunity for her to transition directly into film instead of going back and forth between film and television as she did. However, DiCaprio reportedly chose Danes for the role, citing, "she was the only girl when we did the audition who came straight in my face to do the lines". Gellar ultimately turned the role down due to scheduling conflicts.
X-Men
Reportedly a favorite of the producers for the role of Rogue in Bryan Singer's X-Men, this became another case of scheduling conflicts that kept the Buffy actress from stepping into another iconic character role. Though she certainly had the talent, and even did many of her own stunts on Buffy, Anna Paquin ended up being cast in the role after Gellar wasn't available. Paquin went on to have a successful career, and eventually landed the lead role of Sookie Stackhouse in HBO's vampire drama, True Blood.
Despite turning down numerous roles that would have undoubtedly launched Sarah Michelle Gellar into Hollywood superstardom. In recent years, she's done voice work for shows like Star Wars Rebels and Robot Chicken, and has primarily stuck to smaller television roles rather than movies.