“People tell George Clooney it’s great, but we all know it sucked.
However, Wahlberg was weirdly aggressive about turning down the part, even going as far as bad mouthing the series in an interview. Wahlberg turned down the part (which eventually grew into a successful franchise) to do Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes, which may not have been the best choice for his career at the time. He later had a hilarious cameo in Ocean’s Twelve.Īdditionally, Mark Wahlberg was initially offered the role of Linus Caldwell, which eventually went to Matt Damon. Willis only had good things to say about the project: “By the time I got to it, all the good stuff was done and I wanted to play one of the gang.
Soderbergh had initially hoped to cast Luke and Owen Wilson as Virgil and Turk Malloy, who would have been great as the trouble-starting brothers had they not committed to their friend and frequent collaborator Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.Įarly buzz also put Bruce Willis in the mix for a role, but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s not uncommon for casting choices to change before (or sometimes even after) filming begins, and Ocean’s Eleven definitely had it’s fair share of shakeups.
