Action superstars, established leading ladies, and tough guys can draw the line somewhere too, right? Whiledramatic on-screen deaths often become memorableand help get audiences hooked on the plot, not every actor is keen to meet their end on the big screen over and over. For some, it gets tiring to be the one who bites the bullet. Others simply want more control over their character’s destiny.
Whatever the reason, certain leading stars have flat-out refused to let their characters die in major movies and TV shows by either not showing up on the day of the shoot or drawing up a no-death contract. Now, we have all witnessed jaw-dropping death scenes that stir discussions for days after. But thinking about how eventhe biggest franchisesmight have turned out differently if the stars had gotten their way is fun to consider.
Here are 10 actors who did not want to have their characters die on screen.
10Steven Seagal
Executive Decision (1996)
Steven Seagal, known for his intimidating personality and martial arts prowess, has defeated countless bad guys in hard-hitting action movies. Which is why he was not particularly happy about his character becoming one of the casualties in the 1996 film,Executive Decision. He took on the role of Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis and starred alongside Kurt Russell and Halle Berry, with the plot following a Special Forces team attempting to save passengers on a hijacked flight. Seagal’s character was set up as a key player in the film, but it was a clever misdirection because he’s seen sacrificing himself before even getting on the plane.
Director Stuard Baird always intended to shock audiences by killing Seagal’s character off early, and in a gorier manner. Not only did the actor want Travis’ head to explode due to low cabin pressure, but he even initiated behind-the-scenes drama with his refusal to let his character die at all. He was adamant and spent days being unwilling to shoot the scene of his demise. Seagal even locked himself in his trailer and wouldn’t come out until the scene was re-written. It was not until Baird told Seagal that he was breaching the contract that the actor gave up. Even the filmmaker eventually compromised and filmed a less graphic death scene where Travis is sucked out of the plane.
9Rita Simons
EastEnders (1985 – Present)
Rita Simonsbrought the character of Roxy Mitchell to vibrant life for over a decade onthe long-running BBC soap opera,EastEnders. She was both gritty and glamorous in the show from 2007 to 2017. Roxy, along with her sister Ronnie, played by Samantha Womack, was central to a number of dramatic storylines. As the show progressed, the writers planned a dramatic exit for the Mitchell sisters where they would drown in a swimming pool after suffering a heart attack due to a drug overdose. But while fans saw this fate for Ronnie, Roxy was nowhere in sight.
This is becauseSimons was not satisfied with the decision to kill off Roxy. She believes that her character had more potential and that her death would mean there was no opportunity for her to return toEastEnders. Which turned out to be true because in 2023, her character, Roxy, returns during her daughter Amy’s counseling session for a brief time. Simons opened up about this refusal in an interview withThe Sun, saying,
“I got pulled aside a couple of days before filming the final scene by an exec… who said to me, ‘There are a lot of people upstairs who don’t agree with this’… They said, ‘If you want any chance at ever bringing Roxy back, you have to refuse to die.’ … Now is the time to say I played that scene as if I was holding my breath. Go back and watch it online and you will see next to nothing of me at all… I didn’t let anyone film me jump in the pool, so no one saw me drown.”
8Dennis Haysbert
24 (2001 – 2010)
As the iconic President David Palmer in the hit action/espionage series,24,Dennis Haysbertpractically carried the weight of American democracy on his shoulders. As the first African-American president in the show’s universe, Palmer was a beacon of strength and fans were deeply invested in his characterization and his role in serving as a counter-balance to Jack Bauer’s ruthless plans. Which is whyit came as a major shock when in the season 5 premiere, Palmer was suddenly killed off. Turned out, the writers considered this angle for the character to heighten the show’s dramatic stakes but also to shake the entire fanbase.
However, Haysbert was strongly opposed to this idea, feeling that Palmer’s presence was crucial to the show’s narrative. His refusal was so deep-rooted that he delayed the shoot of that particular scene by several months.In a 2007 interview with Digital Spy, Haysbert stated:
“I just refused to do it for a great many months. Then they sent one of my friends, who’s now the show’s runner, and he convinced me to do it because they needed to launch the season. They said they really couldn’t do it without me… If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t do it.”
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7Sarah Wayne Callies
Prison Break (2005 – 2017)
Sarah Wayne Calliesdelivereda compelling performanceas Sara Tancredi in Fox’sPrison Break. As the prison doctor at Fox River State Penitentiary, Sara quickly became entangled in Michael Scofield’s elaborate escape plan, developed a complex relationship with him as a potential love interest, and became a crucial emotional anchor for the overall plot to unfold. She was present in the first two seasons and the showrunners wanted her to appear in a bunch of episodes in Season 3 before her character was to be killed off. Sarah, who was approaching motherhood at the time, was not on board with the decision.
There was an intense behind-the-scenes disagreement between Sarah and Fox and producer Matt Olmstead even suggested how effective it would be for her to agree with the setting. Butthe disputes led to Sarah not returning to the show at all, leaving the producers to end her arc with Michael’s brother Lincoln finding Sara’s decapitated head in a box. Obviously, fans were also dissatisfied with the sudden closure. Or the lack thereof.
6Queen Latifah
All of her Movies
As one of Hollywood’s most iconic actresses,Queen Latifahhas commanded attention in countless roles throughout her career. A powerhouse of talent in both comedy and drama, she has consistently chosen roles that stick in audiences’ memories. Interestingly enough, she has a unique clause in her contract – her characters cannot die on screen. Latifah revealed thiswhen she appeared onThe Drew Barrymore Show.
“You know, what happened at the beginning of my career… My characters died in the movies and apparently I died my ass off… I was like, ‘Wait a minute, if I keep dying in these movies, I can’t do a sequel.’… Henceforth, we kind of threw [the clause] in there… I was like, ‘No more dying. No more getting shot up by 300 bullets in this car.'”
The decision not only stems from her desire to leave a positive impact on viewers and allow her characters’ legacies to endure beyond the movies, but also to leave the door open for potential sequels in the future. And while Latifah does not have many of those under her name, the clause has still led to creative storytelling in her movies. For instance, inLast Holiday, Latifah’s character Georgia is initially diagnosed with a terminal illness, which prompts her to take a luxury holiday to Europe. However, instead of a tragic ending, the movie reveals a misdiagnosis.
5Ricky Jay
Deadwood (2004 – 2006)
Ricky Jay, a master magician and actor, managed to perform an act of a lifetime during his run on HBO’s gritty western seriesDeadwood. Jay inhabited the role ofEddie Sawyer, a cunning and resourceful card sharkat the Bella Union Saloon. In the lawless and treacherous camp, he would often trick and manipulate both friends and foes. The show’s creators planned a grim fate for Eddie and intended to kill him off in Season 2. However, when Jay heard of this, he reportedly had a panic attack and locked himself in the trailer, determined not to have his character meet such an end.
What’s interesting is, Jay evaded his character’s fate simply by not showing up on the day the scene was to be shot. Matt Zoller Seitz’s recently released Deadwood Bible revealed that he only agreed to shoot the scene if the creators would agree to stage the scene as a stabbing rather than killing. They eventually agreed and crafted a narrative where Eddie escapes Deadwood, leaving his ending ambiguous. It was the one magic trickDeadwoodcould not have abandoned.
4Jeremy Renner
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Jeremy Renner’sadventures with the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hawkeye are popular worldwide. But the actor was subsequently a vital character in theMission: Impossiblefranchise as well. He was first introduced to the series inGhost Protocolas IMF agent William Brandt and was positioned to be a successor to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. However, by the timeMission: Impossible - Falloutwas in production, Renner’s character was noticeably absent. The original plan was to include an opening scene where Brandt would be killed off, but Renner refused.
Falloutdirector Christopher McQuarrie revealed in an interview with Empire thatthis idea had stemmed from the fact that while Renner had a full schedulewith MCU projects lined up to release one after the other, he still could manage to make a tiny appearance in the movie.
“I had this whole idea that the movie would start with the death of a team member… So I said to Renner, ‘Hey listen, I have this idea for an opening sequence where you sacrifice yourself to save the team, and that the mission-gone-wrong not only involves losing the plutonium, but involves the death of a team member.’ And Jeremy was like, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ … He was smart not to take the short paycheck for three days of work and getting blown up.”
3Kristen Stewart
Scream 4 (2011)
Widely recognized and still praised for her role as Bella Swan in theTwilightfranchise,Kristen Stewartwas approached to play the pivotal part inScream 4, shortly before she was to finish working on the final installment of theTwilightmovies. The role was meant to mirror Drew Barrymore’s iconic opening scene in the originalScream, where her character meets a grisly end. Stewart was to be the first victim in a series of others, so it would just be a cameo, but it would set the tone for the movie.
Stewart turned down the role, feeling she just could not live up to Barrymore’s unforgettable performance.She told Slant in an interview,“I was like, ‘I can’t do a Drew. I can’t touch that.’ Do you know what I mean? But, yeah, so then they ended up doing, if I’m remembering correctly, a larger sequence and not just one victim.”Scream 4adapted to the refusal and continued the franchise’s tradition of meta-commentary by creating a more elaborate sequence featuring multiple victims, including Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin.
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2Colin Baker
Doctor Who (2005 – 2022)
Every season of BBC’s long-running science fiction series ends withthe 2,000-year-old time travelerundergoing a mortal incident and regenerating, following which a new actor would pick up the role. However, duringColin Baker’s tenure as the Sixth Doctor inDoctor Whofrom 1984 to 1986, things played out a little differently. It was marked by controversy and a difficult production period. There were discussions about ending Baker’s run and making room for the next Doctor, to be played by Sylvester McCoy, but Baker was not ready to give up on his role yet because he felt another season of traveling to fascinating places was necessary for his Doctor’s story arc to properly conclude.
Baker’s refusal to cooperate led the showrunners to film a visually displeasing scene of the Doctor’s death/regeneration without the actor, with his unconscious body faced down. It was played by McCoy, who donned a wig and tried to resemble Baker, before switching his makeup and appearing as the Seventh Doctor.
1Sean Bean
Everything After Game of Thrones
Sean Beanis somewhat of a supreme ruler when it comes to on-screen deaths. One of Hollywood’s most acclaimed character actors, he has embraced all his perilous roles, be it inThe Lord of the Ringsor theGame of Thrones. Across his career,he has died almost 30 times in movies, TV, and video games. But after his iconic portrayal of Ned Stark inGoT, where his character’s beheading in Season 1 shocked audiences, Bean has been more selective about his roles, often refusing parts where his character dies.
In a 2019 interview with The Sun,Bean revealed the reasonbehind his conscious decision.
“I’ve turned down stuff. I’ve said, ‘They know my character’s going to die because I’m in it!’ I just had to cut that out and start surviving, otherwise it was all a bit predictable. I did do one job and they said, ‘We’re going to kill you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh no!’ and then they said, ‘Well, can we injure you badly?’ and I was like, ‘OK, so long as I stay alive this time.'”
Bean’s decision not to choose on-screen deaths helped him avoid being typecast. He has taken on roles with more depth and longevity, such as inThe OathandSnowpiercer(the TV series).
