Fun Facts That Are

Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix because the Wachowskis' pitch confused him. He chose Wild Wild West instead. The Matrix launched a $1.7 billion franchise. Wild Wild West won five Razzie Awards including Worst Picture. Smith later admitted: "I probably would've messed it up."

Alec Guinness thought so little of Star Wars that he called it "fairy-tale rubbish" and complained "none of the dialogue makes my character clear or even bearable." He negotiated 2.25% of the gross revenue. His roughly 20 minutes of screen time in the original film earned him an estimated $95 million over his lifetime. His estate is believed to still collect royalties.

Everyone thinks the McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit was a joke. Stella Liebeck was 79. The coffee was 190 degrees - hot enough to cause third-degree burns in 3 seconds. She needed skin grafts. She only asked for $20,000. McDonalds offered $800.

Billy Joel never sells front row tickets. He sends his crew to find real fans in the cheapest seats and moves them to the front row. He was tired of "bored, rich people" staring up at him.

Elvis wanted to record "I Will Always Love You." His manager Colonel Tom Parker called Dolly Parton and said there was one condition - hand over 50% of the publishing rights. Dolly said no. Years later, Whitney Houston covered it for The Bodyguard. Dolly earned over $10 million from that single cover. She later joked she made enough money to buy Graceland.

In 1996, Denise Rossi won $1.3 million in the California lottery. Eleven days later, she filed for divorce from her husband of 25 years to hide the money. Three years later, he found out by accident. A judge ruled she committed fraud and gave him 100% of the winnings. If she had just been honest, she would have kept at least half.

In 2009, Brian Acton applied to work at Facebook and was rejected. He also applied to Twitter and was turned down. He tweeted about both rejections. Then he co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum. In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for approximately $19 billion — making Acton a billionaire and turning his rejection into one of the most expensive hiring mistakes in corporate history.

Sean Connery turned down $450 million. He was offered Gandalf in Lord of the Rings — $10 million plus 15% of box office for all three films. Said no because he "didn't understand the material." The trilogy grossed $3 billion. He never understood it.

Celine Dion hated "My Heart Will Go On" so much she almost refused to record it. She did one throwaway demo just to get her husband to stop asking. That single take sold 18 million copies and won an Oscar. Rolling Stone later voted it the 4th most annoying song ever made.

Jack Nicholson turned down $10 million to play the Joker. Took $6 million instead — plus a cut of every Batman toy ever sold. The studio thought they'd saved money. Batman merchandise hit $1 billion. Nicholson walked away with $90 million. For playing a clown.

No studio would insure Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man — he'd just gotten out of prison. Mel Gibson personally paid his bond when nobody else would. Marvel paid him $500,000. By Avengers: Endgame, his paycheck was $75 million. Same guy. Same role. Different universe.

George Clooney made tequila in his garage as a hobby — gave bottles to friends for two years — then sold the company for $1 billion. Years earlier, he'd filled 14 suitcases with $1 million each and hand-delivered one to every friend who'd let him sleep on their couch when he couldn't pay rent. The man treats money like it's contagious.