Michael Jackson wanted to play Professor X in 'X-Men' (2000)

Apparently wanted to play Willy Wonka too:

When Jackson learned Warner Bros. had hired Tim Burton to reimagine Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—which had been previously filmed with Gene Wilder in 1971—the singer became so preoccupied with being considered for the role of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka that he recorded a soundtrack to surprise studio executives. Although they loved the music, no one was behind the idea of casting him as Wonka. When they offered to pay an exorbitant sum for the soundtrack and give him a small supporting part, an offended Jackson dropped out of participating entirely. The role eventually went to Johnny Depp, who denied he based his portrayal on Jackson.

 

I have got to track down that movie...

 

Supposedly, OJ was almost the Terminator.

 

Almost?


[too soon?]

 

True.

 

Damn. MJ as new Willy Wonka. That would have been an automatic ticket sale from me. No one's going to top Gene Wilder, but that would have been such a great casting for an eccentric character that it would've totally worked for me as its own separate entity instead of a "remake." Seeing back then that it was going to be yet another Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie put it at 0% chance of me watching it, and I still haven't.

 

Also, the problem with MJ or anyone else as Professor X was that you already had Professor X in real life with Patrick Stewart. If you asked 100 people back in the late 90s who should play Professor X in an X-men movie, I'm betting 97% or more pick Patrick Stewart. Easiest Family Feud question ever.

 

Contrary to Johnny Depp denying it, he basically played it like Michael Jackson.

 

Johnny Depp, Ed Norton, Nick Cage, Gene Hackman, Tommy Lee Jones, Daniel Day Lewis, Christian Bale, Marlon Brando...

Everybody's batshit crazy, but how much batshit crazy can you tolerate?