Tim Curry's Lost Villain Role, Dax Shepard's Near-Death Crash, Michael Douglas' Casting Shock & More
Backstage bombshells and near-disasters rock Tinseltown.
Red carpets may glitter – but the real drama is happening off-script.
This week, Tim Curry reveals the iconic role that slipped through his fingers, Daniel Stern dodges jail time after a streetwalker sting, and Michael Douglas admits he wasn’t exactly Wall Street’s first choice. Add in Dax Shepard’s brush with death, a rock frontman’s heartbreaking farewell, and a shocking on-air cheating confession – and suddenly the nostalgia hits different.
From career regrets to courtroom scares and near-fatal crashes, the celebrity carousel keeps spinning. Hollywood 411 has the twists… let’s dive in.
TIM CURRY'S GNAWING REGRET
TIM CURRY has played a slew of memorable characters – including Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Wadsworth in Clue and the hotel concierge in Home Alone 2 – but the primo part that he lusted after and didn’t get was cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.
Oscar winner ANTHONY HOPKINS, of course, notched the serial killer role where he made slurping sounds while describing his gruesome meal consisting of a man’s liver, some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Hopkins called the movie “the best script I ever read,” so it’s no wonder Curry was desperate for the part.
“One of my great regrets is that I read the script of Silence of the Lambs and I desperately wanted to play Hannibal Lecter,” says the actor, now 79. “My agent couldn’t get me in the room, but Tony Hopkins did a great job.”
Notably, Hopkins wasn’t the first choice! Late director JONATHAN DEMME said execs wanted James Bond stud SEAN CONNERY. But he read the script and “word came back that he thought it was disgusting and wouldn’t dream of playing that part.” Demme said: “So, great, now we can go to Tony Hopkins.”
STERN WALKS ON STREETWALKER BUST
DANIEL STERN, who played a bumbling burglar in Home Alone, won’t be going to the big house for allegedly soliciting a hooker in California. Prosecutors dropped his case after he completed an education class for first-time offenders, authorities say. The Ventura County D.A. says the misdemeanor charge has been dismissed.
That’s good because if tried and convicted, the 68-year-old comic faced up to six months in the clink and a $1,000 fine. Still, the bad publicity has tarnished Daniel’s rep. Before the bust, he was set to costar on the ABC sitcom Do You Want Kids? but he’s been axed from the gig. As for the prostitution charge, it was dropped because “the defendant did what he was supposed to do,” says the D.A. “This is our standard disposition for first-time prostitution offenses.”
DOUGLAS WAS THIRD CHOICE FOR WALL STREET
MICHAEL DOUGLAS won an Oscar and became an even bigger star for playing greedy corporate raider Gordon Gekko in the 1987 flick Wall Street, but the 81-year-old says he felt deflated when he learned two others turned down the role before him. “I saw an article recently that said that [director] OLIVER STONE first went to WARREN BEATTY, who passed on it, and then to RICHARD GERE, who passed on it,” Michael confesses. “I didn’t know any of that because you always like to think you were the one.” Still, Douglas was chilling as the calculating serpent who gives a lecture on why “greed is good” and says he was “honored and blown away” to be tagged for the role.
DAX SHEPARD CHEATS DEATH
At age 51, comedian DAX SHEPARD has got a showbiz career and two daughters with actress-wife KRISTEN BELL, but he’s still haunted by the terrifying car crash he barely survived as a high school senior. His pal was driving him from Toledo to Detroit in a tiny Ford Probe late at night, “so I go, ‘Hey, I’m gonna sleep in the back. Are you good to drive? [He said] ‘Yeah, I’m totally fine.’ He had the cruise control on 85.” Suddenly, Dax woke to find his friend asleep.
“I started to grab the wheel... we had gone completely sideways ... then we just launched in the air.. and started rolling right down the highway.” The car rolled 10 times and landed upside down. “We crawled out the windows,” he recalls. He says he had a moment of feeling “seconds away from dying” but miraculously, both he and his friend were uninjured.
DEATHS, ANNIVERSARIES ... AND MORE!
Following a courageous battle with stage 4 kidney cancer, BRAD ARNOLD, lead singer of the band 3 Doors Down, died at age 47 on Feb. 7. Known for tunes like When I’m Gone and Here Without You, Brad scribbled the group’s first big hit, Kryptonite, when he was a 15-year-old in his high school math class. “Brad’s songwriting became a cultural touchstone for a generation, producing some of the most enduring hits of the 2000s,” notes a source.
Norwegian biathlete STURLA HOLM LÆGREID broke down in tears, but it wasn’t from joy over winning a bronze medal at the Olympics. Instead, the 28-year-old jock made a shocking on-air confession - he’d cheated on his girlfriend. “Six months ago, I met the love of my life and the most beautiful and kindest person in the world. And three months ago, made my biggest mistake and cheated on her,” he said, adding he’d fessed to her earlier and hopes to win her back. Good luck, Sturla!
They said it wouldn’t last, but American Pie crooner DON McLEAN, 80, and his granddaughter-aged galpal PARIS DYLAN, 31, just celebrated their 10th year together. The music icon wrote a gushing note to his lady on social media, calling her “the love of my life.”