In 2001, The Fast and the Furious hit theaters and became a smash hit, grossing more than $40 million in its opening weekend, per Box Office Mojo.
From there, the franchise moved on with 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), dropping original cast members and creating new stories.
But in 2009, the series found its footing with Fast & Furious, bringing back all four original cast members, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez. From there, the modern franchise was born and it’s since become a multi-billion dollar series with 10 films, an animated series, video games, a theme park ride and more.
Throughout its run, the franchise has continued to add big names to its ever-growing cast, including Dwayne Johnson, Jason Momoa, Sung Kang and Jason Statham. But since the first film premiered 24 years ago, there have also been lots of actors who turned down parts in the franchise or auditioned but didn’t get the role.
So, who are some of the stars that audiences never got to see in the Fast franchise? From an Oscar-winner to a Marvel hero, and even one of India’s biggest stars, here are some famous faces who were almost in the Fast & Furious franchise.
Timothy Olyphant as Dom Toretto
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Timothy Olyphant is best known for starring in hit western series like Deadwood (2004-2006) and Justified (2010-2015), but his career could have gone very differently.
The studio, Universal, originally wanted Olyphant to play Diesel’s role, Dom Toretto. In a 2021 retrospective with Entertainment Weekly, producer Neal Moritz claimed that Universal executives told him, “If you get Timothy Olyphant to play the role of Dominic Toretto, the movie’s greenlit.”
Unfortunately, Moritz said that Olyphant passed on the role and that, for a while, he questioned if the film would go into production. He said, “We wondered if we were going to get to make it.”
Denzel Washington
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Even after The Fast and the Furious had become a massive franchise, some stars still turned down parts in the films.
In a 2013 Deadline feature about Hollywood’s obsession with franchises, co-editor-in-chief Mike Fleming Jr. claimed that Denzel Washington was offered a role in the then-untitled seventh film, which would later be released as Furious 7 in 2015.
“The studio is now looking for another big star to join the next film in a small role and then be a big part of the film that follows,” Fleming wrote. “Denzel Washington just turned down that opportunity, but they’ll undoubtedly get somebody important by the time The Conjuring helmer James Wan starts shooting the seventh film.”
Tommy Lee Jones as Luke Hobbs
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In a 2016 video posted on Facebook, Diesel claimed that Dwayne Johnson was not originally intended to join the cast in Fast Five as Luke Hobbs. Instead, the part was originally written for Tommy Lee Jones.
“The reason why we brought Dwayne Johnson into Fast Five was because of you [the fans],” Diesel said. “There was a girl named Jen Kelly who said, ‘I would love to see you guys work together on-screen’ and so we gave a role that was initially written for Tommy Lee Jones, but we gave it to Dwayne.”
Dave Bautista
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Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista said he was considered for the Fast & Furious franchise by Universal. However, in an interview with Collider, the actor and former WWE star said that he agreed to speak to the studio for a completely different reason.
“I had a meeting at Universal,” Bautista said. “And they wanted to talk to me about The Fast and the Furious, and I said I’m not interested. Let’s talk about Marcus Fenix.”
The actor’s focus was the main character in the hit game series Gears of War, which Bautista has wanted to adapt into a film for a long time. He admitted the studio was “a little put off” by his request, but in May 2025, the Gears of War movie finally found a director, so it’s possible that Bautista could still get his wish and star in the adaptation, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Deepika Padukone
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Deepika Padukone is one of India’s biggest actresses and has acted in some of the country’s most popular movies. But, she also almost starred in Furious 7, per GQ. Diesel also confirmed the near-casting himself.
“When Deepika Padukone came in to read for one of the Fast and the Furious films, I knew instantly I was in the presence of someone very special,” Diesel wrote in a 2018 TIME feature. “As soon as she entered the room, there was a synchronicity, a synergy, a chemistry—it promised great things to come.”
Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts prevented her from taking the role, but Diesel still knew he wanted to work with her.
“Her schedule didn’t work for that movie, but I never gave up. She was the first role we cast in xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” he said.
Daisy May Cooper
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British actress Daisy May Cooper is known for her comedic roles in shows like Avenue 5 (2020-2022) and Am I Being Unreasonable? (2022-2025).
In a 2023 interview with NME, Cooper revealed that she was also offered a small role in one of the Fast films, but had to turn it down because of scheduling.
“What have I been offered? I was offered a guard in one of the Fast And Furious movies that I couldn’t do,” she said, “but it literally [was] two lines.”
