In the annals of cinematic “what ifs,” few are as tempting as the idea of Angelina Jolie sharing the screen with Leonardo DiCaprio while Martin Scorsese directed them. That movie was ‘The Aviator‘ from 2004. It was a big biographical epic about Howard Hughes, which went on to receive 11 Oscar nominations and won five of them. It also cemented DiCaprio as Scorsese’s go-to actor.
But when the offer came for a role opposite the ‘Titanic‘ heartthrob, Jolie said no.
Why Angelina Jolie Really Turned Down the Movie
For years, people thought Jolie turned down that prime piece of cinema because of scheduling problems or creative differences. But then in 2021, Jolie gave a bombshell interview to The Guardian, finally explaining the real and painful reason she walked away from the project. As it turns out, she refused to share a set with Harvey Weinstein.
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Back when ‘The Aviator‘ was being made, Weinstein was the big co-chairman of Miramax Films. That was the studio backing Scorsese’s movie. To the outside world, Weinstein was an Oscar-winning producer, but to Jolie, he was the predator she had barely escaped almost ten years earlier.
Jolie described a confrontation that happened when she was only 21 years old. She was working on a Miramax film called ‘Playing by Heart.’ According to Jolie, something happened in a hotel room that went way beyond the usual casting couch pass.
She told the outlet, “If you get yourself out of the room, you think he attempted but didn’t, right? The truth is that the attempt and the experience of the attempt is an assault.”
She got out of that situation and made a promise to never have anything to do with Weinstein again. That put her in an impossible spot when Scorsese came calling for ‘The Aviator.’ The movie eventually starred Cate Blanchett and Kate Beckinsale. It is not totally clear which role Jolie was offered. People often guess it was one of the glamorous parts, like Katharine Hepburn or Ava Gardner, but the name on the producer credit made the decision final for Jolie.
She explained, “It was beyond a pass, it was something I had to escape. I was asked to do The Aviator, but I said no because he was involved. I never associated or worked with him again.”
The Personal Cost, Including Fights with Brad Pitt
Turning down a Best Picture nominee is a stunning act of principle. But it also shows how deep the psychological scars were from Weinstein’s behavior. And there is more. The interview also revealed that Jolie’s pain was made worse by her home life. At the time the Weinstein news came out, Jolie was married to Brad Pitt.
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According to the interview, Pitt kept working with Weinstein. He starred in movies Weinstein produced, like ‘Inglourious Basterds‘ in 2009 and ‘Killing Them Softly‘ in 2012. Jolie admitted that Pitt’s professional relationship with the man she had warned him about led to serious fights in their marriage. She said, “We fought about it. Of course, it hurt.“
In the end, Kate Beckinsale played Ava Gardner, and Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn. Jolie watched from the outside, but for the ‘Salt‘ star, the risk to her career was worth it to take the moral high ground. By publicly saying she turned down the Scorsese movie because of the man now serving time for sexual misconduct, Jolie did not see her absence as a loss for her career. She saw it as a victory for her conscience.
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