Matt Damon could've starred in "Avatar" and is still kind of upset that he didn't, according to Hollywood.com. The "Promised Land" star was James Cameron's first choice for the lead role of Jake Sully.
"I particularly wanted to work with James Cameron, and still do," Damon said in an interview with Playboy. "He knew he was the star of that movie and that everyone was going to see it anyway. When he said, 'Look, I'm offering it to you, but if you say no, the movie doesn't need you,' I remember thinking, 'Oh God, not only do I have to say no because of scheduling, but he's going to make a star out of some guy who's going to to start taking jobs from me later.'"
That "some guy" ended up being Sam Worthington, who certainly hasn't taken any jobs from Damon so far.
Matt Damon has a few other roles he regrets turning down, including the one that went to Josh Brolin in "Milk." But he feels that the role offered to him in "Brokeback Mountain" ended up going to the right man for the job.
"I had just done 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' and 'All The Pretty Horses.' I said, 'I just did a gay movie and a cowboy movie. I can't do a gay cowboy movie now.' The right actor got the part. Heath Ledger was magnificent."
Anyway, Damon may still get a chance to work with Cameron yet, as the filmmaker is planning at least two more "Avatar" movies, after all. We might not have to picture him as a Na'vi after all — the King of the World (and Pandora) can do the work for us.
