Whenever there is a list or discussion about roles that could’ve featured different actors, Indiana Jones and Tom Selleck are sure to be on the list. It’s famously been reported that Selleck turned down the role in favor of Magnum P.I. and that the decision was a big regret for the actor through the years.
The catch here is that Selleck never actually turned down the role. The mustache himself set the record straight on Letterman, laying the blame at the feet of CBS:
“They held the offer out about a month. And the more they held out the offer and talked to the network, the more the network said, ‘no…’
So I go to Hawaii to start Magnum, the actors go on strike, and I had given my deposit to a landlady and I couldn’t afford a security deposit. So I start working as a handy man, in Hawaii, with no job. And guess who comes to Hawaii to finish their movie? Raiders of the Lost Ark. So I could’ve done them both.”
Like he says in the video, it works out for everyone in the end. But it is interesting that he’d wait this long to clear the air about his connection to Indiana Jones, even if it is funny to learn that Steven Spielberg still hasn’t called him.
Also funny is how Harrison Ford is kind of sick of the story. Not a surprise of course, but still funny.
(Via The Late Show)