Maybe he would

Kirk Douglas planned to be McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and played the character on stage, but was too old for the part when the move got made.

The producer would never have let him do it

Would it have made a big difference if Kirk Douglas was Colonel Trautman in First Blood?

Given the nature of Stallone's performance, Colonel Trautman needed to be played by someone calm and measured who would never chew the scenery. Someone you believed Rambo would trust. Y'know, like Richard Crenna.

Absolutely off topic, but I've been watching The Andy Griffith Show channel on Pluto TV, and I noticed that some of the series best episodes (Opie the Birdman, Citizen's Arrest, Sermon for Today) were all directed by DICK CRENNA.

I figured it was a different person because Richard Crenna would have been too young, but it was him. He was in his late 30s, which was still young for a director (I think).

Although I feel Reginald VelJohnson owns the role, I am curious as to how Gene Hackman would have played Al Powell in Die Hard.

How about Frank Sinatra as John McClane in Die Hard?

This always makes me wonder how these films would have been different. Sean Connery, from his wikipedia.......

Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings films, saying he did not understand the script.[99] He was reportedly offered US$30 million along with 15% of the worldwide box office receipts, which would have earned him US$450 million.[100][101] He also turned down the opportunity to appear as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series and the Architect in The Matrix trilogy.

^ I’ve heard those Connery stories before. I can understand why he’d turn down The Matrix for not understanding the script but LotR? Those were a well known and beloved book series long before movies were made.

Additionally, I recall him saying that he didn’t understand the script for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen either but took the role anyway since The Matrix was such a hit.

He chose…poorly.

Seeing as according to New Line Cinema the Lord Of the Rings movies didn't make any money, and everyone from Peter Jackson to the Tolkien estate had to sue them in order to get whatever amount owed they could, I'm sure Sean Connery knew he was never getting $450 million.

Weird what did him taking a role in LoEG have to do with Matrix being a hit?

I vividly remember watching him in Highlander 2 and thinking "oh, he does roles just for money too."

He turned down The Matrix because he didn't understand it, and it was a huge hit. So when he got the script for LOEG, he didn't understand it either, but thought, "Well, last time I passed on something like this it was a huge hit. Better not trust my instincts, and say yes so I don't miss out again." That's the story, but I've never heard it from Connery's mouth, so who knows whether it's true or just a good story.

I think that when I heard that story, it was Lord of the Rings and not The Matrix.

The Lord of the Rings is a fairly straightforward story. The Matrix is a clusterfuck of philosophical gobbledygook.

I’d also heard it was for the role of Morpheus, not The Architect.

I know it's been "reported" over the years, but I don't buy that Connery was offered 15% of LOTR's box office, plus $30M in salary.