The one movie Sam Rockwell will always regret turning down: “Missed out on that one”

Posted On June 3, 2025June 3, 2025

To be an actor is to dedicate yourself to your craft. Some fine-tune those talents into specific areas, becoming comedic relief for movies or devastating character actors. There are very few Hollywood actors who can claim to possess such dramatic aptitude as Sam Rockwell.

An astute character actor with a penchant for indie cinema, Rockwell has starred in various modern classics in his time, with highlights like Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Still, even these don’t account for the full scope of his talent.

Whilst many of us could recognise his face before then, it wasn’t until 2012’s Seven Psychopaths that Rockwell truly arrived. In Martin McDonagh’s black comedy, he played Billy Bickle, a struggling actor who kidnaps dogs and makes a living by collecting the reward for their return.

This initial comedic layer is just the tip of the iceberg for the outlandish Billy. His character gradually starts to reveal a different side, which is both inspired and incredibly dark, playing a crucial role in the plot. Billy is one of McDonagh’s greatest creations, with Rockwell perfect for the role.

It seems as if Rockwell and McDonagh are a well-suited pair, given that one of Rockwell’s other defining roles came in McDonagh’s 2017 comedy-drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Whilst the film’s star Frances McDormand rightly attracted most of the plaudits, with her performance as Mildred winning her the Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’, Rockwell was exceptional in the supporting role as Jason Dixon. 

The Ebbing police officer’s arc, shifting from an individual controlled by fury, which sees him brutally throw an innocent man out a window, to a would-be detective looking to emulate the measured brilliance of his late boss, is masterfully executed by Rockwell. The Californian actor was so brilliant as Dixon that he also won at the Academy Awards, taking home ‘Best Supporting Actor’.

Thanks to performances in films such as the aforementioned, Rockwell is one of the most lauded actors of his generation, with his fans eagerly awaiting his next move. While he has achieved things that many budding thespians dream of, when speaking during a Reddit AMA in 2019, Rockwell was asked if there are any roles he turned down that he “seriously regrets”.

His answer was succinct and unexpected, naming the 2004 Disney Pixar superhero adventure The Incredibles as the one he rues passing up on. However, Rockwell dangled the carrot in front of fans and didn’t reveal what role he was in the running to play. He wrote: “Yes. I could have been in The Incredibles. Missed on that one. But you learn!”

Given Sam Rockwell’s penchant for the comically evil, I’d wager that he was to play Mr. Incredible’s biggest fan, Buddy Pine, the boy who becomes the villainous Syndrome after being spurned by his idol. Jason Lee eventually played the character.

Was The Incredibles really a big miss?

There’s a good chance that, fi you are of a certain age, you might consider The Incredibles as one of the foremost children’s entertainment movies ever made. A blistering mix of comedic wit and well-placed pathos makes the storyline an insatiable delight. Add to this Pixar’s usual lighter-than-air relief, and you have a movie that might have always seemed destined to deliver.

At the box office, the movie took over $600m and generated its own fandom overnight. Such a sincere devotion to the original meant a sequel was always likely to take place, but would that one deliver? In short, yes. The sequel doubled the box office and firmly placed the franchise into cult status. While Rockwell is undoubtedly pleased with his career, there must be a slight nagging feeling that he could have been a part of a real money-spinner.

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