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Dustin Hoffman turned down Rambo because it was too violent

Legendary actor Dustin Hoffman could have been a part of the Rambo franchise, but he rejected the opportunity because he thought it was too violent

Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate

Veteran actor Dustin Hoffman has been involved in some of the best movies of all time, from The Graduate to Rain Man, and even found time to get involved in some great comedy movies, too. But he could also have been in the Rambo action movie franchise, if he didn’t find it all a little too violent for his liking.

The Rambo series began with a string of epic ‘80s movies and has continued thrilling audiences to this day. The Rambo movies famously star Sylvester Stallone, but the face of the franchise could have been very different.

In an interview with Extra (via Digital Spy), Hoffman revealed he was offered the role of John Rambo but turned it down after seeing how violent the film was planned to be.

“I was the first one to be asked to do Rambo, but it was a little too much violence,” Hoffman explained. To be fair, the thriller movies are pretty bloody and chaotic, so they’re not to everyone’s tastes.

That’s not the only role Hoffman turned his back on, though, as it’s revealed he could have starred in the science fiction movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He said: “I didn’t realise you never turn down a master at his craft, which is Steven Spielberg.”

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Opportunities to appear in a Steven Spielberg movie don’t come around too often, so maybe Hoffman should have snapped that one up. Apparently, though, the one role he never got asked to do that he wished he had, is James Bond.

We can’t quite see Hoffman in a high-octane setting really, so maybe his career path was for the best. If you like large-scale action, why not check out our guides to the Extraction 2 release date or the John Wick 4 release date.