Intended guest stars

The following is a list of people known to have been intended to guest star on the show, but for whatever reason, did not appear. Reasons include being cut from the episode, rejecting the show, dying before being able to record their part and not being approached, despite being in the initial plans.

Cut
The following guest stars recorded a role that was cut or re-dubbed:


 * originally recorded the role of Collette in "Flaming Moe's" but the writer's decided her voice didn't fit the character and she was redubbed with Jo Ann Harris.


 * originally recorded the role of Mr. Mitchell in "The Canine Mutiny"; some of the dialogue was re-written and Turturro was "pissy" about re-recording, so he was dropped and replaced by Dan Castellaneta.


 * Robby Krieger of recorded a cameo for the episode "The Great Money Caper", but his part was cut because the writers felt his appearance seemed too forced. The scene was later included on the DVD.


 * and were announced as guest stars for "Homerazzi" in the original Fox press release, but their parts were cut before broadcast.


 * 's part, 's role as herself, and 's appearance as a grievance counsellor in The Simpsons Movie were all cut.


 * Edward Norton, who previously appeared on the show, had his lines in the movie as the panicky man crushed by the dome re-dubbed by Castellaneta.


 * A song about Alaska featuring music by of  was cut from the movie.


 * 's part as himself in the season 25 episode "Four Regrettings and a Funeral" was cut.

Replaced
The following people accepted a role on the show but did not record it and so were replaced by somebody else.


 * James Earl Jones, who later made three guest appearances on the show, was initially lined up to voice Sideshow Bob in "Krusty Gets Busted" before Kelsey Grammer was selected.
 * Anthony Perkins agreed to voice the character of Dr. Wolfe in "Last Exit to Springfield" but died before the role could be recorded. Hank Azaria voiced Wolfe instead.
 * Marv Albert was originally going to play Roy Firestone's part as a sports radio host in "Bart Star", but was dropped following that were made against him around the time the episode was in pre-production. He later appeared "The Burns and the Bees".
 * Christopher Walken agreed to voice himself in "Insane Clown Poppy" but, in the end, did not record the part and so was replaced by Jay Mohr doing an impression of Walken.
 * Jim Carrey agreed to voice the singing railroad hobo in "Simpsons Tall Tales" but did not have time to record the part and so was replaced by Hank Azaria.
 * was set to guest star but became too ill to record a part.

Turned down a role

 * Bruce Springsteen rejected what became Sting's part in "Radio Bart". He previously rejected Larry King's role in "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish", and later rejected the chance to appear in "When You Dish Upon a Star".


 * and turned down the chance to guest star in "Homer at the Bat".


 * Don Rickles rejected a role as himself in "New Kid on the Block" in what was to be the episode's original subplot. Homer was supposed to fight with Rickles after laughing execessively during a performance leading to them attending court. Rickles rejected because he didn't like his portrayal.


 * George Takei (although he guest starred before and after) declined to appear as himself in "Marge vs. the Monorail" because he did not want to mock public transport. Leonard Nimoy accepted instead.


 * Tom Cruise rejected the part of in "Brother from the Same Planet". Phil Hartman did the voice instead.


 * Both Anthony Hopkins and Clint Eastwood turned down the part of the dentist Dr. Wolfe in "Last Exit to Springfield".


 * rejected a part as a panelist on Smartline in "Last Exit to Springfield", a role filled by Dr. Joyce Brothers.


 * All then-living ex-Presidents of the United States (Ronald Reagan,, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford) were offered roles in "Krusty Gets Kancelled". Only Reagan responded and he declined.


 * (although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards later appeared on the show) and both turned down a part in "Krusty Gets Kancelled".


 * turned down what became James Woods' part in "Homer and Apu".


 * Richard Simmons wanted to guest star on the show, but rejected the role of the robotic version of himself in "Burns' Heir" because he didn't want to be a robot. The scene was later deleted but appeared in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular".


 * Al Gore was approached to host "Treehouse of Horror V" but he declined. Gore later approached the show in 2000 asking for a guest spot, but they rejected him.


 * was the first choice for the role of Chester J. Lampwick in "The Day the Violence Died" but he turned the role down; he was replaced by Kirk Douglas.


 * declined to voice himself in "The Day the Violence Died"; Castellaneta stood in.


 * Courtney Love and declined roles in "Homerpalooza". As did  and.


 * Bob Dylan rejected a part in "Homerpalooza" and was replaced by Peter Frampton. He was also a possible choice for the Space Coyote in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer", but Johnny Cash accepted the part.


 * rejected a role in "The Homer They Fall". Paul Winfield appeared as the King-parody character Lucius Sweet instead.


 * rejected the chance to sing "Can I Borrow a Feeling?" over the end credits of "A Milhouse Divided".


 * Quentin Tarantino was also asked to voice himself in "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", but rejected the part, objecting to his lines. Dan Castellaneta voiced him instead.


 * Steve Martin, who appeared the following season as Ray Patterson, turned down the role of Frank Grimes in "Homer's Enemy". After Hank Azaria's performance at the episode's table reading, attempts to find a guest star for the role were abandoned. Had showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein decided on a guest star, William H. Macy (who appeared during season 17) would have been approached, but they felt Azaria was a better fit. According to Azaria, Macy was approached but was unable to record the role due to a scheduling conflict; Azaria based his performance on Macy.


 * Bruce Willis (approached for the second time) and rejected the role of the celebrity couple in  "When You Dish Upon a Star". They were replaced by Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. According to Christian Roman,  and Tom Cruise (for the second time) as well as  and  rejected the role as well.


 * declined to play himself in "Monty Can't Buy Me Love". He was replaced by Michael McKean as the character Jerry Rude.


 * The staff failed to get lead singer  to voice the lead singer of the Poison tribute band Cyanide in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge".


 * was asked to portray Vicki Valentine, but turned down the role. was also offered the part, before Tress MacNeille recorded it.


 * turned down the chance to play himself in "Behind the Laughter". This came even after his management had made the writers rewrite his part to remove references to KR Roasters. He was replaced by Willie Nelson.


 * For the role of the voice of the Ultrahouse in "Treehouse of Horror XII", Sean Connery was the initial choice. rejected the role, and  was also considered. The part eventually went to Pierce Brosnan.


 * declined to voice a character similar to his role as John Coffey in  in the episode "The Frying Game".


 * Tom Brokaw rejected the chance to play himself in "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" because he liked Harry Shearer's impersonation of him.


 * Harvey Fierstein was asked to return as Karl in "Three Gays of the Condo" but declined because the script didn't have "that Simpsons twist".


 * rejected what became Jackson Browne's role in "Brake My Wife, Please".


 * The Archbishop of Canterbury (a fan of the show) was included in a draft of the script for "The Regina Monologues", acting as a tour guide and showing some of his relatives around London. Williams had to reject the part due to other engagements.


 * rejected what became Fantasia Barrino's role in "A Star Is Torn".


 * turned down a role in "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" because he didn't want to play a "hood".


 * turned down what became Gore Vidal's part in "Moe'N'a Lisa".


 * turned down a role in "The Wife Aquatic".


 * turned down Dan Rather's role in "E Pluribus Wiggum".


 * Michelle Obama refused to play herself in "Stealing First Base"; Angela Bassett voiced her instead.

Unknown or unproduced episodes

 * William Shatner declined a part at some point during the show's early period. He has been called the first person to reject the show.
 * Prince was lined up to appear in an unproduced sequel to "Stark Raving Dad" as Leon Kompowsky. Although he initially accepted it transpired that the script he received was not the one written by the staff and Prince refused to appear using the staff's script and so the episode was never made.
 * rejected a part.
 * Bill Clinton rejected the show, as did George W. Bush.
 * rejected a role.
 * Gregory Peck rejected a part.
 * Tiger Woods rejected a role. I
 * rejected a role.
 * The Hemsworth brothers (, and ) had a part written for them, but they declined.
 * was approached for a role but he turned it down.

Reason unknown

 * was first choice for the role of Fat Tony in "Bart the Murderer" but he was unable to take the part.


 * Faye Dunaway cancelled for an unspecified role in Season 4.


 * Matt Groening was told that if the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood appeared in an episode, its creators Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and would guest star. The staff wrote it in as the subplot for the episode "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)". For unknown reasons, the three could not appear and the plot was dropped. The subplot can be seen in the episode's original script.


 * "$pringfield"'s original script indicates that Robert Goulet's part was written for and Gerry Cooney's part was written for.


 * The writers were unable to get to record "Scorpio" at the end of "You Only Move Twice".


 * Several sources listed as (posthumously) guest starring in a season 15 episode, although he never appeared and there has been no official confirmation of whether he recorded a role or not.


 * "Lost Verizon" was written with an intended guest spot for Matt Damon but he did not appear in the final episode.


 * was stated by Al Jean as guest starring in "In the Name of the Grandfather", but he did not appear for undisclosed reasons and his intended role was voiced by Colm Meaney. Kathy Ireland was also listed in the Fox press release as appearing as herself; she appeared but a caption stated she refused to voice herself.


 * In the original Fox press release for "The Scorpion's Tale" Jackie Mason were announced as returning as Rabbi Krustofsky but did not appear.


 * and Gordon Ramsay (for what would have been a second guest spot) were announced as appearing in "Four Regrettings and a Funeral", though they did not appear in the actual episode.


 * The Fox press release for season 25 stated that (as well as Ramsay) would be guest starring in season 25. This did not happen.

Not approached
The following were mooted by the writers for guest parts, but were not approached.
 * was intended to make an appearance in season 7 or 8 but no appropriate role was found.


 * was initially penciled in to voice Shary Bobbins in "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" but the staff opted to use Maggie Roswell instead.


 * The writers originally drew up a list of ten British celebrities they wanted to appear in "The Regina Monologues". The script included a role for a musician; the staff had hoped to get or  for the part but nothing came together. David and  were also originally sought to guest star in the episode, and would be seen bickering on the street. They were dropped after Tony Blair agreed to guest star, and it was deemed that they were not famous enough in the United States and so were not approached.


 * If had been unable to record his part in "Marge Gamer",  would have been approached instead.