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:

• Catherine O'Hara 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.

• John Turturro 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 The Doors 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.

• Peter Wolf and Harry Hamlin were announced as guest stars for "Homerazzi" in the original Fox press release, but their parts were cut before broadcast.

• Isla Fisher's part, Erin Brockovich's role as herself, and Minnie Driver'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 Dave Stewart of Eurythmics was cut from the movie.

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

• According to synopsis of "The Many Saints of Springfield" Kipp Lennon supposed to guest star as Italian American Singer, but his role was cut.

Replaced

The following people accepted a role on the show but did not record it and so were replaced by somebody else or the intended part was cut without being recorded.

• 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 sexual assault charges 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.
• Frank Zappa was set to guest star but became too ill to record a part.
• Bill Simmons was originally going to guest star in "Podcast News". However, his dialogue wasn't recorded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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".

• Ryne Sandberg and Carlton Fisk turned down the chance to guest star in "Homer at the Bat", as did Barry Bonds and Nolan Ryan.

• 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 Tom 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".

• O. J. Simpson 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, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford) were offered roles in "Krusty Gets Kancelled". Only Reagan responded and he declined.

• The Rolling Stones (although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards later appeared on the show) and Wynonna Judd both turned down a part in "Krusty Gets Kancelled".

• Michael Caine 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.

• William Hickey 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.

• David Brinkley declined to voice himself in "The Day the Violence Died"; Shearer stood in.

• Courtney Love and Hole declined roles in "Homerpalooza". As did Neil Young and Pearl Jam.

• 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.

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

• Sheryl Crow 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 Demi Moore 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, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise (for the second time) as well as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell rejected the role as well.

• Howard Stern 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 Poison lead singer Brett Michaels to voice the lead singer of the Poison tribute band Cyanide in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge".

• Shirley Temple was asked to portray Vicki Valentine, but turned down the role. Debbie Reynolds was also offered the part, before Tress MacNeille recorded it.

• Kenny Rogers 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. Lyle Lovett rejected the role, and Gary Oldman was also considered. The part eventually went to Pierce Brosnan.

• Michael Clarke Duncan declined to voice a character similar to his role as John Coffey in The Green Mile 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".

• Jon Bon Jovi rejected what became Jackson Browne's role in "Brake My Wife, Please".

• The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (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.

• Christina Aguilera rejected what became Fantasia Barrino's role in "A Star Is Torn".

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

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

• George Clooney turned down a role in "The Wife Aquatic".

• Brian Williams 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.

• Stephen King refused to guest star in "Not It" as a spooky gravedigger Homer would met.

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.
• Smokey Robinson rejected a part.
• Bill Clinton rejected the show, as did George W. Bush.
• Kathy Bates rejected a role.
• Gregory Peck rejected a part.
• Tiger Woods rejected a role. I
• Martin Short rejected a role.
• The Hemsworth brothers (Chris, Luke and Liam) had a part written for them, but they declined.
• Hugh Jackman was approached for a role but he turned it down.

Reason unknown

• Sheldon Leonard 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 Sylvester Stallone 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 Wayne Newton and Gerry Cooney's part was written for Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

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

• Several sources listed Robert Stack 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.

• Kenneth Branagh 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 was announced as returning as Rabbi Krustofsky but did not appear.

• Aaron Sorkin 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 Christiane Amanpour (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.

• Robert De Niro was intended to make an appearance in season 7 or 8 but no appropriate role was found.

• Julie Andrews 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 David Bowie or Morrissey for the part but nothing came together. David and Victoria Beckham 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 Ronaldo had been unable to record his part in "Marge Gamer", Ronaldinho would have been approached instead.

• Billie Eilish was planned to guest star and sing the intro music to the Guilty Grampa podcast of "Podcast News". However, the part was cut for time and the producers never reached out to her.