{"id":814989,"date":"2026-07-20T21:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/814989\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T21:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:43:20","slug":"the-1987-role-woody-harrelson-called-one-of-the-worst-decisions-of-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/814989\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1987 role Woody Harrelson called “one of the worst decisions of my life”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Woody<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ YouTube Still<\/p>\n

Mon 20 July 2026 19:15, UK <\/p>\n

He\u2019s worked with some of the biggest directors of their respective generations at various points throughout his career, but there\u2019s only one behind-the-camera legend that Woody Harrelson<\/a> stabbed in the back.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, torpedoing what would ultimately be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with one of the most influential directors in modern Hollywood, in what was an unsuccessful attempt to further his own acting aspirations, backfired, and he\u2019s regretted it ever since.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s always come across as a laid-back, jovial, and generally carefree individual, that doesn\u2019t mean Harrelson is a wallflower or a pushover. He hated Quentin Tarantino as a matter of principle for years<\/a>, and his reputation hasn\u2019t always been that of the easiest or most straightforward guy to work with.<\/p>\n

Back in the 1980s, though, he was only at the beginning of his journey. He wasn\u2019t an unknown, with Cheers premiering in September 1985 and nudging him toward household name status in his first major role, but his only feature to date was 1986\u2019s Wildcats, and he fancied making a mark on the silver screen.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the chance to do that coincided with a 1987 run of the play, A Woman of Mystery, at Los Angeles\u2019 Court Theatre. Initially, it was a chance he seized with both hands, as you\u2019d expect with a \u2018New Hollywood\u2019 pioneer and trailblazer<\/a> running the show, but not enough to stop him from committing an unforgiveable betrayal.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my biggest regrets was, I was doing a play in LA with John Cassavetes,\u201d Harrelson recalled. \u201cI had a full realisation of how amazing this guy was, although I didn\u2019t understand in terms of his larger body of work and his influence on independent movies and so forth, but I didn\u2019t understand that at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, working with Cassavetes was a big deal for a 20-something actor who wasn\u2019t all that experienced in the grand scheme of things, but when a potential movie role came along, with the auditions being held in Rome, he betrayed the legendary filmmaker. \u201cI left the play and flew over there,\u201d he sighed. \u201cI didn\u2019t get the part. I could have come back, and he would have let me back in the play. I didn\u2019t. I regret leaving it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further reading: Cutting Room Floor<\/p>\n

Understandably, the three-time Academy Award nominee called it \u201cone of the worst decisions of my life\u201d and \u201cone of my biggest regrets,\u201d but not strictly on a professional level, either. Harrelson conceded that he \u201cshould have stuck by that guy,\u201d and to abandon Cassavetes was \u201ca real lack of integrity on my part.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Woman of Mystery was also the last completed stage or screen work<\/a> of the auteur\u2019s career before his death in 1989, and while he did get to be a part of it for a hot minute, Harrelson will always regret that he didn\u2019t come back to the play after leaving Cassavetes high and try for the sake of a failed audition.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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