Carla Gugino Turned Down This Big Role To Star In Sin City

Carla Gugino almost "haunted" the box office in a surprising role way before she starred in The Haunting of Bly Manor. 

If you don't know who the versatile Bly Manor actor is at this point, you probably haven't flipped through Netflix in a hot minute. Aside from playing The Storyteller in the streaming platform's spookily popular horror series — based on the novella The Turn of The Screw and the successor to 2018's The Haunting of Hill House — Carla Gugino has been in a ton of popular projects. She starred as the handcuffed heroine in 2017's thrilling and powerful Gerald's Game (also directed by the Haunting series' Mike Flanagan) and as Daisy in the Cinemax series Jett. But you've probably seen Gugino much earlier, perhaps without realizing it. The star perhaps most famously appeared in the Spy Kids franchise as the mom (and secret spy), Ingrid Cortez. As those films each grossed over $100 million globally, per Box Office Mojo, there's a good chance that role may ring a bell. She also played wife Emma across from Dwayne Johnson in San Andreas. Yup, the rising star has a few blockbusters under her belt, too! 

But missing out on roles is a natural part of the Hollywood experience. And even though things worked out for Gugino, as she's on the cusp of widespread fame now, there's one part she didn't get — said no to, in fact — that must have hurt. Scroll on down to find out the role Carla Gugino passed on.

So what was the role that Carla Gugino reportedly turned down? According to TV Over Mind, that was to play Vin Diesel's love interest, and superior officer, in the babysitter-based action-comedy The Pacifier (or "manny-based" in this case, as Diesel stars as the film's unlikely babysitter/Navy SEAL). The role in the 2005 flick ultimately went to Brittany Snow. Interestingly enough, Gugino instead chose to star ... in Sin City, opposite Mickey Rourke. As Lucille in the 2005 comic book adaptation, the actor ignited the screen, rocking a bob haircut in the scintillating, if smaller gig. But Sin City's Robert Rodrigues also directed Spy Kids, so she stuck with her (literal) guns. 

That said, The Pacifier grossed $200 million while Sin City grossed $150 million. So it's worth wondering, would Carla Gugino's stock in Hollywood have risen faster if she had "pacified it up" and chosen the meatier and audience-friendly role instead of the more nuanced one? 

Things worked out in the end, but it's interesting to wonder where Carla Gugino would be if she'd chosen the other film!