Chris Rock Felt ‘Scent of a Woman’ Would’ve Been Better if He Was Cast Over Chris O’ Donnell
Comedian Chris Rock wanted to work alongside Scarface star Al Pacino for the acclaimed project Scent of a Woman. But the role he pursued would later go to Chris O’ Donnell, which he felt was a mistake.
Chris Rock wasn’t allowed to audition for Al Pacino’s ‘Scent of a Woman’
One of O’ Donnell’s breakthrough roles came from Scent of a Woman. The young actor at the time played a college student taking care of Al Pacino’s character for some extra money. The movie was both commercially and critically successful, putting O’ Donnell on the map and earning Pacino an Academy Award. But before O’ Donnell, Rock showed interest in the role. He didn’t get it, which he felt showed a lack of vision on the film’s part.
“There was a little bit of talk about me playing the Chris O’Donnell part in Scent of a Woman, which actually would’ve been a better movie. Not ’cause of me – it just would’ve been a better movie with a black kid playing that part,” Rock once told Rolling Stone (via HuffPost).
In his book Rock This! (via Vulture), Rock went into a little more detail about why he wanted to star in Scent of a Woman. He was partially motivated by the idea of portraying just a regular Black character, which he rarely portrayed at the time.
“I once wanted to read for the Chris O’Donnell role in Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman. They wouldn’t let me,” Rock said. “Nothing against Chris O’Donnell, but it would have still been a good movie with me in it. The kid had no parents or girlfriend, so they wouldn’t have had to cast any other blacks but me. And think of the sympathy factor: a black kid going to the private school, not having enough money and all. But they couldn’t see it. Please. Let me be a normal guy!”
Chris O’ Donnell decided to stick to acting because of ‘Scent of a Woman’
O’ Donnell might’ve needed the role slightly more than Rock did at the time. Rock already had massive exposure as a highlighted cast member on Saturday Night Live. He also had a few notable film credits to his name in the 90s like New Jack City and Boomerang. Rock’s career didn’t really need Scent of a Woman to blossom.
O’ Donnell, however, had smaller parts in lesser known films. The NCIS star got his first feature film role starring in 1990’s Men Don’t Leave. But it wasn’t until he was cast in Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman that he looked at acting as a viable career option. It helped that O’ Donnell beat out other actors for the role, which he didn’t need to do for his film debut.
“I worked real hard preparing for it, got really focused on it,” O’ Donnell once told the LA Times. “I said, ‘I got to get this.’ And when I got it, it was just a really satisfying feeling. I felt [with] Men Don’t Leave [that] maybe part of me getting the part was being this regular kid they cast. But Scent of a Woman, I was up against everybody else, and I got it because I did a good audition. That gave me a lot of confidence.”
Al Pacino gave Chris O’ Donnell helpful life advice
O’ Donnell looked back very fondly at his time with Pacino. As expected, however, the actor was understandably anxious around the Heat star given his star power.
“It was just the most nerve wracking experience of my life, and being that nervous around Al Pacino for the majority of the film as well,” O’ Donnell once told VH1 (via ABC News). “I knew at the time I was doing it that this is going to be the greatest single acting experience of my life that I’ll ever have.”
It wasn’t all business between the two, however. Pacino ended up giving some helpful love advice to his co-star.
“He always told me don’t ever marry an actress,” O’ Donnell remembered. “He said you’ll always be second in their life.”
O’ Donnell somewhat took Pacino’s advice by marrying Caroline Funtress. Although Funtress has a few acting credits to her name, she primarily functions as an elementary school teacher.
