The late Prince Rogers Nelson, who went by Prince, was certainly a brilliant singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is still regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his time. He was also offered roles in movies, with Bruce Willis’ starrer $263 million cult classic The Fifth Element, for one to count.
However, the late singer somehow refused to star in the box-office blockbuster movie for a rather absurd reason, thus, letting Chris Tucker take over in his stead to give an epic performance that would be remembered for years.
It has been noted that judging from how tremendous of a singer he was, the role of Ruby Rhod in The Fifth Element was perfect for the late Prince. In fact, it was even created keeping the musician in mind, as revealed by Chris Tucker.
“Luc Besson said he wanted a flamboyant character and he wanted like sexuality and all this stuff,” Tucker said via GQ. “I thought of Prince. ‘Cause Prince was supposed to play the part.”
However, the pop singer ended up rejecting the role due to a reason that might sound rather absurd to us but might be a genuine one for the late star.
“Declined for some re-I think because of the wardrobe. Because Prince had his own style. And [as] matter of fact, he told me one time in person. He heard I was doing the movie and he’s like, I didn’t wanna do it. I said, Okay, all right. So then I was second choice.”
But despite being the second choice for the movie, Tucker made sure to portray his character in the best possible way, resulting in the Bruce Willis starrer movie becoming a widely loved fan-favorite in terms of cult classics.
