Billy Crystal Calls Himself ‘A Dope’ For Turning Down Beloved Role

Billy Crystal has built an impressive Hollywood career spanning over four decades, and with his many successes came a few regrets, including turning down a particular role. He recently opened up about this on Graham Norton’s show, where he also gave good reasons for rejecting the part.

Billy enjoyed his first shot at fame on ABC’s sitcom Soap, where he played Jodie Dallas. He soon became a frequent face on Saturday Night Live while hosting shows like the Academy Awards and playing the lead in several ‘80s and ‘90s hits.

Why Billy Crystal regrets turning down the voice role of Buzz Lightyear

Billy confessed that refusing to play Buzz Lightyear was more of a business decision than a character issue, adding that his agent influenced him. Tim Allen quickly replaced him as the voice of Buzz in Toy Story’s debut and its sequels so far.

Buzz grew to hate turning down the offer because Toy Story became a huge success, and by extension, Buzz Lightyear. Although Chris Evans played Buzz in 2022’s spin-off Lightyear, Toy Story 5 is currently in the works, and Tim is set to reprise his role.

Billy Crystal got another offer from Pixar

Two years after missing out on Buzz, Billy got another offer from the producers of Toy Story for Monsters Inc., and he made sure to not lose the opportunity. He recalled being presented with a screen test of him in an episode where he yelled about a wagon wheel coffee table, and that was what convinced him to accept.

Billy has so far played Mike Wazowski in Monsters Inc. series, such as the prequel Monsters University, Disney+’s Monsters at Work, and a few shorts. While another Monsters Inc. film is in production for 2025, the iconic actor has also been exploring theater via Broadway in the last decade.