The ones that got away- films Steven Berkoff turned down or missed

Blue Velvet from 1986, directed by David Lynch.  Steven Berkoff was first choice for Frank Booth.  When he rejected it the role went to Dennis Hopper.  Berkoff says "I regrettably turned down the role of Frank Booth in ‘Blue Velvet’ when I didn’t care for some of the grosser moments. These were in fact cut when Dennis Hopper did it" (Berkoff interviewed by Kyle Gaffney, Clapper online, no date, click here).

Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick from 1999.  Steven Berkoff wanted to appear in a Kubrick film again, having previously appeared in A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.  "'Stanley really wants you' Leon [Vitali, Kubrick's assistant] said. 'OKay, I'd love to see Stanley again.' I didn't get the job since he found another actor for the role, a Russian who had been making a name for himself.  The next thing I knew Stanley was dead" (Steven Berkoff, Tough Acts, chapter 4 page 33).

Zeppelin directed by Etienne Périer in 1971 and starring Michael York as a British spy seeking the secrets of the new German zeppelin.  Steven Berkoff appears in pre-release publicity (below, playing York's cousin Emerich) but the scene has been dropped from the film and Berkoff is not named in the credits.

Photo from Films and Filming, May 1971.

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