While you may think that Bryan Cranston (John Carter, Total Recall, Drive, ) aims to be in every big film during an interview with Collider he reveals he turned down a rather big film. Bryan says he had been offered the role of Sebastian Shaw the leader of the Hellfire Club and villain of X-Men First Class while looking at another project. He weighed the two roles by how much he liked the characters and went with Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive instead. He mentions there was another role offered which I'd have assume was Stryker.
I read for the Kevin Bacon role in X-Men: First Class. And it was like, “Ah, there’s a possibility. ” Then there was this thing happening over here. It’s kind of like things coming up like materials and projects that are coming in and out. Quite often, it’s almost like a wave. “Here it comes, here it comes. . . oh no, that wave didn’t break. ” Why? Funding went this way, the lead dropped out, any number of things can happen. Or the studio says it’s too much money. Projects ebb and flow all the time, and the same thing in an actor’s career. There’s interest, and there’s ebbing and flowing all the time. “You have the offer! Oh, no you don’t. ” So, that was happening. They offered it to Kevin, and they offered me a different role in it.
At the same time, I read Drive, and I thought, “Oh, this is what I’d rather do. ” I turned down X-Men for the role in Drive because I liked the character better. Much better. The experience with Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman and Carey [Mulligan]—it was terrific. We had a great time. What was so much fun about it is that we’d go over to Nicolas Refn’s, the director’s, house in the canyons, and we’d all get together with the writer, and we would pitch out ideas and thoughts. “What about this? What about that? ” There’s nothing more satisfying than to have your thoughts and comments welcomed and incorporated in the script. So, we really feel ownership and part of that. You’re not just a hired hand, coming in, doing your job, and leaving. And Nicolas took a real kind of film noir, European feel to it, and it’s really hip and cool.
SOURCE: Collider
Trask had appeared in X3 played by Bill Duke (Predator, Commando) and his character is credited for building Magneto's prison and the mutant prisoner transport which held Raven, Juggernaut and Multiple Man. First Class is a reboot of sorts so I wouldn't be shocked to see Trask retooled.
