George Clooney reveals Johnny Depp, Mark Wahlberg were offered Ocean's Eleven: Told us to f*** right off

Did you know Johnny Depp and Mark Wahlberg were approached to play a part in Ocean's Eleven? During a recent event, the producer and the film's leading man George Clooney revealed that both actors had been approached to play the role of Linus Caldwell which was eventually played by Matt Damon.

"Some very famous people told us to f--- right off. Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp. There were others. They regret it now. I regret doing f---ing ‘Batman,’" Clooney said during an interview at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival.

"Steven (Soderbergh) had just done ‘Erin Brockovich’ and ‘Traffic,’ and he was nominated for directing both films… So, people really wanted to work with Steven," Clooney recalled at the event. Soderbergh,who directed Ocean's Eleven was also present at the event and quipped, " That said, some people did say no to us," before revealing the Hollywood stars.

The Oceans series however did have plenty of A-list talents. Apart from Clooney and Damon, the movie also stars Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts and Don Cheadle, among others.

The 2001 release spawned a successful franchise of three more films, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen and Ocean’s 8.

He noted he was interested in combining his "indie, artistic sensibilities" on a larger scale with a massive Hollywood filming budget. "It felt like the next iteration in my desire to work in the mainstream film business and make movies that could be released in a lot of theaters," Soderbergh explained and added, "I grew up watching movies made by great filmmakers that were commercially successful, distinctive movies. And I wanted to be part of that tradition."