Laurence Fishburne Reveals Why He Initially Turned Down Role in 'What's Love Got to Do with It'
Laurence Fishburne Reveals Why He Initially Turned Down Role in 'What's Love Got to Do with It'
Porcha MaziqueSun, August 16, 2026 at 12:37 AM UTC
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Some of the most memorable performances almost never happen. That was the case with What’s Love Got to Do with It, as Laurence Fishburne initially didn’t want to play Ike Turner and reportedly turned down the role five separate times. Thinking back, it’s hard to imagine the film without him, and its lasting acclaim suggests audiences feel the same way.
The offer kept coming back, and he kept passing for the same reason. The script he read gave Tina Turner’s character real dimension and left Ike as something much closer to a villain sketch.
What changed his mind was the casting of Angela Bassett. The two had already worked together on Boyz n the Hood, and they had been cast as love interests in an earlier project that never got made.
“I have to do this now,” Fishburne recalled thinking, describing the moment on Jemele Hill’s “Unbothered” podcast in 2022. He was a fan of Bassett’s work long before the two shared a set.
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‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’ Has a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score
The biopic holds a 97 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 59 reviews, more than three decades after its release.
Both leads went to the Academy Awards for it. Bassett was nominated for Best Actress and Fishburne for Best Actor, and the two performances are still the first thing most people bring up about the film.
Fishburne did not just take the part once he accepted it. He pushed on the writing, and Bassett has credited him directly with the result. “He saved Ike,” she said, describing a character who arrived on the page with nowhere to go.
Related: ‘He Was a Wake-Up Call’: 1992 Spike Lee Epic Gave Denzel Washington One of His Most Acclaimed Roles
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Aug 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
