Billy Crystal has admitted turning down a part in Toy Story is not a decision he looks back on fondly.
In the early 1990s, the When Harry Met Sally actor was initially approached by Pixar about voicing the now-iconic character of Buzz Lightyear, but turned it down on the advice of his agent.
Speaking to Graham Norton on Friday’s episode of his long-running talk show, Billy admitted: “I was the dope that turned it down.”
He went on to insist that the decision “wasn’t about the character, it was a business thing”, after his “agent said not to do it”.
“Then it comes out and it is genius,” he recalls.
After Billy passed on the role, the character of Buzz Lightyear ended up being voiced by Tim Allen in Toy Story and its many spin-offs.
The film has so far spawned three sequels, with a fifth instalment currently in the works at Pixar, which is slated for release in 2026.
Fortunately for Billy, he was given another chance to voice a Pixar character in Monsters Inc., which saw him playing Mike Wazowski alongside John Goodman’s James “Sulley” Sullivan.
“Two years later when the producers of Toy Story first mentioned Monsters Inc., I said ‘Whatever it is say yes’,” Billy told Graham Norton.
“They convinced me by showing me a screen test they had done of me as Buzz Lightyear in the scene from When Harry Met Sally, where I am yelling about a wagon wheel coffee table. They even had a little Buzz under the table.
“It was astonishing, and if I had seen that I would definitely have done Toy Story.”
Billy has since voiced Mike in a prequel, Monsters University, as well as various shorts and a Disney+ sitcom, Monsters At Work.
Watch Billy Crystal’s full interview on Friday’s edition of The Graham Norton Show, airing at 10.40pm on BBC One.
