I heard this story, not sure if it’s true, but I choose to believe it and will not hear any corrections; apparently, he was approached about Gandalf, but he turned it down because he didn’t really understand it. Then he was approached about Dumbledore, but turned it down because he didn’t really understand it. After seeing how those two franchises turned out, he said, “screw it, I’m taking the next role that I don’t get.” That role was Alan Quartermaine in League of Extraordinary Gentleman. After that movie bombed he retired from acting altogether.