The two movies John Cleese will always regret turning down: “Of course, I was wrong”Every actor has their regrets, like turning down movies they assumed would fail, only for them to become hugely successful. John Cleese, the actor and writer who defined British comedy with his role as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, as well as his contributions to the Monty Python group, knows a thing or two about regret. But my second marriage was in such a parlous state I didn’t think I could disappear for three months,” Cleese told Shortlist. That’s not the only regret that Cleese has, though. That I turned down on artistic grounds because Harold Pinter did the last draft and took all the jokes out.