Jackson pulled out of Spielberg's Hook over Pan portrayal

Michael Jackson pulled out of playing Peter Pan in Steven Spielberg's 1991 movie Hook because the director's vision for the film didn't match his own.

Spielberg admits Jackson was keen to take on the lead role in the film but baulked at the idea of playing a lawyer who forgot he was the boy who never grew up.

The director tells Entertainment Weekly magazine, "Michael had always wanted to play Peter Pan, but I called Michael and I said, 'This is about a lawyer that is brought back to save his kids and discovers that he was once, when he was younger, Peter Pan.'

"Michael understood at that point it wasn't the same Peter Pan he wanted to make."

The role eventually went to funnyman Robin Williams.