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Dick van Dyke doesn't regret turning down the lead role in the 1976 seminal horror film The Omen. Sure, there was a point when he did, but now, the 100-year-old entertainment staple is good with his decision.

That's what the Mary Poppins star revealed in his new book 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life, which we got the lowdown on thanks to the gang at The Hollywood Reporter. And cone we got past the alt-universe visions of a world in which Mary Poppins' own Bert gets tricked into raising the Antichrist (is that what the Emily Blunt movie is about? I didn't see it), Van Dyke's decision makes total sense. It is, aftre all, not a very optimistic script.

As THR notes, Van Dyke came "This close" to playing the role made famous by Gregory Peck in the original RIchard Donner Antichrist horror, and years later, regretted turning the script down. That probably has something to do with the fact that the film was the biggest box office success of that year, and went down in horror history as one of the greatest terror tales ever put to screen. But nearly a half-century after his initial refusal, Van Dyke is whistling a different (more traditionally upbeat) tune.

"[My wife] Arlene just looked up The Omen to fill me in on the details of the script I had blocked out," Van Dyke writes in his book, "A lightning rod impales a priest, a devil dog makes a nanny hang herself at a kid’s birthday party, somebody is decapitated and my would-have-been character tries to stab Damien in the skull on a church altar with some special knives. Call me a Goody Two-shoes, but I now stand by my original decision. At least that’s one regret I can cross off the list."

Goody or not, Mr. Van Dyke, your shoes are some of the most important in Hollywood, and we're just happy you're happy that they never led you astray. That said, you did do Diagnosis Murder, eventually, so even those life-affirming loafers got the chance to dance with the devil a couple times, if not directly.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's weekly explorations of the best opening moments of horror cinema in The Coldest Open, and then check out:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.