Casting choices that were almost different

[Ceremony]

I can't think of a snappy thread title, sorry. I was watching The Matrix for the first time in ages last night and did some reading afterwards. Some absolute belters in here.

The part of Neo was turned down by Will Smith (didn't understand the script), Nicolas Cage (family reasons) and Leonardo DiCaprio (special effects). Johnny Depp was the Wachowskis' first choice, and the screenplay was apparently also sent to Sandra Bullock. Samuel L. Jackson was considered for Morpheus. Janet Jackson was approached for Trinity.

If you can handle imagining The Matrix fronted by the Nic Cage Mace Windu and Michael Jackson's sister, are there any other notable examples of films that could have been this wildly different?

Click to read more...

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Daniel Day Lewis (and also Nic Cage lol) turned down Aragorn in LOTR. The part then went to Stuart Townsend who got fired a couple days in before it went to Viggo Mortensen

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Ethan Hawke turned down Independence Day.

And the infamous Eric Stoltz/Marty McFly casting

 

[x Tame Impala]

Not on topic but I think Daniel Day Lewis would have done a hilarious and awesome job as Kramer on Seinfeld.

 

[StreetHawk]

Dugay Scott for Wolverine. Think he would have been fine, but since I don't follow his career, wonder if he would have done the role as long as Jackman did. Serious commitment by Jackman who really inspired/changed how actors got ready for these superhero roles. When you compare the physiques of the guys who played Batman in the 90's.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

 

[Bocephus86]

OJ Simpson as the Terminator has to be up there.

"No one would believe he's a killer". Touche Mr. Cameron.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I feel like the biggest one, is Al Pacino turning down Lucas’ offer to play Han Solo.

Not sure Star Wars becomes a trilogy and iconic franchise that ensures to this day without Harrison Ford’s portrayal of Han.

I can’t see Pacino pulling off the wit and charm that Ford gave to Solo.

 

[alko]

Rambo

Brooks originally wanted to cast Bette Davis as a psychiatrist and either Burt Lancaster or Lee Marvin as Sheriff Teasle. When the project was purchased by Warner Bros., Robert De Niro and Clint Eastwood were each considered for the role of Rambo. Ritt intended to cast Robert Mitchum as Teasle and Paul Newman as Rambo. Pollack considered Steve McQueen but then rejected him because they considered him too old to play a Vietnam veteran from 1975. James Caan, Burt Reynolds and Robert Redford were also considered.

Rabe developed his screenplay with Al Pacino in mind for the role and had several conversations with the actor, who wanted to portray Rambo as a force of nature after seeing the film Jaws. However, Pacino decided not to be involved because he found the story too dark and also after his request that Rambo be a lunatic was dismissed by the producers. When Badham was considered as director he wanted to cast John Travolta as Rambo, George C. Scott as Trautman, and either Gene Hackman or Charles Durning as Teasle. Frankenheimer considered Powers Boothe, Michael Douglas, and Nick Nolte as Rambo before casting Brad Davis because of his role in Midnight Express. Dustin Hoffman was offered the role of Rambo but turned it down.

For the role of Sheriff Teasle, Kassar and Vajna approached Academy Award winners Hackman and Robert Duvall but both turned the part down. Marvin, another Oscar winner, turned down the part of Colonel Trautman. James Mason and Richard Jaeckel were also considered. Kirk Douglas was eventually hired, but just before shooting began, Douglas quit the role of Colonel Trautman over a script dispute; Douglas wanted to retain the novel's original ending of Rambo and Teasle fatally wounding each other, Trautman finishing Rambo with a kill shot, then sitting with the dying Teasle for the sheriff's final moments. Douglas also wanted Trautman to have more screentime. Rock Hudson was approached as a replacement but was soon to undergo heart surgery and had to pass up the chance to work with Stallone. Richard Crenna was quickly hired as a replacement; the role of Trautman became the veteran character actor's most famous role, a performance for which he received much critical praise.

Can you imagine Dustin Hoffman as a Rambo?

 

[Devilmademedoit]

This is one of those ones where you need to separate fact from fiction and try and the truth. Every actor or actress will tell you "I almost had this role or that role" because they auditioned for it and that is where a lot of the trouble starts and they can also be the worst people with memories of how things unfold. Unless there is video of the audition? I do not believe it. Many of the stories of "almost" casting comes from suits and ties trying to push their clients or someone who the thought would make it a blockbuster.

For Independence day Ethen Hawks was riding shotgun in car driving down the highway, reading the script and said this was bullshit and tossed the script out the window. The assumption he made and other people made was that it was the Will Smith role--back when it came Jerry B said they want him for the Jeff Goldbloom role not the Will Smith role

That said, here are a few

Recent one is Spielberg's Lincoln. Danial Day Lewis made the role his own. But up to about 6 months before they started filming, Liam Neeson had actually agreed to do the movie and reportedly had read every book on the subject. The movie had been in production hell for about 10 years. Then DDL got involved and the movie came out of production hell. Spielberg has said that there was something missing until DDL came in and another writer joined and then it all came together.

Hugh Grant was offered a chance to replace Charlie Sheen in two and half men. He names a price and they agreed--he then asked to see the script. There was none. The said sign the deal and we will figure things out. He said before he signed he wanted to see some scripts and there were none so he backed out

The Untouchables: Both De Palma and Bob Hoskins tell the same story. De Niro was always the first choice for the role but he turned it flat. So Hoskins got cast. Hoskins was signed. At the 11th hour, De Nino decides to do it. Hoskins is out and still get paid the money he had signed to do the movie. Hoskins great line after getting paid "Feel free to pay me for another movie you do not want me to be in"

Indiana Jones: Tom Selleck was supposed to do it but he had shot the pilot for Magnum PI and he was supposed to film it. There was a TV actors strike that shutdown the tv side of things. This was before union combined both sides because it was confusing. Selleck had signed on to Raiders of the lost ark. Due to it was movie contract and not a TV contract. HE could of done it. I believe it was around 1990 that the line was removed were TV and motion picture both fell under the same contract law. Of course we know who became Indiana Jones (fun fact Tom Selleck's agent was Betty McCatt who was Albert Ruddy's assistant/office manager during the shooting of the God Father--she was his agent from 1974 till her death in 2013)

The movie the Outsiders from 1983 is one of Francis Ford Coppola most underrated movies. Every actor under 22 auditioned for different roles(they are on youtube) Adam Baldwin was nearly cast Dallas in the movie but FCC started playing mix and matching of different young actors and when Matt Dillon read with Ralph Machio, Esteves and Cruise and he got the role.

Mark Hamill was in the pilot for Eight is Enough and was suppose to be the oldest son. He was offered Star Wars was about to turn it down when the suits decided he was not "big" enough for the oldest brother and hired Goodeve and that freed up Hamil.

Another FCC movie was Apocalypse now. One of the most trouble shoots of all time. Harvey Keitel filmed a few weeks on set before being replaces by Martin Sheen. Both FCC and Keitel's versions of events of why he got sacked. Both Keitel and Sheen are method actors, but Keitel sometimes took it to the extreme. Also, Keitel did 3 years in the Marines and used his experience serving in Lebanon and a few other places for his role--FCC did not like that. And according to Keitel? HE may have had a little problem with some white powder and was a very intense individual--nothing like the passive Sheen style.

a few years ago we finally got some photos of Keitel on the set as FCC reportedly burned all the film of Keitel

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Had he not died, Chris Farley was supposed to be the voice of Shrek instead of Mike Myers

 

[frisco]

Steve McQueen roles that were turned down:

• The Execution of Private Slovik - Martin Sheen​
• Ocean's Eleven - I'm not sure which role he was offered​
• Breakfast at Tiffany's - He was unable to accept due to contractual obligations to the series Wanted: Dead or Alive. George Peppard eventually got the role.​
• Marooned - Gregory Peck​
• King Rat - George Segal​
• Return of the Seven - Robert Fuller​
• The Kremlin Letter - Richard Boone​
• Ice Station Zebra - Rock Hudson​
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Robert Redford​
• Dirty Harry - Clint Eastwood​
• Play Misty for Me - Clint Eastwood​
• The French Connection - Gene Hackman​
• Fort Apache, The Bronx - Paul Newman​
• The Betsy - Robert Duvall​
• First Blood - Sylvester Stallone​
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Jack Nicholson​
• Apocalypse Now - Martin Sheen/Marlon Brando​
• Raid on Entebbe - Peter Finch​
• Raise the Titanic! - Jason Robards​
• A Bridge Too Far - Robert Redford​
• Grace Quigley - Nick Nolte​
• The Missouri Breaks - Jack Nicholson​
• The Towering Inferno II​
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Richard Dreyfus​
• The Driver - Ryan O'Neal​
• Convoy - Kris Kristofferson​

There a few more that were made after his death (The Bodyguard and Quigley Down Under) that were made with McQueen as the target for the lead role.

My Best-Carey

 

[Behn Wilson]

Michael Madsen was offered John Travolta's role in Pulp Fiction. He turned it down because he didnt want to be type cast as a psycho. Would have been a different movie if he were in it. I am guessing the dance scene was probably added specifically for Travolta once he signed on.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

One that seems wild now but actually makes a lot of sense when you stop to think is that Total Recall was originally intended for ... Richard Dreyfus. The original concept wasn't as action packed as it became with Arnold and having a less obvious more unassuming actor in the lead role really does make more sense in the sort of story of an everyman haunted by dreams of Mars and possibly a double life. Quaid originally was an office drone, not a construction worker.

Of course they end up going with Arnold and it becomes less thinky and more beefy and, frankly, COMPLETELY f***ING AWESOME.

 

[Devilmademedoit]

Steve McQueen roles that were turned down:

• The Execution of Private Slovik - Martin Sheen​
• Ocean's Eleven - I'm not sure which role he was offered​
• Breakfast at Tiffany's - He was unable to accept due to contractual obligations to the series Wanted: Dead or Alive. George Peppard eventually got the role.​
• Marooned - Gregory Peck​
• King Rat - George Segal​
• Return of the Seven - Robert Fuller​
• The Kremlin Letter - Richard Boone​
• Ice Station Zebra - Rock Hudson​
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Robert Redford​
• Dirty Harry - Clint Eastwood​
• Play Misty for Me - Clint Eastwood​
• The French Connection - Gene Hackman​
• Fort Apache, The Bronx - Paul Newman​
• The Betsy - Robert Duvall​
• First Blood - Sylvester Stallone​
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Jack Nicholson​
• Apocalypse Now - Martin Sheen/Marlon Brando​
• Raid on Entebbe - Peter Finch​
• Raise the Titanic! - Jason Robards​
• A Bridge Too Far - Robert Redford​
• Grace Quigley - Nick Nolte​
• The Missouri Breaks - Jack Nicholson​
• The Towering Inferno II​
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Richard Dreyfus​
• The Driver - Ryan O'Neal​
• Convoy - Kris Kristofferson​

There a few more that were made after his death (The Bodyguard and Quigley Down Under) that were made with McQueen as the target for the lead role.

My Best-Carey

The fun part of that list is that the mist of time has fogged some peoples memories. Dirty Harry was written with John Wayne in mind and he was the first to turn it down. With roles McQueen turned down it comes, it comes down to which autobiography you read or who is telling the story. I read a few books on him and the story I believe is that Dirty Harry might might have been in a pile of about 10+ scripts that had him playing an outlaw cop and he did not care about any of them. He picked them all up and tossed them in the garbage dumpster outside his office. But Robert Evens, who had a love hate relationship with McQueen gave the best example of how stories get blown out of proportion. He said something like "Starting in 68, no matter what the script was, McQueen was sent it. Every kind of script was sent to him. That is how hot he was. no one was hotter than him"

Had he not died, Chris Farley was supposed to be the voice of Shrek instead of Mike Myers

He had completed the first round of voice overs for Shrek

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Michael Madsen was offered John Travolta's role in Pulp Fiction. He turned it down because he didnt want to be type cast as a psycho. Would have been a different movie if he were in it. I am guessing the dance scene was probably added specifically for Travolta once he signed on.

Didn’t he cut off a guys ear in Reservoir Dogs?

 

[Behn Wilson]

Didn’t he cut off a guys ear in Reservoir Dogs?

Yep while dancing with an evil grin to the song Stuck In The Middle With You. Cant ever hear that song without thinking of that scene,

Fun fact is that Madsens character in Kill Bill Part 2 was wrtiten by Tarentino as the storyline brother of Travoltas Pulp Fiction character, the Vega brothers.

 

[archangel2]

From Tv. The West wing. The script was sent to several actors. Originally POTUS was supposed to be sub character that would appear in maybe 1/2 the episodes. Alan Alda, but he was focusing on movies, Sydney Pottier, but when they saw how much he wanted per episode--they figure it was his way of saying no.

With McQueen, the problem with "parts" he turned down, people often get confused with scripts he was sent with scripts he either read or was aware of. There is a famous story of when they entered the office he had on one of the lots after he died and it was full of scripts a that had been dropped off over a 5 to 10 year period. All scripts were still bound (meaning never opened). They figure he had not been in that office for about 4 years but the runners(the guys who dropped off the scripts) continued to follow orders regardless if there as anyone in the office.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Yep while dancing with an evil grin to the song Stuck In The Middle With You. Cant ever hear that song without thinking of that scene,

Fun fact is that Madsens character in Kill Bill Part 2 was wrtiten by Tarentino as the storyline brother of Travoltas Pulp Fiction character, the Vega brothers.

Yep - every time I hear that song I think about the cop (?) getting his ear sawed off.

I saw that scene as a young teen and it really got to me - I hadn’t watch many movies with that kind of graphic violence at the time - maybe Die Hard was the most violent to that point when my buddy and I snuck in to see it.

 

[archangel2]

years ago a top LA casting director ran a website where she listed all the actors/actresses that she had auditioned and for what roles. After she passed away it was taken off line

 

[frisco]

The McQueen list is pretty accurate and from multiple sources. Most of the things on the list that were made were done with "lesser" stars of the era, which makes sense from the perspective that McQueen would have been offered and passed. From 1966-74, he was probably the most bankable star out there so obviously he's turning down a lot of stuff and he can't do everything.

After Bullitt in 1968, the concept of a cool, hip, anti-hero cop was established and started practically a new genre of film with the Dirty Harry franchise the biggest example. McQueen was the first obvious choice in this type of film but it didn't make sense to McQueen to do the same file over and over (obviously Eastwood didn't have the same reservations!).

For a variety of personal and professional reasons, kind of at the height of his popularity, McQueen basically went into a reclusive period from 74-79 when he didn't do any films. He was charging outrageous amounts to even read scripts. But there were many roles he was first choice in particularly Apocalypse Now (first the Sheen and then Brando roles) and Close Encounters.

My Best-Carey

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Didn't Sean Connery turn down Gandalf?

 

[Devilmademedoit]

Didn't Sean Connery turn down Gandalf?

Reportedly did not understand the plot. But there was never any actually comment from Connery on the subject

 

[Behn Wilson]

Reportedly did not understand the plot. But there was never any actually comment from Connery on the subject

I thought I saw an interview where he talked about this. He said that he didnt understand it but after it took him he accepted League of Extraordinary Gentleman which he also didnt understand but thought it might also turn to a big hit, sadly that was not the case

 

[Unholy Diver]

One that seems wild now but actually makes a lot of sense when you stop to think is that Total Recall was originally intended for ... Richard Dreyfus. The original concept wasn't as action packed as it became with Arnold and having a less obvious more unassuming actor in the lead role really does make more sense in the sort of story of an everyman haunted by dreams of Mars and possibly a double life. Quaid originally was an office drone, not a construction worker.

Of course they end up going with Arnold and it becomes less thinky and more beefy and, frankly, COMPLETELY f***ING AWESOME.

Dreyfus and the three-boobed lady was a huge missed opportunity