Due to the "what if" part of the above I recently found the below information about 10 actors who almost played the lead parts in some of the biggest movies we've had in the past few decades. Use those old gray cells to conjure up in your mind just what these films would have been like should these original choices actually got the parts... WEIRD.
#10 Will Smith (Neo In The Matrix) - Will Smith passed on the role of Neo saying that The Matrix was a "difficult concept to pitch." Then the Fresh Prince added a little insult to injury and decided to star in I, Robot instead.
#9 Jim Carrey (Dr. Evil In Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery) - According to IMDB, Carrey was originally cast as Dr. Evil but had to leave the film because of a scheduling conflict with Liar Liar.
#8 Kevin Costner (Bill In Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2) - K-Cos supposedly turned down the role of Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 opting to direct Open Range instead. I think we should all take the time to write Kevin a letter and personally thank him for making such a horrible career decision.
#7 Sean Connery (Gandalf In The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy) - Connery reportedly turned down the role of Gandalf due to the rigorous 18-month filming schedule. Connery and his mentally challenged agent also turned down the role of Morpheus in The Matrix.
#6 Robert DeNiro (Josh Baskin In Big) - Penny Marshall originally offered the lead role in Big to DeNiro instead of Tom Hanks. Poor Bobby was rejected because his six million dollar salary demand was too high and the world was spared from ever having to see DeNiro and Robert Loggia dance on a giant piano together.
#5 Jean Claude Van Damme (Predator In Predator) - JCVD was originally cast as the Predator creature. Once the director compared him to Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Jessie Ventura it became apparent that a "taller" man was needed to make the creature appear more threatening. Van Damme also allegedly complained on numerous occasions that he would not appear on camera without the suit in the film.
#4 Nick Nolte (Han Solo In The Star Wars Trilogy) - Nolte was one of four finalists (Christopher Walken, Burt Reynolds and Harrison Ford were the others) for the role of Han Solo and he apparently lost the role at the last minute. Thankfully Harrison Ford was offered the part instead and Nolte went on to do 48 Hours.
#3 Tom Selleck (Indiana Jones In Raiders Of The Lost Ark) - Selleck was originally cast as Indiana Jones, but was unable to take the role because he already committed to Magnum P.I. Selleck eventually did an episode that parodied Raiders of the Lost Ark complete with hat, whip and booby traps.
#2 Bill Murray (Bruce Wayne In Batman) - Murray was one of the front runners to play the Caped Crusader when the studio originally wanted to create a big screen replica of the 1960s TV version starring Adam West. Bill was eventually removed from consideration once director Tim Burton took the helm of the movie and brought Beetlejuice with him.
#1 OJ Simpson (The Terminator) - "The Juice" was originally considered for the role of the Terminator, but James Cameron and the producers finally decided that Simpson was "too nice" to be taken seriously as a cold-blooded killer. I think they call that irony.
2 comments:
Open Range is the best western of the last decade (it may contain the best old-west shoot-out of all time. It was quite profitable and earned Costner some of the best notices (as actor and director) of his career. On the other hand, David Caradine went on to... well, you know.
Hey Scott, first of all I'd better specify that I didn't write any of that article, it was all taken directly off of Manofest.com, so the views aren't mine. Second of all I think the Costner comment meant that he was dumb to turn down Kill Bill, which was better for us as David Carradine rocked the role. I don't think it was an attack on Open Range.
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