Mike Myers married an axe-murdering Schwarzenegger?
Well, it would have made the movie a lot better.
Casting/recasting that helped "shape" the movie world.
- Thread starter Aragorn
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Well, it would have made the movie a lot better.
Other almost-casting or first choice casting:
Stephen Baldwin and Halle Berry in the Keanu/ Sandra roles in Speed;
Mel Gibson or Don Johnson ahead of Costner in The Untouchables
Harrison Ford in the Bob Hoskins role in Jessica Rabbit (might have been interesting to see the 'tec as a more Bogart-esque or even Mike Hammer type, but I think Hoskins suited the part better)
Warren Beatty as Bill in Kill Bill, Nixon in Nixon or Paul Sheldon in Misery
James Caan in either One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Kramer vs Kramer (offered both, turned 'em down, did the likes of Rollerball instead. Nice one Jimmy)
Liam Neeson seems to have made something of a career of doing roles other actors have passed on or been passed over for. The studio wanted Mel Gibson or Kevin Costner for Schindler, but Spielberg felt that a big name would take away from Schindler the man. His role in Batman Begins was offered to Viggo Mortensen and Daniel Day-Lewis before Neeson. Sean Connery, then Brian Cox were named to voice Aslan before him. And Kevin Costner was developing a rival project about Michael Collins, before Neeson's version with Neil Jordan was made. OTOH, Neeson priced himself out of the role of the feckless Dad in Angela's Ashes and turned down the Bond role vacated by Timothy Dalton (I always thought he was an odd choice, but after Daniel Craig's take on 007 and Neeson's belated action hero in Taken, I think he would have been good).
Stephen Baldwin and Halle Berry in the Keanu/ Sandra roles in Speed;
Mel Gibson or Don Johnson ahead of Costner in The Untouchables
Harrison Ford in the Bob Hoskins role in Jessica Rabbit (might have been interesting to see the 'tec as a more Bogart-esque or even Mike Hammer type, but I think Hoskins suited the part better)
Warren Beatty as Bill in Kill Bill, Nixon in Nixon or Paul Sheldon in Misery
James Caan in either One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Kramer vs Kramer (offered both, turned 'em down, did the likes of Rollerball instead. Nice one Jimmy)
Liam Neeson seems to have made something of a career of doing roles other actors have passed on or been passed over for. The studio wanted Mel Gibson or Kevin Costner for Schindler, but Spielberg felt that a big name would take away from Schindler the man. His role in Batman Begins was offered to Viggo Mortensen and Daniel Day-Lewis before Neeson. Sean Connery, then Brian Cox were named to voice Aslan before him. And Kevin Costner was developing a rival project about Michael Collins, before Neeson's version with Neil Jordan was made. OTOH, Neeson priced himself out of the role of the feckless Dad in Angela's Ashes and turned down the Bond role vacated by Timothy Dalton (I always thought he was an odd choice, but after Daniel Craig's take on 007 and Neeson's belated action hero in Taken, I think he would have been good).
I remember reading that the title role in Patton was shopped to John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, and Rod Steiger, before they finally cast George C. Scott.
Ralph Macchio was offered the role of Marty McFly in Back to the Future. He inferred that the script revolved around plutonium pills and didn't understand that the DeLorean was an actual time machine.
On the TV front, the character of Xena was started out as just another villain-of-the-week on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Lucy Lawless got the part after the actress originally cast became ill and had to bow out.
Also, Renee O'Connor wasn't the first pick for Gabrielle. The first choice turned down Xena: Warrior Princess because filming started in January, and she didn't want to be out of pocket in New Zealand during prime TV pilot season in the U.S.
For the movie Apollo 13, Jim Lovell thought Kevin Costner most resembled him in his astronaut days. However, director Ron Howard knew that Tom Hanks was a space program enthusiast and gave him the part. (I just saw an old photo of Lovell from that period, and he really did look like Costner.)
Also, Renee O'Connor wasn't the first pick for Gabrielle. The first choice turned down Xena: Warrior Princess because filming started in January, and she didn't want to be out of pocket in New Zealand during prime TV pilot season in the U.S.
For the movie Apollo 13, Jim Lovell thought Kevin Costner most resembled him in his astronaut days. However, director Ron Howard knew that Tom Hanks was a space program enthusiast and gave him the part. (I just saw an old photo of Lovell from that period, and he really did look like Costner.)
That actress was Vanessa Angel.
And Lawless had played a different role in the show just three episodes earlier, making it very unusual to bring her back right away as a different character. Although that character, Lyla, was already the second character she'd played in Hercules.
This site is a gold mine of such trivia. 
That was where I learned (among a host of hilarious, bizarre and hilariously bizarre casting possibilities) that Robert Wise wanted Spencer Tracy to play Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (original version, obviously), but he turned it down "because he didn't want to play second fiddle to a giant robot".
As great as Tracy was, him in that role would have been...weird.
I reckon, though, that Lucille Ball as Scarlett O'Hara would have made Gone With the Wind almost watchable.
That was where I learned (among a host of hilarious, bizarre and hilariously bizarre casting possibilities) that Robert Wise wanted Spencer Tracy to play Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (original version, obviously), but he turned it down "because he didn't want to play second fiddle to a giant robot".
As great as Tracy was, him in that role would have been...weird.I reckon, though, that Lucille Ball as Scarlett O'Hara would have made Gone With the Wind almost watchable.
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^ The other thing about the Untouchables is that Bob Hoskins was originally cast as Capone and shot some footage before DePalma decided that he wasn't happy with his performance and replaced him with DeNiro.
Timothy Dalton was originally offered the role of James Bond in 1968, but turned it down as he felt he was too young at the time (he was 22). Given that his interpretation was (for my money, anyway) the closest to Fleming's, and that On Her Majesty's Secret Service hewed most closely to the source novel, it would have interesting to see the result (although OHMSS is my favorite as is).
It's also interesting to speculate how long he would have stayed in the role then, whether the films would have ever taken the lighter direction they did during Roger Moore's tenure, and if his casting would have led to future incarnations of Bond also being in their 20's when cast.
It's also interesting to speculate how long he would have stayed in the role then, whether the films would have ever taken the lighter direction they did during Roger Moore's tenure, and if his casting would have led to future incarnations of Bond also being in their 20's when cast.
IIRC, Cyclops' death in X-Men: The Last Stand had less to do with the studio disliking Marsden and more to do with Marsden having a scheduling conflict with Superman Returns. Also, IIRC, Famke Janssen was originally supposed to play Miss Kitty in Superman Returns but couldn't because of her obligations to X-Men: The Last Stand, so Singer replaced her with Parker Posey.
Which caused further ripples with the film when they had to recast Marty McFly's girlfriend because the women on the crew objected to Marty having a girlfriend who was taller than him.
Also, had Michael J. Fox been cast as Marty to begin with, Biff probably would have been played by J.J. Cohen. He was a suitable bully for Fox but looked too short and unimposing next to Eric Stoltz. So when Stoltz got the role of Marty, the role of Biff went to the much taller Thomas F. Wilson. Meanwhile, J.J. Cohen got the consolation prize of playing one of Biff's goons.
And had Hoffman not been busy shooting The Graduate, Mel Brooks would have cast him as the deranged Nazi playwright in The Producers.
According to some documentary I once saw, damn near every one of Bogey's famous roles was one that had been turned down by George Raft or Edward G. Robinson.
Maybe Ford thought it would be too much like a comedy version of his role in Blade Runner.
That would have been weird, particularly if it had been Connery. I'd keep wondering if Aslan was some distant cousin of Draco from Dragonheart.
I reckon, though, that Lucille Ball as Scarlett O'Hara would have made Gone With the Wind almost watchable.
That could have, conceivably, totally changed the landscape of entertainment today. If Lucille Ball had landed such a plum dramatic movie role, her career could have gone along a very different path. I Love Lucy might never have been made. And when you consider how integral I Love Lucy was to the early years of television, you gotta wonder just how anything would have turned out.
How would Star Trek have fared if they had stuck with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike rather than replacing him with Captain Kirk (who would have originally been played by Jack Lord but he & the producers couldn't agree to a financial deal)? Would Pike & Spock have eventually found their rhythm the way that Kirk & Spock did or would the show have died a quick death? How would future revivals have been affected by Hunter's death in 1969?
Would Daredevil still have such a bad rep if Colin Farrell had played Daredevil while Ben Affleck had been Bullseye? Would Affleck & Jennifer Garner still gotten married?
What would have occupied the tabloid headlines for the last 5 years had Brad Pitt's Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star been Nicole Kidman and not Angelina Jolie?
Instead of Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, & Ernie Hudson; Ghostbusters could have starred John Belushi, Julia Roberts, John Candy, & Eddie Murphy. John Belushi died. A not-yet-famous Julia Roberts lost out to the more bankable Sigourney Weaver. John Candy said he would only play Louis if he got to do it with a German accent. And, I think, Eddie Murphy wanted too much money.
Cinema was nearly deprived of one of its great icons when you consider that the T-800 in The Terminator was originally going to be played by Lance Henriksen. And Arnold Schwarzenegger's agent wanted him to play Kyle Reese instead.
My recollection matches yours.
What?? Why would women object to that? On the other hand, I really liked Claudia Wells in BTTF (and regretted it when they replaced her with Elisabeth Shue).
Would there even have been a Star Trek without Desilu?
Should we care?
Same question.
Maybe never quite as pivotal but no Desilu and probably no Mission: Impossible (the two series were sold to the networks at the same by Herb Solow) and were in production as Desilu at the same time (later joined by Mannix)
Let's not forget that I Love Lucy is what gave us the 3 camera filming set-up credited to Desi Arnaz
IIRC, that's because Claudia Wells quit acting between 1 and 2&3
I think Brad Pitt would have done an interesting job, but I do like the idea of somebody who's not a major name getting the role (actually, I can only think of two roles Billy Crudup had and, for the second one, I had to look up who he was before I remembered he was in Almost Famous).
For another tv one, Michael Keaton was originally going to play Jack Shepherd on Lost, but they were also going to kill him off in the first episode.
^ Billy Crudup was invited to audition for the DeCaprio role in Titanic, but turned it down.
I heard about Keaton as Jack - might have been interesting but killing Jack off in the first season would have made for a very different show.
Speaking of Keaton, IIRC Bill Murray was also among the wishlist of names that Tim Burton had to play Batman in 1989.
I heard about Keaton as Jack - might have been interesting but killing Jack off in the first season would have made for a very different show.
Speaking of Keaton, IIRC Bill Murray was also among the wishlist of names that Tim Burton had to play Batman in 1989.
