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people who were almost iconic roles

blame space

blame space

Resettlement Advisor
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,420
you guys know a lot about movies and tv shows and casting and all that, i just wondered if you had any examples where iconic characters had other recognizable actors in the running for them? i'm sorry i can't provide a better starting point, but i know matthew broderick and john cusack were both considered for the role of walter white. they both passed, but it's fun to think about what could have been. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/breaking-bad-bryan-cranston-walter-white-amc-349840
 
Patryn

Patryn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,827
Dougray Scott was actually cast as Wolverine, but had to leave the role when MI2 needed more time for shooting.

Not sure if this counts, but the James Bond producers wanted Pierce Brosnan to be Bond in Living Daylights. However, when NBC heard this they chose to renew and not cancel Remington Steele, his series, so he couldn't take the role, thus allowing Timothy Dalton to take the role. Of course they eventually got Brosnan for Bond...
 
Era Uma Vez

Era Uma Vez

Member
Feb 5, 2020
3,208
Russel Crowe refused to play Aragorn on LOTR, iirc.
John Krasinski auditioned for Captain America.
Jack Nicholson turned now Michael Corleone, in the Godfather.
Also, I've always seen around on the internet that Henry Cavill was going for Pattison's role in the Twilight movies.
 
Rag

Rag

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,874
Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly is the first thing that popped into my head.
 
Elegant Weapon

Elegant Weapon

Member
Oct 31, 2017
6,747
GettyImages-499746751-897x1024.jpg

Glynn Truman was nearly Han Solo but then Lucas didn't want to deal with racists when Han & Leia got together
 
Tace

Tace

Avenger
Nov 1, 2017
35,505
The Rapscallion
There was a brief period of time where Tobey Maguire was fired after Spider-Man 1 and the studio was going to move forward with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Would've been interesting though I'm glad the Tobey situation worked out
 
ElectricBlanketFire

ElectricBlanketFire

What year is this?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,853
Actors considered to play Han Solo:

Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Robert Englund, Nick Nolte, Burt Reynolds, Chevy Chase, and Perry King (who later played Han Solo in the radio plays).
 
Fiction

Fiction

Fanthropologist
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,757
Elf Tower, New Mexico
Jared Padalecki was considered for the role of Captain America but passed on it. Even though I'm a fan of Supernatural he wouldn't have been that great at the role.

Jensen on the other hand...
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,085
Eddie Murphy was going to be in Ghostbusters as Winston and Winston was going to have a bigger role. But when he backed out they cut the role to the bare minium

Elegant Weapon said:
GettyImages-499746751-897x1024.jpg

Glynn Truman was nearly Han Solo but then Lucas didn't want to deal with racists when Han & Leia got together
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Tragic
 
OP
OP
blame space

blame space

Resettlement Advisor
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,420
dear god apparently playing han solo was equivalent to being actual jesus. i wonder how much he got (gets) for that role
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,138
the studio also really, really wanted Robert Redford to play Michael Corleone in The Godfather and Coppola had to fight tooth and nail to get them to accept Al Pacino. James Caan also auditioned for Michael. They really wanted a non-ethnic looking Michael.

Robert DeNiro also auditioned to play Sonny Corleone.

DiCaprio as Dirk in Boogie Nights is always an interesting one.

Also of course OJ Simpson over Arnold as the Terminator would have put us in a hell of a timeline.
 
mhayes86

mhayes86

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,248
Maryland
Came to say Sean Connery as Gandalf. I couldn't imagine him in place of Ian McKellen, but it's also sad that it's the reason he retired, if I recall.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,138
IIRC WB was really pushing Nolan to cast Ashton Kutcher or Josh Hartnett in Batman Begins. Cillian Murphy, who ended up being Scarecrow, was also considered and I believed finished runner up to Bale for the role.
 
Zombine

Zombine

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,231
Jaws was almost a dolphin instead of a shark but Spielberg was afraid of ruining the legacy of Flipper so he went with a great white instead.
 
Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
21,246
The original Captain Janeway was fired. Geneviève Bujold.

1zpf202l.jpg


Claire Danes was supposed to be in Titanic, but told her agent not to move forward with it.
Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones was offered the main 50 Shades role, but she got sick of nudity questions in GoT and turned it down.
John Travolta passed on Forest Gump.
 
excelsiorlef

excelsiorlef

Bad Praxis
Member
Oct 25, 2017
73,325
NinjaScooter said:
IIRC WB was really pushing Nolan to cast Ashton Kutcher or Josh Hartnett in Batman Begins. Cillian Murphy, who ended up being Scarecrow, was also considered and I believed finished runner up to Bale for the role.
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It's funny from that one clip.... I can already see where Murphy is approaching the character, a victim of trauma, driven by said trauma... would have been interesting
 
Tace

Tace

Avenger
Nov 1, 2017
35,505
The Rapscallion
Fiction said:
Jared Padalecki was considered for the role of Captain America but passed on it. Even though I'm a fan of Supernatural he wouldn't have been that great at the role.

Jensen on the other hand...
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I always heard it was Jensen who auditioned for Cap but they thought he would be a better Hawkeye. I'm sure he passed because of Supernatural, but he would've been a way better Hawkeye than Renner
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,138
Quentin Tarantino mentioned that he wrote the part of Jules in Pulp Fiction for Laurence Fishburne but Fishburne ultimately turned it down.
 
nachum00

nachum00

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,414
Just try to imagine a young Leo DiCaprio as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Sounds awful

Or Chevy Chase starring in American Beauty lol
 
Fiction

Fiction

Fanthropologist
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,757
Elf Tower, New Mexico
Tace said:
I always heard it was Jensen who auditioned for Cap but they thought he would be a better Hawkeye. I'm sure he passed because of Supernatural, but he would've been a way better Hawkeye than Renner
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Maybe I heard wrong. Jensen would completely kick ass at anything he does, he's such an underrated actor. I would have supported him in either role.
 
verygooster

verygooster

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,651
New Jersey
Patryn said:
Dougray Scott was actually cast as Wolverine, but had to leave the role when MI2 needed more time for shooting.

Not sure if this counts, but the James Bond producers wanted Pierce Brosnan to be Bond in Living Daylights. However, when NBC heard this they chose to renew and not cancel Remington Steele, his series, so he couldn't take the role, thus allowing Timothy Dalton to take the role. Of course they eventually got Brosnan for Bond...
Click to expand...
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And Sean Bean was their second choice for GoldenEye, but Brosnan got it, and of course Bean became 006.

Product placement variant: Mars, Inc. said no to M&Ms appearing in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, hence Reese's Pieces.
 
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