The Lost Roles Of Chris Farley
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Chris Farley
MBC76 — 13 years ago(December 13, 2012 03:27 AM)
The Lost Roles of Chris Farley
by Bradford Evans | December 6th, 2012
Lost Roles is a weekly column exploring what might have been in movie and TV comedy as we take a different actor, writer, or comedian each week and examine the parts they turned down, wanted but didn't get, and the projects that fell apart altogether. This week, we turn our attention to Chris Farley, the beloved comedy actor who took Second City, Saturday Night Live, and the movie industry by storm before dying a tragic death at the hands of drugs at the age of 33 in 1997. Throughout his career, Farley was tied to some pretty big movie projects that he didn't get to follow through on, including starring in a sunnier version of The Cable Guy, portraying Ignatius J. Reilly in the "cursed" movie version of the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, and voicing the titular talking ogre in Shrek. It's heartbreaking that Chris Farley was taken from us when he was so young, but by examining the projects he was working on just prior to his death, we can get a feel for where his career might have taken him, had tragedy not struck.
The Cable Guy (1996)
The role: The Cable Guy
Who got it: Jim Carrey
Chris Farley had a two-picture deal with Paramount that was about to run out by the time Tommy Boy was released in 1995 and became a surprise hit. With the contract close to ending, it sent the studio scrambling to get him in another movie. Farley and his representatives had just sold The Cable Guy to another studio with him attached to the lead role, but the folks at Paramount rushed a script for Black Sheep, which would once again pair him with David Spade, into development in hopes of scoring another hit. The studio had a script written and put the movie together quickly, which made it so Farley would have to turn down The Cable Guy. Simultaneously, the Cable Guy script got sent to Jim Carrey who was on top of the world in 1995 with a recent string of hits under his belt leading the other studio to lose interest in Farley. Carrey, Ben Stiller, and Judd Apatow were brought on to work on The Cable Guy and turned it into a dark comedy, which is very different from what the Farley version would have been.
Kingpin (1996)
The role: Ishmael
Who got it: Randy Quaid
Doug Robinson, Chris Farley's agent, recalls in Tom Farley's biography The Chris Farley Show that Farley was being considered to play Ishmael the Amish kid in the Farrelly Brothers' bowling comedy Kingpin. Unfortunately, Farley's deal with Paramount and the resulting production of Black Sheep forced him away from this project too.
BASEketball (1998)
The role: Joe Cooper
Who got it: Trey Parker
Farley turned down the lead role in David Zucker's sports comedy BASEketball, according to Brian Cogan's book Deconstructing South Park. After Farley passed on the project, Zucker went to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, whose show South Park had just become a major hit. Parker and Stone asked that the script be rewritten to reflect their raunchier sensibilities and the duo had a lot of input on the movie's writing process, which made it very different from what the Chris Farley version of BASEketball would have been.
Shrek (2001)
The role: Shrek
Who got it: Mike Myers
Chris Farley was hired to voice the ogre Shrek in the childrens' movie of the same name in 1997. In The Chris Farley Show, Shrek writer Terry Rossio recalls, "For me, Chris's comedic person was key to the creation of the Shrek character a guy who rejected the world because the world rejected him." This early version of Shrek was much different from the one we know now. According to a Jim Hill Media piece, "It was about a teenage ogre who wasn't all that eager to go into the family business. You see, young Shrek didn't really want to frighten people. He longed to make friends, help people. This ogre actually drea1354med of becoming a knight." Everyone involved in the film speaks fondly Farley's recording sessions for Shrek, calling it one of his greatest performances. Rossio remembers, "The recording sessions were essentially everyone in the booth rolling off our chairs onto the floor, laughing our asses off." Director Andrew Adamson said about the sessions:
"It didn't make the final film, but at one stage there was a moment in the script where Shrek was walking along, singing 'Feeling Groovy,' Simon and Garfunkel's 'Fifty-ninth Street Bridge' song. Chris was just so into it. When we were recording, I kind of got the impression that he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be doing a comedic take on the song or a sincere, heartfelt one. He was singing and putting himself out there in a way that was very touching. It made me see the longing in him to do something more genuine with his career. It made me feel bad, because we were in fact asking for a 'funny' version. But that he was willing to give it to us, even though he was so vulnerable about it, made it a very sad and touching moment."
Chris Farley had finished 80-90% of his recording sessions at the -
jason-m-cook — 12 years ago(October 06, 2013 09:06 AM)
The Arbuckle role in particular would have been great for Farley: they resembled one another, they were both incredible at physical comedy, and I suspect Farley could have made it a strong dramatic turn. Arbuckle's name is often used as a cheap Hollywood punchline today by people who don't bother to find out who the real man was or the facts behind the Virginia Rappe tragedy. I wish Farley had been able to conquer his demons. He could have still been alive today, making more great comedies. Very sad.
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bj_arni — 12 years ago(January 20, 2014 05:42 PM)
Don't forget;
Lost & Found (1999)
The role: Wally
Who Got It: Artie Lange
Early in pre-production, Lost & Found was originally planned as the third Farley/Spade vehicle with the character of Wally being more prominent. Spade was still set to be the leading man with Farley as a strong supporting role, vice versa to what they did with Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. Farley died during very early pre-production and the script went through a couple of different drafts. Artie Lange who worked with Farley on Dirty Work took the role of Wally instead.
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giznad138 — 11 years ago(January 31, 2015 02:39 AM)
Since Shrek was almost finished, I really wish they'd go ahead and release that on DVD as is. Just call it, "Shrek: The Chris Farley Version" or something. I'm very curious about that one. I never cared much for the Shrek that we got because i was never a big fan of Mike Myers except for Wayne's World. I'm still saddened by Farley's death. Any time I saw him on SNL, he got me rolling. Those other films like Kingpin and Cable Guy, I just can't imagine Farley being in those. Strange how things work out some times.
Takin' out the trash, trailer park style!!