Actors that were supposed to be cast
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The_Herald_Erjen — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 01:44 AM)
I can think of a few.
Annette Benning was supposed to play Catwoman in "Batman Returns." She became pregnant and was replaced by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Steve McQueen replaced Sammy Davis Jr. in "Never So Few" because of a fallout between Sammy and Frank Sinatra after the election of President Kennedy.
Christopher Reeve's accident that paralyzed him prevented him from playing Alan Stewart in "Kidnapped" and he was replaced by Armand Assante.
The first choice to play the lead in "Fistful of Dollars" was Henry Fonda, but he cost too much money. The second choice was Charles Bronson who could not do it because he was making another film. Clint Eastwood was the third and final choice.
George Peppard backed out of playing the role of O'Brien in "Sands of Kalahari" and was replaced by Stuart Whitman.
Stuart Whitman also replaced Richard Burton in "The Mark" because Burton was playing onstage in Camelot and it went on longer than expected.
Jon Finch was chosen to play Kane in "Alien" but was replaced by John Hurt.
Harvey Keitel began filming "Apocalypse Now" but for some reason Coppola became dissatisfied with him and replaced him with Martin Sheen.
Elvis Presley's role in "King Creole" was originally intended for either James Dean or Ben Gazzara.
John Wayne was a replacement for Robert Mitchum in "Blood Alley."
Sylvester Stallone was supposed to play the lead in "Beverly Hills Cop" but he walked. It was supposed to be a serious action film. The part was offered to Eddie Murphy and he accepted it on the condition that it be changed to action/comedy instead of straight action.
Sterling Hayden was supposed to play Quint in "Jaws" but there were problems, and Robert Shaw replaced him.
Doris Day was intended to play Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate" but she did not want to disappoint her fans by playing such a sleazy character, and Anne Bancroft got the part.
Sean Connery walked away from the James Bond series and was replaced by George Lazenby for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." He gave the producer Albert R. Broccoli a lot of trouble, yet Broccoli was still willing to make another film with him. Lazenby walked away in a huff, and John Gavin was chosen to play James Bond in the next movie "Diamonds Are Forever." Then Sean Connery came back and replaced Gavin, after which he walked again and was replaced by Roger Moore.
Adolph Caesar died and was replaced by Eli Wallach in "Tough Guys."
Tyrone Power died and was replaced by Yul Brynner in "Solomon and Sheba."
Madonna was the first choice to play Helena in "Boxing Helena." She dropped out and Kim Bassinger replaced her. Bassinger dropped out and got sued for it. Sherilyn Fenn replaced Kim Bassinger.
"I hear no voice. The dead cannot speak." -
nitestocker372 — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 08:22 AM)
I remember back in the 90's, I had heard that Wesley Snipes was suppose to play Marvel's Black Panther.
My TV Shows:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls002467631 -
Jonesy_1 — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 09:36 AM)
Steve McQueen was the first actor approached by Steven Spielberg to play Roy Neary in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind but turned it down because he said he couldn't cry on cue. Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, and James Caan were all approached but turned the role down before it went to Richard Dreyfuss.
"Be safe, be happy, and don't let anyone make you afraid." David Coverdale -
srobertweiser — 9 years ago(January 26, 2017 12:26 PM)
I swear on my dear mother's grave that it's 100% true, I don't just make this stuff up for kicks.
Another one that sounds absolutely ridiculous but I hear is the honest-to-goodness truth: Eli Wallach was supposed to play the lead role in Risky Business but he got into a furious, knock down brawl with Joe Pantoliano and broke his hip, so he couldn't do that famous scene where he slides into the room in his underwear. -
tim-xy — 9 years ago(January 24, 2017 06:38 AM)
Peter O'Toole was supposed to play Doctor Zhivago. So was Michael Caine. Neither wanted the role. Alec Guinness did want it but was not cast. Omar Sharif wanted the role of Pasha and got Zhivago, much to his surprise.
Marlon Brando and Albert Finney were supposed to play T E Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. Neither wanted the part and Peter O'Toole got it. Another actor (I forget who) was cast as Ali, then a then internationally unknown Omar Sharif was brought in for another, much smaller part, and David Lean liked him so much and found that his English was good enough for a big part, so the other actor was bought off (supposedly for a sum several times the amount of what Sharif was paid for playing the part).
The Bond franchise:
David Niven is supposed to have declined the part of Bond before Connery got it.
Timothy Dalton was approached for On Her Majesty's Secret Servie and declined, apparently feeling he was too young.
Pierce Brosnan was supposed to do The Living Daylights (after Dalton declined because he was doing another film), then had to pull out because Remington Steele was renewed at the last minute and the Bond people decided to go with Dalton as soon as he was available. -
The Gryphon — 9 years ago(January 25, 2017 10:56 PM)
George Segal was supposed to star in "10" but ankled the production. Dudley Moore took the role instead.
Later, in some trivia section I read, Moore walked away from a production and Segal took his role. Sorry I can't remember that title.