Role Reversal - Movie Casting That Could Have Been

[Ron Nastie]

This could be off topic-- but then again-- read who was up for the
film BATMAN----

Have you ever wanted to go back in time and right the wrongs of a
movie classic? Or do you cringe at the thought of your favourite film
being played by a totally different cast? If you were directing, what
changes would you have made? Here a list of movies that might have
turned out quite differently had the original stars that were cast for
the roles not passed on them: »

Charlie's Angels
Thandie Newton turned down the role played by Lucy Liu because she
wanted to work with her husband Oliver Parker on a low-budget British
film instead.

Lord Of The Rings
Matthew Newton was considered to play Frodo, but passed. The role was
snapped up by Elijah Wood. Daniel Day Lewis was offered several times
and turned down the role of Aragorn (Strider), which eventually went
to Viggo Mortensen. Kate Winslet was offered the role of Eowyn, played
in the final film by Miranda Otto. Sean Connery turned down the role
of Gandalf because he didn't want to film down in New Zealand for 18
months, and could not understand the novels. Sir Ian McKellen took
over.

Little Miss Sunshine
Bill Murray turned down Steve Carell's role, which reportedly became
one of the few choices in his career that he regretted.

The O.C. (TV)
Chad Michael Murray was originally up for the role of Ryan Atwood, but
turned it down for One Tree Hill.

Star Wars
Nick Nolte, along with Christopher Walken (second choice), were both
considered for the role of Han Solo. Al Pacino turned down the role,
as did Burt Reynolds. Harrison Ford took the part. Ryan Phillippe
turned down the role of Anakin Skywalker because of the age difference
between Natalie Portman and himself. Leonardo Di Caprio was also
considered. The role went to Hayden Christensen instead.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Nick Nolte turned down the role of Indiana Jones, which eventually
went to Harrison Ford. Steven Spielberg originally wanted Tom Selleck
to play Indy, but he was still under contract for Magnum, P.I.

Ghost
Buce Willis turned down the role of Sam Wheat in Ghost (the role
played by Patrick Swayze opposite Willis's now ex-wife Demi Moore)
"because he didn't think the plot would work and that playing a ghost
would be detrimental to his career". Ironically, he played a ghost in
The Sixth Sense. Molly Ringwald turned down Moore's role.

Speed
Halle Berry turned down the role of Annie, which was later picked up
by Sandra Bullock. Stephen Baldwin turned down the role of Jack -
which went to Keanu Reeves.

Saving Private Ryan
Edward Norton passed on Private Ryan. Matt Damon got the gig.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Julian Sands was novelist Anne Rice's choice to play Lestat, but
producers wanted a bigger box-office drawcard, hence Tom Cruise was
cast. Christian Slater won the role of the interviewer after the death
of friend and fellow actor River Phoenix, who had been cast in the
role. Kirsten Dunst beat out Christina Ricci for her role.

Shakespeare in Love
Kate Winslet turned down Gwyneth Paltrow's Oscar-winning role, as did
Julia Roberts.

Man On The Moon
Edward Norton was considered for the role of Andy Kaufman in Man on
the Moon. Director Milos Forman could not decide between him and Jim
Carrey and left the decision up to the studio. The studio decided to
go with Carrey.

The Blue Lagoon
Matt Dillon had been the original choice for the role of Richard, but
turned the role down because of the nudity. Christopher Atkins
dutifully obliged. Lori Loughlin had the lead role as Emmeline, but
turned it down. John Travolta's wife Kelly Preston was turned down for
the role of Emmeline. This was Preston's first film audition. It went
to Brooke Shields.

American Psycho
Producers wanted Edward Norton to play Patrick Bateman. Leonardo Di
Caprio
Was set to star, but had to drop it due to scheduling conflicts.
Christian Bale won the role.

The Passion of the Christ
Jason Patric turned down the role of Jesus in the Mel Gibson epic. Jim
Caviezel put his hand up.

Fatal Attraction
Miranda Richardson turned down the role, subsequently taken by Glenn
Close.

Minority Report
Samantha Morton was actually the third choice to play Agatha; Cate
Blanchett and Jenna Elfman both turned it down.

Carrie
Melanie Griffith auditioned for the title role that eventually went to
Sissy Spacek.

The Horse Whisperer
Natalie Portman turned down a role to act in The Diary of Anne Frank
on Broadway. The film gave Scarlett Johansson her start on the way to
superstardom.

Silence of the Lambs
Michelle Pfeiffer was offered the role of Clarice, which went to Jodie
Foster.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Michelle Pfeiffer turned down the role of the White Witch - she was
reportedly the only major Hollywood star to be offered the role. Tilda
Swinton took up the role.

The Patriot
Ryan Phillippe was considered for Heath Ledger's role.

Pretty Woman
Daryl Hannah turned down the role of Vivian because she felt it was
denigrating to women. She later appeared in Dancing at the Blue Iguana
as a stripper. Molly Ringwald also passed. Vivian's role was snapped
up by Julia Roberts and the rest is history. Al Pacino turned down
Richard Gere's role.

Lolita
This was a pretty volatile role, eventually falling into the path of
Dominque Swain. But not before Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina, The Teenage
Witch) auditioned, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Claire Danes were both
considered, Natalie Portman turned it down due to her feelings about
young adult actors/actresses being exposed to sex in films and
Christina Ricci Was turned down four times for the role.

Apollo 13
Brad Pitt turned down a role as an astronaut to accept his role in
Se7en. John Travolta passed too. John Cusack turned down Bill Paxton's
role.

Thelma & Louise
Brad Pitt was the third choice for J.D. in Thelma & Louise. William
Baldwin, the first choice, left to star in Backdraft. George Clooney
auditioned five times for Ridley Scott for Brad Pitt's role. Cher was
offered the part of Thelma (played by Susan Sarandon), while Melanie
Griffith turned down Geena Davis's role.

The Matrix
Brad Pitt was considered for the lead. Will Smith turned down the role
of Neo. Keanu Reeves did the honours. Chow Yun-Fat turned down the
role of Morpheus, later played by Laurence Fishburne. Sean Connery
turned down the role of the Architect in The Matrix Reloaded and The
Matrix Revolutions.

The Graduate
Robert Redford turned down the role of Ben Braddock because "he didn't
feel he could project the right amount of naivite". Dustin Hoffman
didn't have that problem.

The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola suggested Warren Beatty, Alain Delon and Burt
Reynolds to play the role of Michael Corleone (which went to Al
Pacino). Paramount production chief Robert Evans had suggested Robert
Redford at the time, becaude he could be perceived as "northern
Italian."

Romancing the Stone
Superman's Christopher Reeve turned down the role of Jack T. Colton,
which eventually went to Michael Douglas.

American Gigolo
Richard Gere had to settle for second best after Superman's
Christopher Reeve passed on the part. Or maybe thrid best, considering
John Travolta was offered the role too, but passed.

The Terminator
Director James Cameron orginally wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger for the
role of Kyle Reese, but when Arnie walked into the restaurant to meet
Cameron about the role, Cameron reportedly took one look at him and
said "You're a machine!" Famke Janssen was offered the lead role in
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but declined.

Die Hard
Bruce Willis made this movie his own. But not before Richard Gere, Sly
Stallone, Burt Reynolds and Arnold Schwarzenegger had all passed on
the role.

Wall Street
Richard Gere turned down the role of Gordon Gekko, as did Warren
Beatty. Gere has since said that was the role he regrets passing on
the most. Michael Douglas went on to star. Sean Connery turned down
the role of Simon Gruber in Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) "due to
the diabolical nature of the character".

X-Men
Can you imagine Mel Gibson as Wolverine instead of Hugh Jackman?
Someone thought it was a good idea at the time. Thankfully, Mel
passed. Russell Crowe, too was offered the part of Logan/Wolverine,
but he declined. Rachael LeighCook was considered for the role of
Rogue, but turned it down due to having work with CGI costumes and
effects. The role went to her co-star from She's All That, Anna
Paquin.

Girl, Interrupted
British actress Samantha Morton turned down the role of Lisa, which
later went to Angelina Jolie who went on to win the Oscar.

Spider-Man
Kate Hudson turned down the part of Peter Parker's girlfriend Mary
Jane Watson for the role of Ethne Eustace in The Four Feathers.
Kirsten Dunst stepped into the breach.

Romeo + Juliet
Natalie Portman was the first choice to play Juliet, but turned it
down because of the scenes and the age difference between her and
Leonardo DiCaprio. Jennifer Love Hewitt lost the role of Juliet to
Claire Danes because the director felt she wasn't "modern" enough.

Basic Instinct
Good on Sharon Stone for taking a role that nobody wanted (Meg Ryan,
Kelly Lynch, Kim Basinger, Melanie Griffith and Julia Roberts all
passed) and forging a career out of her infamous Britney Spears flash
scene.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Katie Holmes auditioned for the role as Buffy Summers, but she was too
young. Sarah Michelle Gellar took the role.

As Good As It Gets
Helen Hunt got the lead after Holly Hunter turned it down. Melanie
Griffith was unable to star because she was pregnant at the time.

Grease
Susan Dey (The Partridge Family, LA Law) turned down the role of Sandy
(won by Olivia Newton-John).

Batman
Tim Curry was director Tim Burton's second choice for the role of the
Joker (played by Jack Nicholson). Kim Basinger replaced Sean Young for
the role of Vicki Vale. Marlon Brando was considered by director Tim
Burton for the role of The Penguin in Batman Returns and Mel Gibson
had been considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the original
Tim Burton film.

[Flyswatter]

Wow, where do you find this stuff?

In Interview with the Vampire, I never liked Tom Cruise as Lestat--Julian Sands WOULD have been a hellova lot better. And Kristen Durst was too old for the role she played, but Christina Ricci, though an interesting choice, would have been WAY too old. The character as originally written was no more than five or six. But that would have been creepy to cast an age-appropriate character to what was already a disturbingly-squirmy-almost-pedophillic role.

I have one for you: They wanted to have Shirley Temple play Dorothy instead of Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.

--
--
Laura Ross

The Coffee And Tea Show podcast
http://coffeeandteashow.com
Listener hotline: 206-338-6194
coffeean...@gmail.com

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[FrodoBag...@aol.com]

LOL! This is all extremely interesting...Never heard the bit about Mattew Newton as Frodo...I know the role of Aragon initially went to Stuart Townshend, but he was simply too young for the role.

The make department, apparently, tried everything thing they could to age him convincingly, and he and Peter Jackson decided that it just wasn't going to work out, so he left the production. They'd already filmed for two months at that time...I think there was a major case of sour grapes left behind, there, tho, because Townshend has put out the story, or intimated, that he was fired because of creative differences between himself and PJ about the role, which PJ stressed was NOT true. Townshend's good luck, tho, that the very next film he went to work on he occasioned to meet the beautiful Charlize Theron who has been his lady love ever since.

 

The weird thing is everytime I have watched "Batman", in my mind's eye I have always seen Tim in the "Joker" role and often fantasized about how wonderful and right he would have been in it...

I saw him in the John Malkovich role as the Viscount in "Dangerous Liasons" opposite Glen Close, which would have been fascinating.

He would have been incredible since, apologies to those on the list who might like him, Malkovich has never been my cup of tea.

He has the most annoying voice ever in film, and he is so bland, something like Kevin Costner...LOL!

Well, enough babble my babies...best, Puck

---

See what's free at AOL.com.

[Ron Nastie]

So Frodo- you would have rather had instead of a film called " Being
John Malkovich " you would have preferred " Being Tim Curry"

hmmm I would have paid to see that!!

On Jun 14, 4:25 pm, FrodoBaggins4...@aol.com wrote:
> LOL! This is all extremely interesting...Never heard the bit about Mattew
> Newton as Frodo...

> The weird thing is everytime I have watched "Batman", in my mind's eye I have
> always seen Tim in the "Joker" role and often fantasized about how wonderful
> and right he would have been in it...
> I saw him in the John Malkovich role as the Viscount in "Dangerous Liasons"
> opposite Glen Close, which would have been fascinating.
> He would have been incredible since, apologies to those on the list who might
> like him, Malkovich has never been my cup of tea.
> He has the most annoying voice ever in film, and he is so bland, something
> like Kevin Costner...LOL!
> Well, enough babble my babies...best, Puck
>

> ************************************** See what's free athttp://www.aol.com.

[FrodoBag...@aol.com]

ROFLMAO! Yeah, Ron, I would gladly have paid to see that one as well, probably would have been a helluva lot more interesting and entertaining...but, no, I am just saying that the Viscount role is one Curry could have mopped the floor with. I would love to have seen those beautiful and baleful eyes of his sort of languidly making their way up and down Glen Close, not to mention the scenes with a very young Uma Thurman would have been a lot tastier...

 

Hey, You know what? There is a subject I have been meaning to bring up on here, and bringing this up may get me in a crap load of trouble, and if you guys would rather we drop it and simply not discuss it further, I understand completely...

I mean, honestly, in my heart of hearts, it really signifies not a damn thing because it really doesn't matter one way or another to me, but, here goes! 

Do you all reckon that Tim is straight or gay?

I know there was that whole "romance" thing with Annie Potts he was allegedly involved in back in the late '80's, and it was all very sweet. They even got written up in the tabloids there for a few months.  He is so secretive, so closed-mouthed about his personal life...and I know he feels it's nobody's business but his and the person he is seeing, which is true, but that has long intrigued me....

Some friends on the RHPS pen pal circuit that I used to write to ages ago, we all discussed that aspect of Tim quite a bit, and they were mostly convinced he is gay...I guess we'll never know for sure.... ;-) Luv, Puck...

[Flyswatter]

I guess I always assumed he was but it honestly has never crossed my mind that much.

[FrodoBag...@aol.com]

Thank you, Laura, because I always assumed he is gay as well.

 Puck