No one likes getting fired, but sometimes it can be a good thing. From a comedy queen's
Oscar-nominated dramatic turn to an "SNL" star's breakout role as a wise-cracking cop,
these last-minute actor replacements turned out to be the right choice.
The 2007 drama "There Will Be Blood" was widely acclaimed upon its release,
and went on to earn Daniel Day-Lewis an Academy Award for Best Actor. But did you know that
the other lead character was originally played by someone other than Paul Dano?
"Draaaaaaainage Eli you boy."
That's right, the part of the charismatic preacher Eli Sunday was first assigned to
actor and director Kel O'Neill. But after a month of shooting,
director Paul Thomas Anderson decided that O'Neill just wasn't right for the part.
After O'Neill was let go, Anderson didn't have to look far to find a replacement. Paul
Dano had already been cast in the film with a smaller part as Eli's brother, Paul Sunday.
Anderson was so impressed by Dano that he decided to make the Sunday brothers twins.
This way Dano could play both parts. Dano did an impressive job with the last-minute change.
The actor took only four days to prepare for the new role, which he knocked out of the park.
As director Sam Taylor-Johnson was preparing to adapt E. L. James' best-selling erotic drama,
"50 Shades of Grey," she found that casting the perfect pair of actors to be her leads
was no easy task. Before eventually deciding on Dakota Johnson for the part of Anastasia Steele,
Taylor-Johnson auditioned a number of other prominent actors in the role. She even offered
the part to "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke, who turned it down due to the nudity required.
For the role of 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey, a number of Hollywood's leading men were
considered or even offered the part, including Robert Pattinson and Ryan Gosling. In September
2013, it was announced that Charlie Hunnam had been chosen for the part of Christian.
"You know, it was a big commitment and I wanted to make sure that he,
you know, that bringing him to life felt right and felt like it was in my bones."
Then, less than a month before filming started, Hunnam was forced to drop out of
the movie due to scheduling conflicts with his popular television series "Sons of Anarchy."
As a result, the film's producers held another lightning-fast round of auditions for the part,
with Jamie Dornan eventually coming out on top.
After achieving major box-office success with "Fight Club" in 2000, director David Fincher
turned to his next project, the 2002 thriller "Panic Room." The movie focuses on a mother
and daughter who must retreat to a safe room in their new home after it is invaded by burglars.
Fincher knew that finding the right actors would be crucial to the success of his movie. However,
none of Fincher's original casting choices ever made it into the film.
At first, Nicole Kidman and Hayden Panettiere had been cast as the mother and daughter,
but Panettiere dropped out of the project before filming got underway.
She was replaced by Kristen Stewart in what was her first starring role.
Filming for "Panic Room" began in January 2001, but Kidman didn't last long. Just two
weeks after principal photography began, Kidman was hurt on the set,
aggravating an old knee injury she sustained while filming "Moulin Rouge". Kidman subsequently left
the film to recover, so Fincher had to scramble to find her replacement.
Meanwhile, actor and director Jodie Foster had to shut down the production on her own movie,
"Flora Plum," after its star Russell Crowe was also injured. With her schedule suddenly open,
Foster was tapped to take on Kidman's role in "Panic Room."
Since Kidman and Crowe had already been good friends for a long time,
the weirdness of the situation wasn't lost on Foster. She told FilmInk magazine:
"I remember emailing Russell saying, 'I'm doing Nicole's movie — how ironic is that?'"
When director Steven Spielberg was first preparing to make "Indiana Jones and
the Raiders of the Lost Ark," his friend George Lucas, who co-wrote the screenplay,
was against the idea of casting Harrison Ford as the lead. At that point,
Ford had already starred in three of Lucas' other films, including the first two "Star
Wars" movies, so Lucas had concerns about working too often with the same actor.
Instead of Ford, Spielberg and Lucas initially cast Tom Selleck
as Indy. Selleck did a screen test for the part,
and later explained to Rachael Ray that he didn't turn down the role, as some may believe.
"I didn't turn it down. I earned the part."
When Spielberg and Lucas offered him the part, Selleck was under contract with CBS,
having just completed the pilot for "Magnum P.I." Spielberg and Lucas attempted to negotiate with
the network to "borrow" Selleck for their movie, but CBS wouldn't budge.
"And I said, well, what are we going to do now? And Steve said, 'What about Harrison?'"
So, with less than three weeks before filming began, Lucas gave in and allowed Spielberg to
cast Ford. The part would go on to become one of the actor's most iconic roles.
In 1992, Michelle Pfeiffer made waves when she gave a provocative performance
as Catwoman in "Batman Returns." However, the part was originally meant for someone else.
Director Tim Burton had cast four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening as Catwoman — a
decision that left Pfeiffer heartbroken. She would later explain to The Hollywood Reporter:
"As a young girl, I was completely obsessed with Catwoman. When I heard
that Tim was making the film and Catwoman had already been cast, I was devastated."
However, Pfeiffer got a chance to make her childhood dream come true when Bening became
pregnant and was forced to drop out of the film. Burton recast her in the role, and Pfeiffer threw
herself into kickboxing and whip training in order to give a convincing performance. And
unlike Halle Berry's take on the part in 2004's "Catwoman," Pfeiffer earned acclaim for the role.
When "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson was getting ready to make the 2009 supernatural
drama "The Lovely Bones," he initially cast Ryan Gosling in the leading male role. Gosling was
to play grieving father Jack Salmon, who becomes obsessed with finding the person
responsible for his teenage daughter's murder. Shortly before filming started,
Gosling unexpectedly announced his departure from the film. At the time,
the actor told Parade he left the film because he had concerns about playing an
older character. However, the truth is that Peter Jackson actually fired Gosling from the movie.
Apparently, Ryan Gosling showed up on set sporting a scraggly beard and having gained
60 pounds — a physical transformation that the actor hadn't discussed with the director.
"And I showed up and they said, 'You look terrible.' And I said,
'I know. Isn't it great?' 'No. It's not.'"
Although Gosling was supposed to be playing a severely depressed man,
Jackson fired him for the unplanned weight gain. He was replaced by Mark Wahlberg, who was given
the part just one day before filming began. If we told you that Jean-Claude Van Damme had
originally been cast in 1987's "Predator," you might imagine him playing Arnold Schwarzenegger
role as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer. However, Van Damme was supposed to play the Predator creature.
At that time, the Predator was supposed to have a much different fighting style — one that would
make use of Van Damme's martial arts skills. What's more, the original Predator costume
designed for Van Damme had backward-bending reptile legs and a protruding head.
Van Damme, who was not yet a star, didn't understand that he was essentially to be
a stuntman for the duration of the film. He had thought that audiences would get to
see his face and that he'd be able to fight Schwarzenegger in some hand-to-hand combat
scenes. So when Van Damme found out that this wouldn't be the case, he was angry.
In the documentary "If It Bleeds We Can Kill It: The Making of 'Predator,'" it was also
reported that Van Damme had passed out while filming jungle scenes in the hot creature suit.
"And he was like, "I hate this head. I hate it. I hate, hate, hate it."
Eventually, director John McTiernan scrapped all of the original plans for the Predator — including
Van Damme's casting. He was replaced by the seven foot two inch tall actor Kevin Peter
Hall. The costume was also redesigned into the iconic Predator that we know today.
For Ang Lee's acclaimed 2012 survival drama "Life of Pi," the director originally intended to use a
cast that was full of unknown actors. The sole exception to this was Tobey Maguire, who was
tapped to play Yann Martel, the Canadian author who wrote the novel Lee's film was based on.
Maguire arrived on the set and had actually filmed all of his scenes. But for Lee,
the actor was just too recognizable and stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the
cast. So the director ultimately cut Maguire from the movie, explaining to The Hollywood Reporter,
"To be consistent with the other casting choices made for the film,
I decided to go with an entirely international cast."
He re-shot all of Maguire's scenes with Rafe Spall, who got a chance to share in
"Life of Pi's" glory when it received eleven Academy Award nominations and four wins.
When director Baz Luhrmann took on the artistic challenge of modernizing
Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" for the grunge-listening youth of the '90s,
he understood the importance of selecting the right actors for the leading roles.
Hot off his Oscar nomination for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," the young and charming
Leonardo DiCaprio was an obvious choice for the love-struck Romeo. His Juliet, on the other hand,
was a more difficult find. Although we now know the role eventually went to "My
So-Called Life" star Claire Danes, she wasn't the first or even second choice for the part.
Originally, Luhrmann had cast then-14-year-old Natalie Portman. The age was fitting
for the original character, but when a 21-year-old DiCaprio came into the picture,
the problematic age gap quickly became apparent. Portman told The New York Times in 1996:
"Fox said it looked like Leonardo DiCaprio was molesting me when we kissed."
Luhrmann agreed, saying in a 2022 interview with The New York Times,
"She was 14. And when you see Leo in the flesh, he's a tall,
young man and you just realized, she was too young. Natalie was amazing in the footage,
but it was too much of a burden for her at that age."
Luhrmann went through several more months of auditions before finding
Danes. Although DiCaprio still had some years on the 17-year-old actor,
he spoke glowingly of his "Romeo + Juliet" co-star, telling The New Yorker,
"She was the only girl that looked me in the eye in auditions."
"I was always so happy when I finished doing the love scenes
in 'Romeo and Juliet.' By the end of the day I was just like, 'All is good.'"
After her breakout role as Dorothy Gale in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz," Judy Garland starred in some
of Hollywood's biggest pictures. As a result, her career reached soaring heights. However,
by the end of the 1940s, Garland's worsening mental health and dependence on various
substances took a heavy toll on her career. Time away from sets and unpredictable behavior resulted
in Garland being fired on multiple occasions, from films such as "The Barkleys of Broadway,"
"Annie Get Your Gun," and "Royal Wedding." Garland was replaced in another movie after
these instances. This time, however, there was much more publicity surrounding the incident.
In 1967, Garland was cast as Helen Lawson in "Valley of the Dolls," an
ironically fitting story about women's struggles with the destructive facets
of fame. She got as far as recording the movie's original song "I'll Plant My Own
Tree" before being fired a week into filming for being under the influence.
However, Garland's brief co-star Patty Duke had a different recollection of events. Writing
in her 1987 autobiography "Call Me Anna," Duke claimed that the studio and director exploited
Garland's condition for publicity. Susan Hayward ultimately replaced Garland. Sadly,
just two years later, the queen of musicals died at the age of 47 from an accidental overdose.
Developing a movie from an idea to a final product often takes years. The
2018 biographical drama "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" was no expectation, with a complicated
11-year journey. The process of getting financing for the production was a long one,
but when director Nicole Holofcener signed on along with Julianne Moore,
everything started coming together — until it all went wrong. A week before filming began, Variety
reported that Moore withdrew from the project due to creative differences. Shortly after,
Holofcener also departed, but not before recasting the part of Lee Israel with Melissa McCarthy.
Moore has since come out with a different version of events,
however, which she discussed on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen."
"I didn't leave that movie, I was fired."
"Were you?"
"Yeah, yeah. Nicole fired me. So yeah, that's the truth."
Moore went on to praise McCarthy, proving there was no ill will between
the two. Holofcener was also pleased with her replacement, director Marielle Heller. Heller
continued with Holofcener's screenplay, and McCarthy delivered an Oscar-nominated
performance that transformed her career from comedy queen to serious, dramatic actor.
Before Eddie Murphy became one of the biggest actors in Hollywood,
he was known for his larger-than-life characters on "Saturday Night Live." All that changed when
"Beverly Hills Cop'' launched him into movie stardom. Much of the movie we know today can
be attributed to Murphy's comedic chops, but believe it or not, it was almost Sylvester
Stallone who played the role of quick-witted Detroit cop Axel Foley. Two weeks before
filming commenced, Stallone left the project, unsatisfied with the movie's comedic tones.
However, before he turned the role down altogether, Stallone did some rewrites
of his own to better suit his set of acting skills. According to the actor,
his rewrites were reminiscent of the opening scene from "Saving Private
Ryan." Stallone recalled in a 2006 interview with Ain't It Cool News:
"Needless to say, they dropkicked me and my script out of the office, and the rest is history."
Building off the success of his feature directorial debut "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," Judd
Apatow directed the film "Knocked Up," a raunchy romantic comedy about an unplanned pregnancy
between two clashing personalities. Casting Seth Rogen as the male lead was no problem. Apatow had
worked with Rogen on many occasions in the past, and the two became close friends in the process.
However, in Apatow's boys-only comedy circle, finding the right actor for the female lead
wasn't as easy. Anne Hathaway ended up taking on the role before dropping out due to the
nature of the movie's birth scene. Things eventually fell into place when Katherine
Heigl stepped in to replace her. There was no denying the natural on-screen chemistry
Heigl shared with co-star Rogen or her ability to hold her own in the male-centric flick.
In 2013, it was announced that the beloved bear from children's literature, Paddington,
was getting his very own live-action film. Colin Firth was originally tapped to bring the famous
bear to life. But when principal photography wrapped and the film went into post-production,
that opinion changed. As the CGI animators finalized Paddington's look,
there was a disconnect between the bear's youthful appearance and Firth's dramatic, older voice.
"Paddington."
"Paddington!"
Director Paul King told Entertainment Weekly:
"Colin was the first to say, 'I just don't know
that I have this within me,' and we slowly, sadly agreed."
And with that, Firth voluntarily withdrew from the project. He was replaced by Ben Whishaw just a few
months before the movie's theatrical release. Considering the huge success of the first two
movies in the "Transformers" franchise, director Michael Bay didn't take Megan Fox's firing from
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" lightly. Luckily for Bay, the main character's love interest
isn't what drives ticket sales in an action movie about automobile robots. With a simple
off-screen breakup, Fox was replaced by a new girlfriend, played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Why exactly was Fox cut? In a 2009 interview with Wonderland, Fox made some comments about
Bay's onset behavior, comparing him to a certain fascist dictator. The actor told the outlet:
"He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane,
infamous madman reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is."
This hyperbole didn't go unpunished. In addition to having qualms with her work ethic,
Bay claimed in an interview with GQ that executive
producer Steven Spielberg demanded her firing. Bay told the magazine:
"I wasn't hurt, because I know that's just Megan. Megan loves to get a response. And
she does it in kind of the wrong way. I'm sorry, Megan. I'm sorry I made you work
twelve hours. I'm sorry that I'm making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy."
Although Fox was out of a job, surely she was relieved to be
parting ways with a boss she deemed unpleasant. Meanwhile, "Transformers:
Dark of the Moon" grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.
"The Twilight Saga" will always be remembered for popularizing the trend of supernatural romances
in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Little girls everywhere dreamed of finding their own sparkly
vampire to sweep them off their feet and save them from the dangers of bloodthirsty nomadic vampires.
In the first two installments of the series,
"Twilight" and "New Moon," Rachelle Lefevre portrayed the thirstiest of them all:
the vengeful vampire Victoria. Her fiery red hair and ruthless desire for Bella's blood made
her the perfect villain and a fan favorite. So when news broke that Victoria was being recast,
it came as a surprise to everyone — including Lefevre. Lefevre told Access Hollywood:
"I was stunned by Summit's decision to recast the role of Victoria for 'Eclipse.' I turned
down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights,
accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules."
One of those roles was for a project called "Barney's Version," which overlapped ten days
with "Eclipse's" three-month shooting schedule. Summit responded by claiming Lefevre withheld
disclosing this scheduling conflict for more than a month. Feeling as though Lefevre's
actions put the production at risk, Bryce Dallas Howard was cast to take her place.
"The circumstances around it had nothing to do with us."
"And she's, she's awesome."
Really, Lefevre didn't lose out on too much, since her character's death at the end of the movie
would've made it her last appearance anyway. In the sci-fi action movie "Demolition Man,"
Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes go head-to-head in an effects-driven game
of cops and robbers in the year 2032. In the film, Sandra Bullock plays Stallone's
colleague and love interest. However, it was Lori Petty who was originally cast to play
the futuristic cop. But after a few days of shooting, Petty was out, and Bullock was in.
The initial reasoning behind Petty's departure was cited as creative differences. Petty,
on the other hand, believed it had to do with her and Stallone's lack of compatibility. Needless
to say, Bullock ultimately lucked out as Petty's replacement. Not only was it her first big-budget
feature, but it also led to her next breakout role in the action movie "Speed." Who knows
what direction Bullock's career would've taken if not for this casting mishap?
During the making of the "Back to the Future" trilogy, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had no
problem replacing actors when needed. They did it with Eric Stoltz, Melora Hardin,
and again with Claudia Wells. But there was one replacement that maybe wasn't so obvious.
On the set of "Back to the Future," tensions were high between Crispin Glover, who played George
McFly, and the creators. Glover has stated that he was unhappy with the movie's ending,
and when he raised questions about it, he was met with hostility. He told The A.V. Club:
"The reality was that they did not want me back in the film."
"It caused me to not be in the sequels."
Glover was offered less than half of what his co-stars were making,
and when he tried to renegotiate, they reduced the offer by $25,000. Glover walked away and
was replaced by Jeffrey Weissman, who wore prosthetics to resemble Glover.
Because of both the prosthetics, as well as deliberate techniques to obscure Weissman,
many never realized it wasn't Glover on screen for "Back to the Future II & III". Glover ultimately
took legal action to protect his likeness. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and the Screen
Actors Guild later added a clause regarding the illicit use of actors' likenesses.
When domestic abuse allegations came out against Johnny Depp, Warner Bros. was forced
to act by asking Depp to resign from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in "Fantastic Beasts:
The Secrets of Dumbledore." The studio had to move fast to find a replacement and gave Mads Mikkelsen
two days to decide if he could fill the role. Director David Yates told The Hollywood Reporter:
"I wanted Mads to explore a version of Grindelwald that suited his strengths as an actor — and that
inevitably meant a departure from what Johnny brought to the role."
Just a couple of months after the movie's release,
a jury sided with Depp in his highly publicized defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife,
Amber Heard. Once the trial was over, Mikkelsen gave Depp fans hope when he told Deadline,
"Obviously, well, now the course has changed — he won the suit,
the court [case] — so let's see if he comes back. He might. I'm a big
fan of Johnny. I think he's an amazing actor, I think he did a fantastic job."
However, any potential sequels have reportedly been stalled until further notice.