As much as we want to believe we choose movies because of intriguing stories instead of A-list
stars, that often isn't the case.
And casting the right person for a role means choosing an actor who can pull off the character
convincingly, and be bankable enough to sell lots of tickets.
But Hollywood isn't perfect, and there are times they get it wrong…or pretty close
to it.
These hit films nearly went in very different directions with leading roles, only to make
a clutch casting change, that made them the blockbusters they are today.
Liam Neeson in Lincoln
Now that he's starred in three Taken movies, it can be easy to forget that Liam Neeson
is a serious dramatic actor — with an Oscar nom for his performance in Schindler's List.
And while his appearance in Life's Too Short proves he's not nearly as humorless as his
characters onscreen, sometimes it's the actor who knows when a part just isn't right.
After the success of Schindler's List, director Steven Spielberg tapped Neeson to lead another
dramatic historical project: Lincoln.
"I like our chances now."
Neeson admitted to GQ, of the table read for the film:
"I read very, very poorly by any standards, but then some people come up afterward and
say, 'Oh, you're made to play Lincoln.'
I just was cringing with embarrassment."
Ultimately, Neeson stepped away, and the part went to Daniel Day Lewis, who won an Oscar
for the role.
"Shall we stop this bleeding?"
Neeson said,
"I was thrilled that Daniel played him, and when I saw the film, I was like, 'He's f—in'
Abraham Lincoln.
This is perfect.'"
David Schwimmer in Men in Black
Men in Black further cemented Will Smith as one of the biggest movie stars of the '90s,
adding another hit to an incredible run that also included Bad Boys and Independence Day.
His performance was spot on, in what might have otherwise been a ridiculous alien flick
for kids—like if, say, Ross from Friends had tried to pull it off.
"You know what the difference is between you and me?
I make this look good."
David Schwimmer was offered the role, but turned it down because he was already starring
in and directing the dramedy Since You've Been Gone.
If you feel bad for Schwimmer missing out on a colossal payday, remember that Smith
passed on playing Neo in The Matrix to play the lead in Wild Wild West.
We all make mistakes.
Frank Sinatra in Dirty Harry
Until a few years ago, the rumor that Frank Sinatra was cast to play the title role in
the 1971 cop drama Dirty Harry was just that—a rumor.
But in 2015, Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin confirmed on Alec Baldwin's
podcast Here's the Thing that before Eastwood, it was Ol' Blue Eyes.
"My producer, a guy named Phil D'Antoni, he and I were going to do Dirty Harry with Frank
Sinatra. [...] and then Sinatra pulled out."
According to Yahoo! Movies, film critic Ty Burr's book, Gods Like Us, explained Sinatra's
reasoning as:
"A broken wrist sustained during The Manchurian Candidate eight years earlier meant that Old
Blue Eyes couldn't hold the heavy Magnum pistol comfortably."
Far better known as a singer, Sinatra earned acclaim as an actor, but tough-guy parts weren't
exactly his forte.
"You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?
Well do ya, punk?"
Britney Spears in The Notebook
The movie that launched Ryan Gosling's movie career almost never happened.
The Notebook hit a major hiccup during filming when Gosling asked the director to bring in
a different actress because he wasn't getting along with costar Rachel McAdams.
"Wait a minute.
We're not really breakin' up are we?
Come on, this is just a fight we're having and tomorrow it'll be like it never happened,
right?"
Director Nick Cassavetes told VH1,
"He's doing a scene with Rachel and he says, 'Would you take her out of here and bring
in another actress to read off-camera with me?
[...] I can't do it with her.
I'm just not getting anything from this.'
We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other.
I walked out."
In the end, Gosling and McAdams shelved their differences, but before they made up, Gosling
screen-tested with an old friend from The Mickey Mouse Club: Britney Spears.
Gosling confirmed Spears was up for the role, telling ET,
"I hadn't seen her really since she was about 12—we were both 12—so she's grown up,
but she was really good, actually."
Pleasantries aside, the driving force behind The Notebook's success was the acting, and
an inexperienced Spears likely couldn't have carried the role.
Molly Ringwald in Pretty Woman
When it came time to cast Pretty Woman, production had to choose between two incredible actors.
Responding to questions on a Reddit AMA, Molly Ringwald admitted she was once under consideration
for the lead role in the movie.
With credits like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink to her name, few could contend that
Ringwald wouldn't have done a fantastic job.
But Julia Roberts ended up winning the part—and walking away with the movie.
"You are, in fact, a hooker, and you are my employee."
"Look you don't own me.
I decide, okay?
I say who, I say when, I say who!"
Even Ringwald agrees, saying,
"Julia Roberts is what makes that movie.
It was her part.
Every actor hopes for a part that lets them shine like that."
Tom Selleck in Raiders of the Lost Ark
George Lucas, who co-wrote the Steven Spielberg-directed Raiders of the Lost Ark, didn't want Harrison
Ford to star as Indiana Jones.
In a making-of featurette, Spielberg remembered,
"I had just seen a cut of Empire Strikes Back and said to George, that's Indiana Jones right
up there.
Han Solo.
Why can't he do it?"
And Lucas told Spielberg,
"He's identified as Han Solo, let's leave him as Han Solo.
And I said yeah but he's an actor.
Actors play hundreds of different characters."
Ford was cast, but only as a replacement for their first choice: Tom Selleck, who had already
been cast as Indy.
Selleck told David Letterman that CBS made him turn down the role, in favor of their
show, Magnum, P.I.
[Theme music from Magnum P.I.]
Selleck told Letterman,
"The more they held out the offer and talked to the network, the more the network said
no."
"The network of course being CBS."
But at this point, it's impossible to imagine anyone but Ford cracking that whip.
Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future
Michael J. Fox, who was booked solid at the time with his hit NBC sitcom Family Ties,
came very close to not getting his big screen breakout in Back To The Future.
Forced to go without his first pick for leading man, director Robert Zemeckis originally cast
Eric Stoltz in the role of Marty McFly.
"He's an absolute dream."
Production began with Stoltz playing Marty, but the crew knew something just wasn't right,
and Zemeckis worked out a deal with NBC for Fox to film around his Family Ties schedule
and replace Stoltz—who'd already filmed a number of scenes.
Stoltz took it hard.
But in 2016, eagle-eyed fans noticed something: Stoltz made the final cut.
In the scene when Marty punches Biff in the diner, that's Stoltz throwing the punch.
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