Casting is one of the most important aspects of putting together a film.
The filmmakers have to make sure they have the right actors for each part in order to
establish the proper emotional connection with the audience.
This causes them to test several thespians, and some interesting “what ifs” could
have drastically altered the course of movie history.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 movie castings that could have changed popular films.
Superman
Christopher Reeve is still many people’s version of the perfect Superman, but what
about the Italian Stallion?
Sylvester Stallone lobbied hard to play the part, but was turned down because he was deemed
“too Italian.”
He later found out that Marlon Brando had casting approval, and was the one who turned
Stallone down.
Sly went on to criticize Brando for his part in the decision, blasting him for using Superman
as a paycheck and nothing more.
Stallone loved the character and mythology, so he certainly would have brought the passion.
But would he have done Clark Kent justice?
We’ll never know.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
George Lucas needed an older Anakin Skywalker for Episode II, and one name he considered
was Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio.
Leo met with George Lucas to discuss the part, but turned it down to work on Gangs of New
York with Martin Scorsese.
You have to hand it to DiCaprio for his foresight.
Gangs launched one of the most successful actor-director combos of this century, while
Hayden Christensen floundered into obscurity after Star Wars disappointed.
As talented as he is, even Leo may have not been able to save Lucas’ clunky dialogue.
We much prefer watching him chase Oscars instead of battle droids.
Jerry Maguire
Tom Cruise was born to play sports agent Jerry Maguire, injecting him with a rock star persona
befitting of his A-list status.
But Cameron Crowe had originally envisioned a different Tom headlining this comedy: Tom
Hanks.
But the Oscar winner was too old for the role by the time Crowe was ready to enter production,
and was already making That Thing You Do!
Hanks is an all-time great, but it’s almost impossible seeing him as Maguire after Cruise’s
terrific performance.
Imagining him on the phone with Rod Tidwell just seems wrong.
Casino Royale
When the Bond franchise moved on from Pierce Brosnan, the producers had to do an extensive
search to find the next 007.
Daniel Craig landed the coveted role, but one of the names strongly considered was Sam
Worthington, star of James Cameron’s Avatar.
Craig’s interpretation was a darker iteration, but he still maintained the dry wit and charisma
that define the character, qualities Worthington has not shown in his attempts to become an
action star.
At least he’ll always have Jake Sully, but Worthington was not right for Bond at all,
and Craig has become a fan-favorite.
Toy Story
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are forever intertwined thanks to their work together in the Toy Story
franchise, but Hanks could have been paired up with someone else.
Pixar originally offered the Buzz Lightyear role to comedian Billy Crystal, who turned
it down.
He regretted it after seeing the film, but in retrospect it was the right call.
Crystal’s hyperactive style may not have been the best fit for the macho aloofness
that carried Buzz through the first film.
It would have made the character funny from the start, and not as convincing for audiences.
And Crystal got an opportunity to work with Pixar, voicing the lovably zany Mike Wazowski
in Monsters, Inc.
Pulp Fiction
Jules Winnfield was made to be played by Samuel L. Jackson, but he almost missed out on his
career defining role.
While Quentin Tarantino wrote it specifically for Jackson, he was very impressed by an audition
from Paul Calderon.
When Jackson heard this, he flew out to Los Angeles to meet with Tarantino again and secured
the part.
He ended up launching his career to superstardom and earned an Oscar nod, so it was a wise
decision.
Calderon got a small part in the film as bartender Paul, and he’s so friendly and welcoming,
it’s hard to imagine him reciting Ezekiel 25:17 as a cold blooded killer.
Collateral
The role of besieged cab driver Max eventually went to Jamie Foxx and earned the actor an
Oscar nod, but the character evolved as the project went along.
The screenwriter had wanted to use Robert De Niro in an obvious callback to his famous
Travis Bickle character, but De Niro was deemed too old for the part.
In a shocking twist, none other than Adam Sandler met with director Michael Mann before
the director decided to go with Foxx.
To his credit, Sandler has turned in some dramatic performances, but he’s not as versatile
an actor as Foxx.
Batman Begins
When rebooting Batman, Christopher Nolan tried out several actors for the Caped Crusader
and chose Christian Bale to bring the property back to respectability.
But one other name he considered was Cillian Murphy, who would play the Scarecrow in all
three films of the Dark Knight trilogy.
Murphy’s a strong actor, but if he were Wayne that would mean someone else would have
to play Jonathan Crane.
Since Murphy’s turn as the villain was well-received, and Bale went on to put his stamp on the character,
we’re happy things turned out the way they did.
The Bale voice has gone down in legend.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Nowadays, it’s hard to envision anyone other than Chris Evans as the Star Spangled Man,
but The Office star John Krasinski was in the running for the role.
He exemplifies the same optimistic gung-ho attitude that’s so vital for the character,
but it would have been interesting to see if he had the action chops to pull it off.
Evans looked the part, and already had major blockbuster experience, playing Johnny Storm
in two Fantastic Four flicks.
Even if those weren’t great movies, they still showed Evans had what it took to play
a likeable superhero.
Back to the Future
Michael J. Fox is inseparable from Marty McFly, but scheduling conflicts initially caused
him to skip out on the film.
Robert Zemeckis originally went with Eric Stoltz and began principal photography.
But a few days in, he realized something wasn’t right, and Fox worked a deal to take on the
role instead.
Zemeckis felt Stoltz wasn’t funny enough to play Marty, and to his credit the actor
agreed with the decision.
The rest is history, and Fox’s sense of humor and comedic chops made him an instant
classic with movie fans.
There’s no one else we’d rather see introducing the world to Johnny B. Goode.
What do you think of our list?
Which near casting decisions would you like to have seen happen?
Sound off in the comments section below and be sure to subscribe to our channel for more
videos like this one!