imagine if these films starred the
people who the writers actually
envisioned welcome to watchmojo.com
issed out on roles written for them for
this list we're looking at specific
roles in films which are confirmed
rumoured or suspected to have been
written with a specific actor in mind
but were ultimately played by someone
else though most of these missed
opportunities were the result of the
actors in question passing on the role
we'll also be including actors who
couldn't play the roles due to an
untimely death or some impediment beyond
their control
number 10 Harrison Ford as dr. Alan
Grant Jurassic Park in retrospect it's
really hard to imagine anyone other than
Sam Neill in the role of the slightly
curmudgeonly cynical dr. Alan Grant but
dissect the character really break him
down to his elemental parts and you
begin to see a whole lot of Harrison
Ford will you to UM dig up dinosaur the
fashion sense for starters feels very
Indiana Jones as does the attitude that
balance of intelligence and
resourcefulness
that's what Ford does best there's
nothing to fear
excuse me and sure enough Spielberg who
also directed the Indiana Jones films
offered him the role first but Ford
passed on the opportunity weird choice
but we get wanting to avoid being
typecast and so Sam Neill got the part
instead number 9 George Clooney is Jack
Frost
Jack Frost the special effects used to
bring the titular snowman to life and
Jack Frost were impressive for the time
though not necessarily endearing he is
pure nightmare fuel oh but look a little
closer at Jack Frost's face and you
begin to see an uncanny resemblance to a
certain handsome leading man pin it
ain't Michael Keaton alright turns out
that Jim Henson's Creature Shop had
already designed the animatronic to
resemble Clooney before the ladder
jumped ship to star in Batman and Robin
bye freeze I'm Batman Clooney dodged a
bullet with Jack Frost only to be hit
with a cannonball interestingly enough
the lead role in our Brandes crisis was
also penned with Clooney in mind but he
chose to simply produce with Sandra
Bullock starring instead you know once
that is gone there's there's no getting
that back number 8 Sylvester Stallone is
Axel Foley Beverly Hills Cop well this
certainly would have made for a very
different sort of movie Eddie Murphy
might not be the most natural of action
stars but this movie succeeds first and
foremost thanks to his incomparable
comedic chops now while we find Sly to
be plenty charming and charismatic when
a script calls for it a funny guy he is
not which is perhaps why he gave the
script such a dramatic rewrite when it
was presented to him effectively leaving
all the jokes on the cutting room floor
his vision was far more hard-hitting but
also called for a much bigger budget and
so Murphy was called in and it once
again became an action comedy the rest
is cinematic history you know it doesn't
even matter to me Billy you know what
matters that you guys came down here I'm
all choked up on inside I gotta love
number seven Richard Pryor is sheriff
Bart Blazing Saddles let's start off by
acknowledging that Cleavon little is
pitch-perfect as sheriff Bart he
expertly plays off of gene Wilder which
is no small feat and is a crucial part
of what makes Blazing Saddles the
enduring classic it is today but
considering comedy legend Richard Pryor
was one of the writers who helped
concoct this unique and zany satirical
black comedy Western might not he have
been the logical star he said so
far-fetched to believe that Pryor might
have been writing that role for himself
nope in fact Mel Brooks had always
imagined Pryor in the role but
unfortunately drug-related charges made
Pryor difficult to ensure and so his
role was limited to that of a
screenwriter drop to the knee number six
Lindsay Lohan as Jade the hangover in
this unexpected 2009 hit comedy by
director Todd Phillips a wild bachelor
party results in a lot of bad decisions
and a whole lot of missing memories
among other shenanigans mild mannered
dentists do price gets married to a
stripper and single mother Jade you guys
were passed out the room was a wreck so
I just curled up next to Stu uh-huh rare
Heather Graham plays the part and plays
it perfectly she is the very definition
of the stripper with a heart of gold
before she owned the role however the
park was offered to Lindsay Lohan who
reportedly dismissed the opportunity
stating the script quote had no
potential
apparently she's not the best judge of
scripts the film made of fortune at the
box office and even performed well with
critics such a klutz I just I get so
nervous and I can look so silly
number 5 Marilyn Monroe as Holly
Golightly Breakfast at Tiffany's
directed by Blake Edwards and adapted
from the 1958 Truman Capote novella by
the same name breakfast at tiffany's is
a classic and while Audrey Hepburn
starred in more than her fair share of
famous roles there is perhaps none more
iconic than that of Holly Golightly
about your house present something sweet
hard though it may be to imagine the
roll of very nearly went to another
silver screen legend of Hollywood's
golden age Marilyn Monroe
Capote himself had always wanted Monroe
to play the part so much so that Holly's
description resembles that of the blonde
sex symbol the screenplay was even
tailored around her but Monroe
ultimately turned down the role on the
advice of acting legend and mentor Lee
Strasberg
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number four Tom Hanks as Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire this one is really tough
to imagine as Jerry Maguire Tom Cruise
strikes a careful balance of
fast-talking narcissism with just enough
heartfelt earnestness to win you back
when his ego drives you away but it
turns out that when filmmaker Cameron
Crowe began penning the script he did it
with Tom Hanks in mind the problem they
spent so long working on the script that
by the time it was ready he felt that
Hanks had aged out of the role Wow
thanks it was offered to Hanks
nonetheless but he ultimately passed
they say all's well that ends well and
in the case of casting Jerry Maguire
that's true Tom Hanks is a living legend
but a hotshot sports agent not so much
you lose you want it smaller well I'm
over it now I want all my clients in
yours too number three Matt Damon is
jakesully avatar boo oh boy does Matt
Damon ever know how to pick the wrong
movie he gave up the lead role in
Manchester by the sea which came out the
same
year he starred in the Great Wall we
really do smell but that wasn't his
first misstep he passed on the starring
role in what would go on to become the
highest-grossing film of its time when
penning Avatar James Cameron is said to
have envisioned Matt Damon as Jake Sully
a role that ultimately went to Sam
Worthington doing science so what was
Matt's excuse this time he didn't want
to cause problems on the Bourne
Ultimatum fair enough you've got to
respect his commitment the real kicker
though Cameron allegedly offered him 10
percent of the box-office profits this
isn't some story in a newspaper this is
real you understand me
number two Prince as Ruby rhod the fifth
element Chris Tucker has played a wide
assortment of roles over the years but
none has come anywhere close to being
quite a stranger unique as Ruby rhod
this boy is this brightly colored
effeminate and flamboyant talk show host
felt like a strange fit for the
typically smart Mouse but traditionally
masculine actor but he managed to pull
off the transformation and as most
cinema-goers would agree he does it by
channeling his inner Prince you know I
have a shoulder wound you know so
tomorrow from 5 to 7 will you please act
like you have more than a two-word
vocabulary
well as it turns out Prince is
specifically who writer director Luc
Besson had in mind when creating the
character which certainly explains
Ruby's distinct aesthetic unfortunately
while Prince was reportedly on board his
tour dates made scheduling impossible
our number one on this list is very near
and dear to my heart in fact it's
probably my second favorite movie ever
so I can't decide how I would have felt
if it had been made with the original
plant cast but one thing's for sure
about it and pretty much every other
entry on this list it would have been a
very different movie
so let's marvel at what could have been
through some honorable mentions and then
we'll see what's at the top you a
Heather no I'm a Veronica Sawyer
hey Jo let me shoot this guy sure you
shoot me in a dream you've been a wake
up and apologize
are you calling me a superhero I'm
calling you a killer natural-born killer
my mom always said life was like a box
of chocolates you never know what you're
going to get gee what are you people on
Twitter can order terrible taste like
justice before we continue be sure to
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them if you're on your phone make sure
you go into your settings and switch on
notifications number one John Belushi is
Peter Venkman plus John Candy and Eddie
Murphy
ghostbusters this 1984 supernatural
comedy is an absolute classic it's now
all but impossible to imagine any other
faces rocking those proton packs but we
very nearly got a totally different crew
of ghostbusters
according to dan aykroyd when he was
putting the script it was intended as
another collaboration with his friend an
SNL co-star John Belushi not only that
but eddie murphy also reportedly had a
key role which many assume evolved into
Ernie Hudson's Winston their problem
offices John Candy was offered the role
of Louis Tully bud past sadly
Belushi died of an overdose before the
film went into production in fact
Aykroyd was writing a line of dialogue
for Belushi's character when he received
the call to tell him about his friends
passing do you agree with our picks
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