Almost castings for iconic roles that would've been radically different

[ChrisIII]

Lance Henrikson was almost the choice for the Terminator, as one of Cameron's plans for the character was that he wouldn't stand out in a crowd as much and be far more stealth-oriented than Arnold who is a wrecking ball in several scenes, throwing a guy out of a phone booth, crushing a bouncer's hand just walking into club noir etc and not even bothering to cover up his murders of the other Sarah Conners. Some concept art even has Lance, and even showed up in costume to some pitch meetings.

However the role went to Arnold and Lance was cast as Det. Hal Vulovich, the slightly more skeptical of the detectives who help Sarah out (but wind up being the Terminator's victims).

Some of the ideas of a thinner, "everyman" Terminator seems to have been some of the thinking behind the T-1000 though.

Of course there have been many "almost castings" but in general some of these probably wouldn't have changed the film that much (Like, I don't think Tom Selleck's Indiana Jones would've necessarily been that different), but something like Lance being replaced by Arnold seems to be a rare case where it would seem like a pretty different film.


Any other ideas?

[thwhtGuardian]

Matthew Broderick as Walter White in Breaking Bad would certainly have been an interesting choice.

[Username taken]

I think if Eric Stoltz had finished Back to the Future it would have been a fairly different movie.

Stoltz (from the already shot footage) came across as a lot more serious and intense than Michael J.Fox. The film would have lost a lot of its humor and charm if they had continued with Stoltz.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I remember reading somewhere that OJ was considered for the role of Terminator, but that they couldn't see him as a killer.

[K7P5V]

Chris O'Donnell had no interest in another sidekick role, while director Sonnenfeld downplayed the movie during their discussions. So, Will Smith became Agent J in MIB (1997):

[ChrisIII]

I think if Eric Stoltz had finished Back to the Future it would have been a fairly different movie.

Stoltz (from the already shot footage) came across as a lot more serious and intense than Michael J.Fox. The film would have lost a lot of its humor and charm if they had continued with Stoltz.

Yeah especially the scene when Marty sees the younger version of his father which is the most frequently used comparison shot-Stolz's face is pretty much stone except for his eyes darting around, but Michael's is hilarious and really sells the disbelief.

[ChrisIII]

One I'm not sure of Will Smith and Connery for the Matrix. I can sort of see Will Smith as Neo, he occasionally can pull off more serious and stoic characters instead of playing the sort of the usual typecast wise-cracking guy.

Connery though I really can't see as approaching Morpheus the same way Fishburne did. While he has played Mentor roles (Untouchables, Highlander) Morpheus comes across as a far more stoic, "chill" character than Ramirez or Malone which were more suited to Connnery's strengths..

Can definitely see Connery as Gandalf though.

When the Fourth Doctor was being cast they originally wanted an older actor for the role. Although Jon Pertwee was fairly middle aged himself and was very physical (The whole "Venusian akido" stuff among others) the idea seemed to be that this new Doctor would be less physical and the male companion would do most of the action scenes (Similar to Ian Chesterton and Steven Taylor in the Hartnell years). One possibility was Richard Hearne who wanted to play the Doctor like "Mr. Pastry" and was pretty asked not to come back for another interview

Instead they cast the fairly young Tom Baker, and the male companion was still cast (Ian Martar as Harry Sullivan) but became more superflous (even a bit of a running joke on the show) with Tom still doing most of the action (although in a largely different way than Pertwee's) and was written out after Tom's first season.

Imagine how different Doctor Who would've been without Tom Baker and the original concept for the Fourth Doctor!

[BeastieRunner]

No Tom Cruise Iron Man yet?

[j9ac9k]

Slightly off-topic since she had already been cast, but I imagine "The Godfather III" would've been quite different had Winona Ryder been able to do the film. (she had to bow out due to a mental health issue)

[CliffHanger2]

Nic Cage as Superman

Will Smith as Neo

MC Shan as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

[j9ac9k]

James Caan as Superman

[Android 17]

Marlon Wayans being cast as Robin in Batman Returns.

Would've been interesting to see his take on the character.

[James Cameron]

James Gandolfini and later Robert De Niro were both set to play what would be John Turturro's role in the Night Of

[Android 17]

Another fun fact, Quincy Jones offered Kid N Play the lead roles in the sitcom that would become Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Things went left and Q got Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff instead.

[Alan2099]

Lon Chaney Sr and Dracula and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein would have changed Universal Monsters as we know them, which in turn would have altered just about everything pop culture monster wise.


Supposedly Leonardo DiCaprio was convinced to drop out of the lead role in American Psycho when a major feminist pointed out that young girls everywhere were looking forward to his next movie after Titanic and it would be really bad if that movie was one where women were brutalized, murdered, and treated like objects.

John Travolta almost played Forrest Gump. That would totally have sidetracked Tom Hanks's career