Buzz
The actors chosen for a film can influence it in ways we might not immediately grasp. Our perceptions of Hollywood stars shape our view of them, and we often interpret their personalities through their roles. Even the smallest differences in how we see an actor can completely alter how we experience a film.
Had certain studio executives had their way, some of your beloved characters would have been portrayed by the last person you'd imagine, and some iconic films would have been entirely reimagined.
10. Bill Murray as Batman
We almost got to witness Bill Murray take on the role of the Dark Knight. Before Michael Keaton landed the part in Batman, Bill Murray was originally slated to play the iconic hero, leading to a drastically different take on the film.
The initial plan for the 1980s Batman was to mirror the lighter tone of the 1960s TV series. Rather than presenting a dark, brooding crime fighter, Batman was intended to be a comedic adventure, directed by Ivan Reitman, the mastermind behind Ghostbusters.
The casting took an even stranger turn. Not only would Bill Murray have been the man behind the bat mask, but the film would have featured Eddie Murphy as Robin and David Bowie as The Joker.
Everything shifted when Tim Burton took over the project. Although Burton transformed the movie into a darker, crime-fighting tale, the studio insisted on keeping Bill Murray as Batman. Burton had to fight to remove Murray from the film.
Bill Murray, for his part, maintains that he would have been perfect for the role. “I would have made a great Batman,” Murray argues. “It’s an incredible part.”
9. Michael Jackson as The Doctor in Doctor Who
In 1988, Paramount Pictures began to worry about the success of Back To The Future. Universal Pictures was raking in profits, and Paramount needed a sci-fi hit of their own. They believed they had the ideal solution: an American version of Doctor Who, starring Michael Jackson.
It wouldn’t have been Michael Jackson’s first foray into sci-fi. He had already starred in Moonwalker, and while it didn’t exactly showcase his acting chops, it did highlight his knack for making money, which was the real priority.
Jackson was reportedly “quite eager” to take on the role, but if he couldn’t, Paramount had a backup: Bill Cosby. While it may seem like a drastic switch to go from a moonwalking pop icon to a 50-something Jello pitchman, through the lens of a 1980s movie producer, all they saw were large stacks of cash.
8. Marilyn Manson as Willy Wonka
When production began on 2005’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Marilyn Manson launched a full campaign to land the lead role. The shock rocker, known for Antichrist Superstar, believed that no one was more suited to star in a children’s film than him.
“I see Willy Wonka as Satan,” Marilyn Manson told the media. “I believe I could play this role like no one else.”
For a brief period, it seemed like he might actually land the role, but then Warner Brothers stepped in with an emphatic statement. “Neither [director] Gary Ross nor Warner Bros Pictures has any intention whatsoever of casting Marilyn Manson in the cherished role of Willy Wonka,” they declared. To add salt to the wound, they followed up with, “or any other role.”
However, Marilyn Manson wasn’t even the strangest option. If an online rumor holds true, Tim Burton had an even more bizarre choice in mind. Entertainment Tonight reported that if Johnny Depp couldn’t take on the role, his second pick was none other than The Rock.
7. Nicholas Cage as Hellboy
Universal Studios was eager to cast a major star for the role of Hellboy. They didn’t care who it was, as long as it wasn’t Ron Perlman. The studio brought in countless actors, attempting to persuade director Guillermo Del Toro to select one of them instead.
Their initial pick was Nicholas Cage, though this doesn’t mean we would’ve seen him in a Hellboy costume. The studio envisioned a version of Hellboy that simply looked like Nicholas Cage. Del Toro recalls the executives suggesting, “What if you call him Hellboy and he comes from Hell and all that, but he looks like a guy?”
Had Del Toro given in, Nicholas Cage’s Hellboy would have driven a car called the “Hellmobile” and kept a “pet dog that comes from hell and is red.” Whenever he got angry, he would have transformed into a giant red monster.
Of course, Nicholas Cage wasn’t the only choice for the role. If they couldn’t secure him, they had a backup plan in The Rock, who seems to be the understudy for nearly every film in existence.
6. Tom Cruise As Captain Planet
Originally, Captain Planet, the environmental hero, was voiced by a much bigger name: Tom Cruise. In the first version of the animated series, the iconic star of Top Gun was cast in the lead role.
It's unclear why Tom Cruise left the role. While most assume it was due to money issues, David Coburn, who replaced him, claims it wasn’t Cruise’s choice at all. Coburn suggests that Cruise was actually let go from the role.
According to Coburn, 'It just wasn’t working. They replaced him with me.' He continues, 'The reason they chose me is because the character I portray isn’t a macho superhero. He’s more like a big brother, a motivating coach. He’s there to inspire kids to strive for better.'
Even without Tom Cruise, the animated series Captain Planet features an unexpectedly star-studded lineup. You may not know that LeVar Burton voiced one of the Planeteers, or that Whoopi Goldberg brought the character Gaia to life. The show's lineup of villains is equally impressive, with big names like Elizabeth Taylor, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Martin Sheen, and Malcolm McDowell making appearances in various roles.
5. Jack Nicholson as Michael Corleone
Before Al Pacino secured the iconic role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, the producers initially considered a much different actor. Instead of seeing the intense and reflective face of Pacino running the Corleone empire, audiences might have been treated to the wild grin of Jack Nicholson.
Jack Nicholson was offered the role, but he declined it based on his personal principles. “Back then I believed that Indians should play Indians and Italians should play Italians,” Nicholson explained in hindsight.
After Nicholson turned down the part, they offered it to Warren Beatty. However, Beatty rejected it as well, complaining, “Not another gangster movie!” Al Pacino ultimately landed the role of a lifetime only because the first two choices declined.
4. Al Pacino as Han Solo
When the production of Star Wars began, the studio wasn't eager to cast an unknown carpenter by the name of Harrison Ford as Han Solo. They were looking for a big star, so they reached out to Al Pacino.
“They didn’t care if I was right or wrong for the role,” Al Pacino recalled of the situation. “I was in The Godfather.” At that time, Pacino was receiving offers left and right, but he didn’t grasp the concept of Star Wars and had no interest in discussing how many parsecs it took to make a Kessel Run, so he turned the role down.
Once Pacino declined, the studio began approaching other big-name actors. Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Christopher Walken, and Nick Nolte were all offered the part of Han Solo, but none of them accepted.
Burt Reynolds almost took the role as well. At the time, he was making his decisions based on the location of the shoot and the female lead. Apparently, Carrie Fisher wasn't enough of a draw to convince Reynolds to step into the desert.
3. O.J. Simpson as The Terminator
Mike Medavoy, head of Orion Pictures, had a very different vision for The Terminator. Instead of casting an Austrian bodybuilder in the lead, he envisioned O.J. Simpson and contacted James Cameron to inform him that he had already selected his star.
Medavoy had seen O.J. Simpson in a Hertz car rental commercial where he leaped over a counter to get a rental car and believed that athleticism was key for the Terminator. “It was all of that athletic stuff, which I thought the Terminator should have,” Medavoy explained.
Medavoy even reached out to Schwarzenegger and told him the role had already been filled. However, James Cameron was far from pleased with this decision.
“I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of an African-American man chasing a white woman with a knife,” he explained. At the time, O.J. Simpson had a clean, charming public persona, and he simply didn’t think anyone would buy him as a killer.
“We might have reconsidered after he had killed his wife.”
2. Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones
George Lucas initially didn’t want Harrison Ford to play Indiana Jones. He even tried to convince Steven Spielberg to cast someone else, saying, “He’s been in two of my movies. I don’t want him to be my Bobby DeNiro.”
Instead, Lucas favored Tom Selleck, the star of Magnum P.I., for the role. Selleck went so far as to film a screen test, portraying a much angrier, louder version of Indiana Jones than the character we ultimately saw on screen. Lucas was impressed, saying, “It turned out really well.”
“I didn’t turn it down,” Selleck later clarified. While he was eager to take on the role, CBS wouldn’t let him take it. They had an existing contract, and they didn’t want him splitting his focus between that and Magnum P.I.. Selleck wasn’t thrilled about it, and years later, he bitterly remarked, “I could have done them both.”
1. Burt Reynolds as James Bond
Burt Reynolds came close to playing another legendary character – British secret agent James Bond. In 1970, after Sean Connery stepped away from the role, the studio reached out to Reynolds to portray 007.
Reynolds was just as puzzled as anyone else. “An American can’t play James Bond,” he remarked. “It has to be an Englishman.”
He eventually persuaded the studio not to cast him, and Roger Moore was chosen for the role instead. However, as he grew older, Reynolds began to regret the decision. Looking back, he insisted that he would have made it work. Even though he wasn’t British, he believed he would have been a great James Bond, calling his refusal to take the role “stupidity.”
