Great Movie Casting "Misses"
- Thread starter Gonzo
- Start date
Spielberg wanted the shark to be the star, so he was very much against casting big names. The studio wanted Charlton Heston to play Brody, but he was too big of a name for the role in Spielberg’s mind. Heston actually took that really personally and refused to work with Spielberg in any capacity after that.
Robert Duvall turned down the role of Brody, as well.
I think Denzel actually turned down the Brad Pitt’s role. And he’s said it’s one of his biggest regrets in his career
He did turn down the Mills character, you’re right. Would have been a huge mistake to cast him alongside Freeman in that role, IMO. Pitt played that part with a perfect cocky naïveté that I’m not sure Denzel could have pulled off, and that was the character “flaw” that created the amazing payoff.
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KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
To be fair, Hanks wrote and directed That Thing You Do!, including many of the songs you hear in the movie. And it was the genesis of his Playtone music & film production company, which has been pretty successful - so I think he made a good choice here.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
This sent me down a rabbit hole. Steven Spielberg apparently was the first to get the movie rights for Shrek in 1991, and he envisioned Bill Murray as Shrek and Steve Martin as Donkey.
DreamWorks was considering Nicholas Cage as Shrek, but he turned it down because he didn’t want to play a giant green ogre. “Maybe I should have done it, looking back” he said in 2013.
Janeane Garofalo was originally cast as Princess Fiona, but was replaced by Cameron Diaz.
Pretty sure I heard if Smith turned down the Genie role in the Disney Aladin remake, the person they had lined up to do it was.... Jack freaking Black. I hate those remakes I'm forced to watch because of my kids but sign me up for some Jack Black.
I love Chris Farley and Shrek, but there's something unholy about that idea. It may have turned out okay in the end, and obviously we wouldn't have known Mike Myers as Shrek.
I love Jack Nicholson, but I couldn't imagine him playing Michael Corleone in The Godfather instead of Al Pacino. He was offered the role and turned it down.
Apparently Henry Winkler was offered the role of Danny Zuko in Grease and turned it down. That would've been pretty weird.
Apparently Henry Winkler was offered the role of Danny Zuko in Grease and turned it down. That would've been pretty weird.
The Fonz could have pulled it off. We are just so used to John killing it we fail to remember the Fonz during that time period of being a cool Mofo. We just know nerdy grown up Winkler
I loved the Fonz, which was a role Winkler loosely tested out in the movie The Lords of Flatbush. Winkler was definitely at the heights of Fonzie popularity at the time Grease was filming, so it makes sense that they offered him. My biggest struggle is picturing him doing all of the singing (can he sing?), and the fact that he would've been around 32 years old playing a HS student at the time of filming, lol.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
Boy, do I have news for you about the rest of the cast of Grease.
Travolta was 23, sure, but Olivia Newton-John was 29. Stockard Channing was 33. Michael Tucci, who played Sonny, was 31. I don’t think a young-looking Winkler would have been too out-of-place.
They didn't care about age when casting that movie. Stockard Channing was 33, ONJ was 29, and Michael Tucci was 29. So I don't think his age would have mattered. Not sure about him singing but I think he used to do Broadway also. The songs were not really that difficult either. I think he could have pulled it off. It ended up right with Travolta though. He did it perfect.
I knew Stockard Channing was really old for the role but not some of those others. ONJ did not look nearly 30 IMO.
