What might have been....or who was offered the part of James Bond!

[davids]

The role of James Bond in Doctor No was offered to Steve Reeves you know Hercules! {which was a surprise hit when it came out so long ago!]
Flemming actually wanted David Nevin.

Ron Reagen who would one day be president was going to be Rick in Cassablanca.

John wayne was offered the Harrison Ford part in the Frisco kid but could not meet his price. {would have been great}

Any one else have any others?

[Agent Helix]

Tom Selleck was the first choice for Indiana Jones, but was contractually tied to Magnum, P.I. at the time.

[Phil Clark]

While talking about Harrison Ford, Tom Sellick was original wanted for Indiana Jones. (Edit: Helix beat me to this one)

Buddy Epson was originally cast as the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz until he turned out to be alergic to the makeup they used.

[The Batman]

Ronald Reagan was never actually seriously considered for the role of Rick in Casablanca, likely it was either speculation or just a way of keeping Reagan's name in the news and getting some attention for Casablanca.

[Lord of Denial]

Paul Newman was offered the role of Superman before Chris Reeves.

[Ryan K]

John Gavin was signed to play James Bond in Diamonds are Forever before a last ditch attempt to sign Sean Connery again was successful.

Pierce Brosnan was signed to take over Bond after Roger Moore for The Living Daylights. His Reemington Steel contract got in the way and Timothy Dalton (who had been approached before Brosnan but had committments to the film Brenda Starr) replaced him. So we might have had 6 Brosnan films.

Sam Neill also screen tested to replace Roger Moore as Bond. According to Michael G Wilson, the only reason he didn't get the part was that Cubby Brocolli wasn't a big fan.

Those are the closest calls. Roger Moore was on a short list to play 007 before Connery. Clark Gable was approached for Dr. No, but would only commit to doing one film. James Mason was also approached but would only commit to 2. Dalton was approached after Connery left but he himself felt he was too young to play the role.

[Hush Little Batman]

-The part of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop was originally offered to Sylvester Stallone.

-Sean Young was cast as Vicki Vale in Batman, but she broke her collarbone while filming a horse-riding scene and had to be replaced with Kim Basinger (the scene was later removed from the script).

-Annette Bening was cast as Catwoman in Batman Returns but had to be replaced because she got pregnant.

-Rebecca Schaeffer was considered for the role of Mary Corleone (Godfather part III), but she was murdered before discussions began. Winona Ryder was then cast, but she pulled out and the role went to Sofia Coppola.

-Will Smith was offered the role of Neo in the Matrix, but he turned it down because neither he, nor his wife, Jada, understood the concept, so he decided to make Wild Wild West instead.

[The Batman]

I didn't know that Sean Young has already started filming on the first Burton Batman.

Wow.

Wasn't Nick Cage originally set to play Superman with Burton directing in the 90's? Didn't they both make a few million dollars each even though there was never actually any scenes shot for the movie?

[Buzz Dixon]

Ronald Reagan was never actually seriously considered for the role of Rick in Casablanca, likely it was either speculation or just a way of keeping Reagan's name in the news and getting some attention for Casablanca.It was not unusual in the hey days of the studio system for a studio head to assign talent to a picture that was just starting development. They had lists of actors, writers, directors, camera men, etc., and it was easy to put some names together since they were already under contract and couldn't say no.

Then, a a picture moved along, names could be added/removed. CASABLANCA originally had Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan penciled in as the leads, but as the script and production began developing some heft, Warner Bros. realized they needed bigger names in those roles.

[Buzz Dixon]

Patrick McGoohan was on the original short list of potential Bonds.

Lee Marvin and Richard Burton were both considered as a replacement for Connery after YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE but were turned down, Marvin for being too American, Burton for being too...uh...mature (as well as notoriously unreliable).

[Ryan Day]

There are tons and tons of these, of course - Shirley Temple and W.C. Fields in Wizard of Oz? - but my favourite has to be this one: At one point, George Lucas considered Toshiro Mifune for the role of Obi Wan in Star Wars. That would have been pretty awesome.

[Jmacq1]

On the Star Wars front, I believe Christopher Walken was on the "short list" to play Han Solo. And (again if I recall correctly) I believe Sissy Spacek was under consideration for Princess Leia.

[jwd]

Kurt Russell was considered for the role of Han Solo. A

Eric Stoltz did have the role of Marty McFly in Back to the Future and even filmed a lot of it but was removed by the director Zemekis(sp?) and replaced by Michael J Fox. The director felt Stolz was to "intense" for the role

[Bouncing Boy]

Carrol O'Conner was up for the role of The Skipper on the TV Show Gilligan's Island.

[HomerJay]

Wasn't Nick Cage originally set to play Superman with Burton directing in the 90's? Didn't they both make a few million dollars each even though there was never actually any scenes shot for the movie?
Yup. Cage had a pay-or-play deal, meaning that he got paid even though it never happened.

- The Peter Venkman role in GHOSTBUSTERS was written for John Belushi before his death.

- The roles of both Gandalf in LORD OF THE RINGS and Morpheus in THE MATRIX were offered to Sean Connery who turned it down because he didn't understand the scripts. Val Kilmer also turned down Morpheus.

- Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the roles of both Neo in THE MATRIX and Dirk Diggler in BOOGIE NIGHTS.

- Sylvester Stallone turned down the role of Det. Somerset in SEVEN.

- Lawrence Kasdan wrote THE BODYGUARD for Steve McQueen & Diana Ross.

- Warren Beatty was originally cast as Bill in KILL BILL.

- The studio wanted Robert Redford(!) to play Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER.

- Richard Kiel was originally cast as The Hulk in the Bill Bixby TV series. He was dumped after a studio exec. brought his young son on the set and the kid exclaimed, "That's not the Hulk!"

[BoosterBronze]

Jerry Van Dyke was offered Gilligan... but turned it down to do "My Mother the Car"


I heard that Will Smith and Sean Connery were first offered the roles of Neo and Morpheus.

[Cyke]

-The role of Seraph in the Matrix sequels was written with Jet Li in mind, especially since Joel Silver was a produce. However, Li declined the role so that he could film Cradle 2 Da Grave.

-Cameron Diaz was cast as Sonya Blade in the first Mortal Kombat movie, but she broke her wrist and had to be recast.

Star Trek ones:
-Tom Hanks was under consideration for the role of Dr. Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact. He was filming That Thing You Do!, so he couldn't commit.

-Sean Connery (man, his name gets tossed around a lot in this thread) was to play Sybok, Spock's half-brother, in Star Trek V. He was booked for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, though. The planet Sha Ka Ree is named in his honor.

-Jude Law lost the role of Star Trek: Nemesis villain Shinzon to Tom Hardy.

-both Sean Connery (again!) and Martin Sheen were up for the role of Section 31 agent Luthor Sloan on Deep Space Nine. Connery is friends with Patrick Stewart and Stewart urged Connery to try, but Connery backed out when he found out Sloan was to be a recurring character. Martin Sheen lost the role to William Sadler.

[brundlefly]

-Will Smith was offered the role of Neo in the Matrix, but he turned it down because neither he, nor his wife, Jada, understood the concept, so he decided to make Wild Wild West instead.

HAHAHA!!! Nice call on that, Will.

My God, Smith would have wrecked the Matrix, smirking and one-linering his way through the whole thing. I'm so glad he passed on it.


Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the roles of both Neo in THE MATRIX and Dirk Diggler in BOOGIE NIGHTS.

I remember reading that he also turned down the role of Patrick Bateman in AMERICAN PSYCHO, when Oliver Stone was attached as director.

[Ryan K]

Stuart Townsend was set to play Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. I believe they even filmed a couple days before Peter Jackson decided he wasn't right for the part (which eventually went to Viggo Mortensen).

[Cyke]

HAHAHA!!! Nice call on that, Will.

My God, Smith would have wrecked the Matrix, smirking and one-linering his way through the whole thing. I'm so glad he passed on it.


I would've cringed if he made a Matrix music video.

[Buzz Dixon]

BEVERLY HILLS COP was originally Sylvester Stallone then Mickey Rourke before deciding to be Eddie Murphy.

BTW, I think Leonardo DiCaprio was smart in turning down THE MATRIX and BOOGIE NIGHTS; he would have been adequate in both roles, not as good as the other actors were or as good as he was in other films.

Humphrey Bogart got his chance to be a star when George Raft turned down HIGH SIERRA.

Gene Autry got his shot at stardom when John Wayne (who had to be dubbed as "Singin' Sandy") suggested Autry would be a better singing cowboy.

Autry returned the favor when he volunteered for flight duty in WWII by suggested Roy Rogers be the new singing cowboy.

[Naldo]

American actor Barry Nelson was the first to portray James Bond on-screen in a 1954 TV version of Casino Royale.

Gene Hackman was the actor that series creator Sherwood Schwartz wanted as dad Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, but he wasn't well known enough.

[mattx110]

HAHAHA!!! Nice call on that, Will.

My God, Smith would have wrecked the Matrix, smirking and one-linering his way through the whole thing. I'm so glad he passed on it.



I remember reading that he also turned down the role of Patrick Bateman in AMERICAN PSYCHO, when Oliver Stone was attached as director.

cause keanu is a genius actor....
anyway, will smith does more than smirk and one-line, but the movies that call for smirk and one-lining pay reaaaaaal well.

also, how many harrison ford films cast him first. air force one... is that it? indiane jones, frisco, star wars, he's the richest, most award-winning back-up actor ever.
god, if i were making a film, i'd cast him before writing a script.

[Athena Bast]

I heard that the role of Neo in THE MATRIX was originally written for Brandon Lee.

[Kirayoshi]

I dunno if it's true, but I heard at one point that Hugh Laurie(House) was set to play Perry White in Superman Returns.

Howard Keel was originally set to star in Singing in the Rain. The original story involved a silent film extra who found fame as a singing cowboy in the talkie era. When that didn't work, they changed the story to fit Gene Kelly.

[davids]

[QUOTE=Naldo;4084269]American actor Barry Nelson was the first to portray James Bond on-screen in a 1954 TV version of Casino Royale.

And Peter lorie was the villian!

[jchichuv]

Julian McMahon Was being considered to take over the role of "James Bond" from Pierce Brosnan but lost out to Daniel Craig.

[Fish Sauce]

Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. He said he didn't "get" it.

So he made Leage of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Which is probably a good thing, cause while I do like Connery I also like Ian McKellen, but it wasn't a very good move on his part.

[Dizzy D]

Michael Gambon said that he was offered the role of James Bond after George Lazenby, but that he declined, because he considered himself "too fat". Then again, on the same talkshow he also said that he loved to tell lies to reporters.

[Forefinger]

Yup. Cage had a pay-or-play deal, meaning that he got paid even though it never happened.

- The Peter Venkman role in GHOSTBUSTERS was written for John Belushi before his death.

- The roles of both Gandalf in LORD OF THE RINGS and Morpheus in THE MATRIX were offered to Sean Connery who turned it down because he didn't understand the scripts. Val Kilmer also turned down Morpheus.

- Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the roles of both Neo in THE MATRIX and Dirk Diggler in BOOGIE NIGHTS.

- Sylvester Stallone turned down the role of Det. Somerset in SEVEN.

- Lawrence Kasdan wrote THE BODYGUARD for Steve McQueen & Diana Ross.

- Warren Beatty was originally cast as Bill in KILL BILL.

- The studio wanted Robert Redford(!) to play Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER.

- Richard Kiel was originally cast as The Hulk in the Bill Bixby TV series. He was dumped after a studio exec. brought his young son on the set and the kid exclaimed, "That's not the Hulk!"

Wow. Those are great ones. I don't think that many of the films would have turned out as well as they did with different casting choices. Matrix, Kill Bill, Seven, and LOTR films. specifically.

[ChrisIII]

Here's some potential Doctors for DOCTOR WHO who were considered but not cast:



-David Warner (Who would later play the Doctor in an alternate-universe audio play)

-Ron Moody

-Jim Dale

-Richard Hearn

-Michael Bendon

-Graham Croeden (Who would later play a character in one of Tom Baker's serials)

-Fulton Mackay

-Richard Griffiths (The uncle in the Harry Potter movies)

-Ken Campbell

-Dermot Crowley


-Bill Nighy (Apparentally was very close to getting cast in the 2005 revival...might be a possible 11th Doctor?)

-Frazier Hines (Who was also a companion)

-Alan Davies

-Harry Van Gorkum


Also, if you take concept art as an indicator, apparentally both Fiennes brothers and Russel Crowe were considered for Obi-Wan in THE PHANTOM MENACE:

http://www.cswu.cz/kostymy/obiwan/img/e1/33.jpg


http://www.cswu.cz/kostymy/obiwan/img/e1/34.jpg

[Buzz Dixon]

Howard Keel was originally set to star in Singing in the Rain. The original story involved a silent film extra who found fame as a singing cowboy in the talkie era. When that didn't work, they changed the story to fit Gene Kelly.Awwwww, man! Keel is one of my favorite actors, and on the "magic ticket" thread you'll see I'd love to enter into the worlds of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and HEARTS OF THE WEST 'cuz they're about the golden age of Hollywood and making B-Westerns. Keel as a singing Hollywood cowboy woulda been great!

[Julusnc]

Chris Farley originally tested for the voice and the characterization of Shrek but passed before actual animation began.

John Wayne and Paul Newman both passed on Dirty Harry before Clint Eastwood took over and made cops cool.

John Huston originally had the idea for The Man Who Would Be King starring Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable as English soldiers but both passed away before he decided to direct.He later cast Michael Caine and Sean Connery who did a awesome job that was passed over by Oscar.

Bela Lugosi was first cast as Frankenstein but studio decided to use an unknown character actor.

Hell in the Pacific was going to be remade with Cho Yun Fat and Tom Hanks but the idea was canned as there is very little dialog in the film...The original starred Lee Marvin and Tishiro Mifune and was a great movie.

Danny Kaye was the first choice to play the Cowardly Lion.

[brundlefly]

cause keanu is a genius actor....
anyway, will smith does more than smirk and one-line, but the movies that call for smirk and one-lining pay reaaaaaal well.

Agreed that Keanu's no genius, but he was well-cast as Neo and played the befuddled "whoa, what's going on here" role right when faced with plot twists/reveals, while Smith would have winked/smirked at the camera and then made some pop culture one-liner, all the while trying to look cool/hip. "You know the difference between you and me, Morpheus? (puts on sunglasses) I make this look good." :rolleyes: Smith's like Ben Affleck; I just can't suspend disbelief with him, whatever the role.


also, how many harrison ford films cast him first. air force one... is that it? indiane jones, frisco, star wars, he's the richest, most award-winning back-up actor ever.
god, if i were making a film, i'd cast him before writing a script.

That is surprising. Ford became guaranteed money-in-the-bank as his career went on, but it's wild how all those iconic roles he's played over the years almost went to someone else every time.

[Buzz Dixon]

Bela Lugosi was first cast as Frankenstein but studio decided to use an unknown character actor.Lugosi actually turned the role down because it was a non-speaking part. He did play the monster later in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN where the logic was was since Ygor (Lugosi) had his brain transplanted into the monster in the previous film, GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, that the monster would now look like Lugosi...

Zero Mostel recorded one of the original voice tracks to THE COBBLER AND THE THIEF but as time and budget played havoc on that production, his role was re-written and re-cast.

[sheets]

Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove was originally conceived back in the early 70s as a feature film that would have starred John Wayne and Henry Fonda.

[the film freak]

Wasn't Dustin Hoffman offered the role of Deckard in Blade Runner?

The Coen Bros were offered Batman before Tim Burton.

Christian Bale auditioned for the role of Robin in Batman Forever.

[davids]

In Geroge Bernard shaw's androclese and the Lion with Victor Mature and maurice evans. How the studio planned Marx to perform in pantomime a speaking part written by shaw to this day is unknown?

The studio wanted loyd Nolan to play the Ringo Kid in stage coach, but John Ford insisted that the big Bum [John wayne] be given the part.
Side note, John Carridine said he and the rest of the crew and actors could not understand after all the abuse Ford layed on Wayne in that move, why he didn't pick up the Old bastard and tear him in two?"

[meethraa]

Edward Norton auditioned, and was turned down, for the male lead role in Hackers.
Johnny Lee Miller got the part and shortly after married the female lead, Angelina Jolie.

Norton went on to be one of the best actors of his generation, so it wasn't a complete loss.

[Popgun]

http://www.notstarring.com/

[Cyke]

IIRC, Robin Williams was up for the Riddler in Batman Forever, and Patrick Stewart was up for Mr. Freeze for Batman and Robin. Of course, the most famous 'might have' is Billy Dee Williams for Two-Face, for the sake of consistency. Everybody knows it, but I thought it was worth repeating.

John Wayne was the original choice to play Dirty Harry Callahan, but turned it down. After seeing Clint Eastwood's success in the role, Wayne would take up the similar role of McQ.

[Buzz Dixon]

Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove was originally conceived back in the early 70s as a feature film that would have starred John Wayne and Henry Fonda.I'm assuming Fonda would have had the Duvall role -- somehow I just can't imagine Wayne obsessing on "gettin' a poke."

[Buzz Dixon]

In Geroge Bernard shaw's androclese and the Lion with Victor Mature and maurice evans. How the studio planned Marx to perform in pantomime a speaking part written by shaw to this day is unknown?

The studio wanted loyd Nolan to play the Ringo Kid in stage coach, but John Ford insisted that the big Bum [John wayne] be given the part.
Side note, John Carridine said he and the rest of the crew and actors could not understand after all the abuse Ford layed on Wayne in that move, why he didn't pick up the Old bastard and tear him in two?"DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD is a documentary that ran recently on TCM; several of the actors involved in Ford's productions (including Wayne) commented on the fact that one wasn't a member of Ford's inner circle until you had been put in the hot seat. That Carradine wondered why Wayne took the abuse is indicative of him not being part of that inner circle.

I can easily imagine Harpo as a mime Androcolese. It would have possibly been a better movie insofar as it would have required the film makers to show a lot of story otherwise passed off as exposition.

[Buzz Dixon]

John Wayne was the original choice to play Dirty Harry Callahan, but turned it down. After seeing Clint Eastwood's success in the role, Wayne would take up the similar role of McQ.He shoulda stood in bed. McQ is one of Wayne's weakest films. An Italian Western star could play Dirty Harry, not a Hollywood Western star. (Sidebar: I recently re-watched MY NAME IS NOBODY on the Western channel. It's an okay Italian Western comedy that's really about the conflict of the old style Westerns as typified by co-star Henry Fonda with the new style Italian Westerns as typified by the other co-star, Terrance Hill. A Terrance Hill could play Dirty harry, a Henry Fonda could not.)

[Buzz Dixon]

Tangenitally to cowboy stars and Dirty Harry and James Bond, one of my favorite comedies is THE LOVED ONE which manages to spoof both Hollywood and the funeral industry (if you haven't seen this one, catch it the next time it's on TCM; it's one of the few movies that ever lived up to its billing, in this case "The Movie With Something To Offend Everyone").

One of the best scenes involves some studio execs deciding to cast their cowboy star Dusty Acres (played by Robert Easton, a still active actor who specializes in hillbillies, hicks, and cattle punchers http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0247691/) as a suave English spy "like James Bond only with more heart." Assigning him a dialect coach, they ask Acres if he thinks he can do an English accent. Acres drawls, "Well, I tell you what, you throw a saddle on him an' I'll try to ride him around the corral."