10 Actors That Weren't The First Choice For Roles They Landed

What's crazy is this kind of thing happens all the time. Due to scheduling conflicts or creative disputes, actors often drop out of big projects, forcing filmmakers to go down a list of possible stars, looking for a replacement. And more often than not, picking your number two guy (or number three or number ten) leads to serious movie magic. Need proof? Then check out these ladies and gents, all talented actors who weren't the first choice for roles they landed. 1. Dougray Scott as Wolverine. It’s pretty hard to imagine anyone but Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine. He has played the character in seven films, as well as voicing him in any video game or animated series the character has appeared in. However, he wasn’t the first choice. The role was originally set to go to Dougray Scott, however, around the same time, Scott had been hand-picked by Tom Cruise to play the lead-villain in Mission: Impossible II. Filming for Mission: Impossible fell behind schedule, so Wolverine needed to be recast. 2. Ryan Gosling in The Lovely Bones This is another case of Peter Jackson using the ‘too young’ excuse. The original casting for The Lovely Bones saw Ryan Gosling taking the role of the father. In order to seem more ‘fatherly’, Gosling decided to gain some weight, but Jackson was still unconvinced and recast the role to Mark Wahlberg. The film was far from commercially successful, so we have to wonder whether it would have had the same response had Gosling starred. 3. Aaliyah in The Matrix Reloaded Before her passing, Aaliyah’s film career was taking off. The R&B legend had already begun shooting the final installment in the Matrix Trilogy when she tragically died in a plane crash. The role was taken by Nona Gaye, the daughter of Marvin Gaye, who didn’t quite stand out like Aaliyah would have. Her star power might’ve been just what the movie needed. 4. Nicole Kidman in Mr. & Mrs. Smith Filming for Mr. and Mrs. Smith sounds like a nightmare. At first, the roles were to be played by Johnny Depp and Nicole Kidman. Depp would turn down the role, feeling overworked by all the movies he was shooting at the time, and Brad Pitt replaced him. At some point, filming was halted for three months so Pitt could film Ocean’s Twelve. Then, Nicole Kidman decided to leave the film for Stepford Wives, and Pitt decided to pull out because of this. Angelina Jolie then took Kidman’s role, which was enough to convince Pitt to return to set. Of course, everything went swimmingly after this for everybody, except Brad Pitt’s wife at the time… 5. Leonardo DiCaprio in American Psycho. Lionsgate wanted more star power for this book adaption, and Christian Bale was just starting out, so the studio suggested Leonardo DiCaprio for the role. However, Bale was director Mary Harron’s first choice, and was reluctant to give him up. Had the studio gone with DiCaprio, they would lose their director, so they decided to stick with Harron/Bale and go for a smaller budget film. 6. Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones Tom Selleck was given the tough choice of deciding between Indiana Jones and Magnum P.I. Of course, he chose Magnum P.I., which made him a household name. However, while he’s got an integral place in television history, his movie career never took off. Meanwhile, Harrison Ford played Indy, and has been a Hollywood mainstay ever since. 7. Bette Midler in Sister Act. Whoopi Goldberg’s black jokes were originally written as Jewish jokes, as Bette Midler was the first choice for the starring role. Midler didn’t feel her fans could see her as a nun, so she chose to turn down the role. This was the film that springboarded Whoopi from a streak of Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations to her first Best Lead Actress nod. 8. Eric Stoltz (and John Lithgow) in Back to the Future The first choices for Marty and Doc were Michael J. Fox and John Lithgow (3rd Rock From The Sun). Lithgow was unavailable, allowing Christopher Lloyd to take the role. Due to his commitment to Family Ties, MJF was unable to partake, so Eric Stoltz took the role instead. Stoltz actually filmed as Marty McFly for four weeks before director Robert Zemeckis felt he was wrong for the role. They were able to get Fox eventually, and Zemeckis and Stephen Spielberg spent $3 million to reshoot the scenes with Fox. 10. Melinda Clarke in Scream Melinda Clarke auditioned for the role of Sidney Prescott in the iconic slasher film, however, she landed the role of Tatum Riley. Clarke wasn’t satisfied with this position and chose to turn it down. Tatum then went to Rose McGowan, who shined in the role. 11. Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried in Mean Girls. The original casting for Mean Girls saw Lindsay Lohan as Rachel McAdams’ character Regina George, while Amanda Seyfried was slated to star as Cady Heron in her first ever movie. At the time, Lohan was trying to save her image, so she wanted to play a more down-to-earth, wholesome character. So in the end, she got the role of Cady and Seyfried landed the role of Karen Smith. Everyone was absolutely perfect in their characters, so we’re glad things worked out the way they did. Credits: emgn.com Share this story on Facebook with your friends.