I really get a kick out of reading about the casting choices that were made for movies and TV shows, and the people who were considered for roles, and trying to imagine what might have been.
What if the Brady Bunch had starred Gene Hackman instead of Robert Reed?
Can you imagine Mickey Rooney and Harrison Ford as Archie Bunker and the Meathead?
Would Raiders of the Lost Ark be a classic if it had starred Tom Selleck?
Star Trek: The Motion Picture would have been very different with Lance Henriksen as Capt. Decker.
And Octop***y might have taken on some B-movie badness with Persis Khambatta in the title role.
My absolute favourite, however, would have to be the alternate cast of Gilligan's Island, with Jerry Van Dyke as Gilligan, Caroll O'Connor as the Skipper, Dabney Coleman as the Professor, Jayne Mansfield as Ginger and Raquel Welch as Mary Ann.
Not that any of these would be better or worse, just very different.
Other examples?
Post Edited (04-13-04 12:10)
I've wondered what Raiders...would have been like with Selleck. I grew up watching Magnum PI, so I'm already something of a fan, I also enjoy his recent westerns. I think he could have made a pretty decent go of it.
What about Sinatra as Dirty Harry? Errol Flynn as Rhett Butler? Elvis as Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy? Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neil, or Burt Reynolds as Michael Corleone? All these guys were considered for the above mentioned roles, I'm not sure how seriously.
Raquel Welch as Mary Ann? The Ginger or Mary Ann question would have gotten even more lopsided.
And of course, there is Ronald Reagan as Rick Blaine. Would we have wound up with Bogie as president?
Breakfast Club
( I can't remember most of the characters name so for most I'm going by character type)
Claire: Carmen Electra
Punk dude: David Hayter
Quite Girl: Lucciel Bal (ms)
Jock: Leonardo Decaprio
Brian: Sean Connery
Princible: Keanu Reeves
Janitor: Arnold Swartchzegger (ms)
It's been a while since I've snickered while typeing. It's kind of amusing picturing all these people playing teens.
I think you missed the point of the thread. All of the things that were mentioned before were casting choices that were actually considered or made, but for some reason fell through.
I was just a few minutes ago watching the Commentary on "Monsters, Inc." and learned that Billy Crystal was the original voice talent slated for Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story."
These things are kinda tough to think about for me. I mean, so much of a character is the actor chosen to play it. It is really difficult to imagine how a given film would be with a different person playing a part (maybe remakes give some clue, and I generally don't like those), but again, this is seen through the lens of that first experience. We'd need Ash's Movie Memory Eraser to fully appreciate such a change.
On a slightly different note, one casting choice that has me scratching my head a little bit the The Rock as Buford Pusser (I have nothing in general against The Rock, whose real name is Dewey). It remains to be seen how his portrayal of Pusser will be received.
Gotta get my two cents in:
What would Captain Kirk have been like played by Loyd Bridges or Jack Lord?
Lance Henrikson as the Terminator? Arnold as Kyle Reese? He was originally cast as the soldier from the future, and when Cameron came up with the idea he drew the Terminator's face with some of the metal exposed using Lance's face.
I saw a biography of Tom Selleck recently and he said that CBS took so long to give Magnum a go that he would have had time to make Raiders while waiting for them to decide. . In fact Lucas and Spielberg tried to work a deal with CBS for him to do it.
The Eddie Izzard/Doctor Who rumor. Man, that would have kicked so much ass.
Brother R
It really is something to think about. The more I think about it, the more I realize that some of these decisions, if made differently, could have had far-reaching effects. Classics we all grew up with might have failed, while different things might have succeeded. People's careers might have gone in entirely different directions. Our favourite movies might not have been made, or might have been drastically different. We might have had different heroes. Toys, promotions, cheap knock-off movies - all different. You can just imagine how the effects would ripple through popular culture.
Lance Henrikson as Decker in Star Trek-TMP?!? Holy crap that would have been awesome. For the most part I don't like Stephen Collins' acting at all, but I was able to tolerate him as Decker.
This got me thinking back to 'Last Action Hero' where it had Stallone as Terminator.
That always made me laugh.
It kinda makes me wonder what would've happened to these big action movies if someone else played the lead role. Would Terminator have gone to number 3 if Stallone was in it? I think it could've.
Another point could be, what if Clooney or Kilmer had played the original Batman in Tim Burton's movie? Would that have meant that we wouldn't have gotten Batman and Robin?
It's interesting how all these big name Action stars are famous for one [or two or three] main roles and how they are so completely defined by those roles that it takes them years to break away from that image. Just imagine how it could've turned out for them; Stallone doing more 'Stop or my mom will shoot' comedies or Arnie playing the romantic lead in Sleepless in Seattle. [it could work...]
-=NiGHTS=-:
*snicker* whoops!
Carrie Fisher was originally going to play Carrie and Sissy Spacek was originally going to play Princess Leia, but they ended up swapping roles. At least that's what I've read.
. . . . I believe, Patton Oswalt made a joke about Nick Nolte being considered for the Hans Solo part, which he says was true (I don't really know). For some reason I think Sissy Spacek was also considered for the lead in Rabid.
Patton Oswalt (round-about generalization):
... "uhh, jcheezus" chewbacca... with empty beer cans hanging out of his utility belt... gut hanging out... hungover...
Yeah. It was the thought of Burt Raynolds as Michael Corleone that really made me wonder. Imagine if he had gone the route of Pacino instead of doing a string of Hal Needham action comedies.
Robert Mitchum and Marlon Brando were both sought for the role that Tony Curtis eventually played in The Defiant Ones. Mitchum said no, Brando said he'd do it if he could play the black guy.
I wonder if Burt Reynolds gets depressed when he watches Deliverance, wondering what could have been if he'd done more dramatic work. He can actually be a VERY good actor in the right role, but he went the Smokey and the Bandit role.
Possibly bad for Burt, but movies like Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run are still favourites of mine.
I suppose Burt did some more poignant comedy with stuff like The End. And he really got a chance to do some acting in The Longest Yard, which I really liked.
If Burt had gone the route of serious dramatic actor, I would have missed out on a lot of good movies - or they would have been different. Perhaps Burt never would have achieved much fame at all. He might have become more of a charactor actor, like Ronny Cox or Ned Beatty.
On the other hand, maybe the fun Hal Needham stuff was a better fit for him.
It's fun to think about it.
Man, I cannot think of anyone playing "Carrie" better than Sissy Spacek. She had that hallow 'is there REALLY anyone in there' look down...
IMO, she was PERFECT for that role. Certainly would not have been the same movie had someone else got the part. Sometimes, the visual impact of an actor/actress is a big part of the role.
Okey...Lloyd Bridges as Kirk...
John Carridine as Spock...
and Darrin McGavin as Bones!
I like this thread! Its perfect for my experiments...like a head swap, "Futurama" style...
How abuot Burtion and O'Toole who supposedly were debating who would play King Henry and who would play Beckett in "Beckett"
You missed by far the best:
Toshiro Mifune as Obi-Wan Kenobi.