Spinoff from the Matrix thread. I love this kind of stuff, and I thought TCTTS's comments on the matrix thread about that casting was super interesting.

Anyway, it got me thinking about the other alternate casting universes. There are the ubiquitous ones (like Michael J Fox replacing Eric Stoltz in BTTF), but I came across some others that blew my mind a little bit.

For example, apparently John Travolta turned down the role of Forrest Gump so he could make Pulp Fiction. Another one that shocked me: Matthew Broderick turned down the role of Walter White in Breaking Bad.

Another favorite was Mike Myers stepping in to voice Shrek after Chris Farley died when 90% of the movie was completed.

And then there's Sean Connery turning down the role of Gandolf in LOTR. Freaking James Bond playing Gandolf.

Love this.

Off the top on my head, a huge "what if" relevant to today... Tobey Maguire had such terrible back issues in the lead-up to filming Spider-Man 2 that meetings were held with Jake Gyllenhaal about taking over the role should Maguire not be good to go. Apparently it came down to the wire, and Maguire obviously persisted. If not, though, we'd most likely have someone else in the role of Mysterio this summer...

Matthew Broderick turned down the role of Alex P Keaton on Family Ties too.

DiCaprio turning down Boogie Nights for Titanic...

John Krasinski as Steve Rogers. Emily Blunt as Natasha Romanoff. Both were passed over (at least Krasinski was).

Anne Hathaway cast in Knocked Up, only to drop out at the last minute and be replaced by Katherine Heigl...

Good one. And yeah, I think Blunt actually got the part, but had to drop out due to scheduling.

Christopher Walken as Han Solo is who Lucas originally wanted in the role.

McConaughey in Titanic would've been a very different movie.

Will Smith turned down Django because he felt that Waltz's character was the real lead.

Good move, I just can't see him as a slave.

I had an old memory pop up that Tom Selleck was originally cast for Indiana Jones. So I looked it up and that's true. However, Spielberg originally wanted Ford but Lucas was against it. So the cast Selleck. Then CBS refused to let him out of his Magnum PI contract to film, so he was dumped and Ford was cast three weeks before shooting began. And as it turned out, filming for the next season of Magnum PI didn't start until after Raiders had wrapped so he really could have done both. Thank you CBS for ensuring Tom Selleck was not Indy.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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McConaughey in Titanic would've been a very different movie.

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Kate Winslet to McConaughey as Jack: " Hold on, Jack. I won't let you go."
McConaughey in response: " Alright, alright, alright." ( and then he sinks into the depths)

The guy that played Bullseye in the Daredevil series was in the final two with Chris Evans to play Captain America.

Charles Grodin turned down The Graduate. I think he turned down a couple of additional iconic roles.

Burt Reynolds turned done James Bond,

Seriously.

Mel Brooks offered the role of the Waco Kid to John Wayne when he was making Blazing Saddles. That would have been awesome.

Sean Connery replacing Klaus Brandauer in Hunt for Red October.

Dave Chappelle as Bubba in Forrest Gump.

Belton Ag said:

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Mel Brooks offered the role of the Waco Kid to John Wayne when he was making Blazing Saddles. That would have been awesome.

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Yeah, he turned it down saying is was "too dirty" but told Mel that he'd "be the first in line to see it." Also, Frankie Laine sang the opening theme like it was a serious film because they forgot to tell him it was a comedy.

Lonesome Dove was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

oragator said:

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Burt Reynolds turned done James Bond,

Seriously.

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I wouldn't have thought they would have offered it to a non-Brit.

Sean Connery turned down....

John Hammond from Jurassic Park
Morpheus from The Matrix
Gandalf from LOTR

Talk about a trifecta....

CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Belton Ag said:

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Mel Brooks offered the role of the Waco Kid to John Wayne when he was making Blazing Saddles. That would have been awesome.

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Yeah, he turned it down saying is was "too dirty" but told Mel that he'd "be the first in line to see it." Also, Frankie Laine sang the opening theme like it was a serious film because they forgot to tell him it was a comedy.

Lonesome Dove was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

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You can't beat the cast they ended up with, but this would've been bad ass.

Sean Connery didn't turn down LOTR for Gandalf, all the websites that say that are hack jobs. He was the immediate rumored favorite when the series was announced because most Americans only know like 3 English actors and he had been in Indiana Jones, Hunt for Red October, and the Rock in the decade before LOTR was announced. Although it is fun to think of Sean Connery Gandalf saying "You mean the Fields of the Pelennor have become a tourist attraction?"

Stuart Townsend was cast as Aragorn but fired very early in the process and replaced with VIggo Mortensen.
Dougray Scott turned down Wolverine in X-Men to be in Mission Impossible II.

The Walken thing isn't entirely true either. He did audition for Solo but Lucas's initial choice was a black actor whose name I can't remember right now. Both he and Fox feared the world wasn't ready for an interracial romance between that Han and the 20-year-old Carrie Fisher and it was scrapped. Then the whole story of Ford doing carpentry work at the studio comes in with Lucas asking him to read lines and finding him leaps and bounds above everyone else. Also true that Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) auditioned to be Luke.

I've said it many times on the SW board, but if you want to know everything you never knew about SW, the SW Annotated Screenplays are the best book about the OT ever.

Christopher Walken was an early choice for Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus for AOTC, but I believe something to do with SAG membership led them to cast Christopher Lee.

He turned it down for that reason,

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/18/burt-reynolds-regrets-turning-down-james-bond-role

He also turned down Han Solo. That one might have worked, but also might have ruined the chemistry of that film.

The Jurassic Park one reminded me that Harrison Ford turned down Dr. Grant.

Travolta was supposed to play "Mayonnaise" in Officer and A Gentleman.

Dustin Hoffman was in Star Wars.

oragator said:

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Burt Reynolds turned done James Bond,

Seriously.

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also Reynolds was the front runner for Han Solo and turned it down too.

queso1 said:

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Travolta was supposed to play "Mayonnaise" in Officer and A Gentleman.

Dustin Hoffman was in Star Wars.

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^ i got it......

Seinfeld reference

TCTTS said:

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The Jurassic Park one reminded me that Harrison Ford turned down Dr. Grant.

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Rosie O'Donnell turned down the role of the T-Rex.

CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Lonesome Dove was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

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Anyone who won't cheat for a p-p-po-p-poke don't w-want one bad enough.

Where are you getting that Connery didn't turn down Gandalf?

https://www.newshub.co.nz/general/sean-connery-explains-turning-down-gandalf-role-2012111915

Quote:

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Lonesome Dove (the book) was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

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Lonesome Dove was written after Wayne had been dead for nearly a decade and Stewart was in his late 70s. Fonda was dead too.

Ol Jock 99 said:

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Quote:

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Lonesome Dove was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

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Lonesome Dove was written after Wayne had been dead for nearly a decade and Stewart was in his late 70s. Fonda was dead too.

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The story started as a screenplay, and was in development Hell for years. McMurty then decided to turn the story into a novel.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Ol Jock 99 said:

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Quote:

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Lonesome Dove was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

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Lonesome Dove was written after Wayne had been dead for nearly a decade and Stewart was in his late 70s. Fonda was dead too.

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The story started as a screenplay, and was in development Hell for years. McMurty then decided to turn the story into a novel.

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This. In the early '70's Peter Bogdonovich wanted to work with Larry McMurtry again after The Last Picture Show which was also based on a McMurtry novel. The screenplay he produced was for Lonesome Dove but as stated above, it was in development hell for years. McMurtry bought the rights to the story back and adapted into the novel it became.

So it was a screenplay turned into a book turned into a miniseries? Interesting.

Personally, I'm glad they didn't make the movie. The miniseries was near perfection.

agenjake said:

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CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Lonesome Dove was originally a screenplay with John Wayne in mind for Woodrow, Jimmy Stewart for Gus and Henry Fonda for Jake Spoon.

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Anyone who won't cheat for a p-p-po-p-poke don't w-want one bad enough.

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Genius