Almost cast actors that could have worked

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AustinAg2K
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8:55a, 9/15/26
Whenever I see a story about actors that turned down a role or weren't cast due whatever reason, I almost always think, "Thank goodness. He/she would have sucked." One that I think could have worked would have been Tom Selleck as Indy. Obviously, they would have had to do some things different, but I feel like Selleck and Ford have a similar type of charisma. I can't guarantee it would have been the same cultural touchstone, but I think Raiders would have still ended up being a smashing hit.

Any others out there where you think the actor who missed out would have been as good, or even better?
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Head Ninja In Charge
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9:07a, 9/15/26
AG
Tupac as O-Dog in Menace II Society. Larenz Tate played an all-time character for sure. Tupac would've brought a different level of unhinged. He was a better actor than he was a rapper and he was a great rapper. Couldn't get out of his own way though.
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agdoc2001
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9:12a, 9/15/26
AG
Christopher Walken as Hans Solo

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Rex Racer
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9:26a, 9/15/26
AG
  • Emily Blunt as Black Widow (Iron Man 2) and many other Marvel films it would have led to.
  • Hugh Jackman as James Bond (Casino Royale) and the other most recent Bond films.
I can see either of those working well.

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MSFC Aggie
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11:17a, 9/15/26
AG
This is a difficult concept. I just can't imagine other actors in some of these roles, because it's burned into me. I mean, Selleck could have been a great Indy......and then it would have been hard to imagine Ford doing it.
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rononeill
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11:37a, 9/15/26
Craig T Nelson should have been John Clark- not Defoe.
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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to MSFC Aggie • 11:55a, 9/15/26
AG
MSFC Aggie said:
This is a difficult concept. I just can't imagine other actors in some of these roles, because it's burned into me. I mean, Selleck could have been a great Indy......and then it would have been hard to imagine Ford doing it.
There was actually a poster made that featured Selleck. Same poster that featured Ford.
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Moe Jzyslak
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12:07p, 9/15/26
AG
Chris Farley was supposed to be Shrek. Had a good amount of the dialogue recorded too before he passed away
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Queso1
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12:18p, 9/15/26
AG
Eric Stolz in BTTF may have worked but I think MJF fit the role perfectly as McFly. He was absolute 80s teenager.
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Head Ninja In Charge
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12:24p, 9/15/26
AG
Not sure if he would've been better, but Will Smith has turned down some insane lead roles:

- Neo in the Matrix (Keanu Reeves)
- Cobb in Inception (Leonardi DiCaprio)
- Django in Django Unchained (Jamie Foxx)

There are a few other examples.
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MSFC Aggie
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In reply to Queso1 • 12:26p, 9/15/26
AG
Exactly.....when I first saw the BTTF trailer, I was like.....the dude from Family Ties???. But MJF nailed it. Hard to imagine anyone else as Marty.
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AustinAg2K
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In reply to Queso1 • 12:51p, 9/15/26
Queso1 said:
Eric Stolz in BTTF may have worked but I think MJF fit the role perfectly as McFly. He was absolute 80s teenager.


Counterpoint, Eric Stoltz was fired from BTTF, meaning ever l the movies creators didn't think he was doing a good job. This is different than Selleck, who the creators wanted, but schedules didn't work out.
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AustinAg2K
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In reply to Head Ninja In Charge • 12:54p, 9/15/26
Head Ninja In Charge said:
Not sure if he would've been better, but Will Smith has turned down some insane lead roles:

- Neo in the Matrix (Keanu Reeves)
- Cobb in Inception (Leonardi DiCaprio)
- Django in Django Unchained (Jamie Foxx)

There are a few other examples.


I know Will Smith can be a good actor, but I have a hard time separating him from his Bad Boys/Men In Black type character, which would have been awful for all of those roles.

Will Smith as Neo was actually who I was thinking of as a, "I can't see it" example in my original post.
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Bruce Almighty
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1:04p, 9/15/26
AG
I could see Will Smith in Django.
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Rex Racer
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In reply to AustinAg2K • 1:15p, 9/15/26
AG
AustinAg2K said:
Queso1 said:
Eric Stolz in BTTF may have worked but I think MJF fit the role perfectly as McFly. He was absolute 80s teenager.


Counterpoint, Eric Stoltz was fired from BTTF, meaning ever l the movies creators didn't think he was doing a good job. This is different than Selleck, who the creators wanted, but schedules didn't work out.

Robert Zemeckis originally wanted Michael J. Fox. He had settled on Stoltz because of Fox's demanding shooting schedule on "Family Ties". But Stoltz played Marty too dramatic, straight, and brooding. The movie had no humor. Zemeckis has said Stoltz was a good actor, but he was just all wrong for the part. So that's when they fired him and got Michael J. Fox to shoot at night and over the weekend. Poor guy got no sleep!
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YouBet
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In reply to Rex Racer • 1:23p, 9/15/26
AG
Rex Racer said:
AustinAg2K said:
Queso1 said:
Eric Stolz in BTTF may have worked but I think MJF fit the role perfectly as McFly. He was absolute 80s teenager.


Counterpoint, Eric Stoltz was fired from BTTF, meaning ever l the movies creators didn't think he was doing a good job. This is different than Selleck, who the creators wanted, but schedules didn't work out.

Robert Zemeckis originally wanted Michael J. Fox. He had settled on Stoltz because of Fox's demanding shooting schedule on "Family Ties". But Stoltz played Marty too dramatic, straight, and brooding. The movie had no humor. Zemeckis has said Stoltz was a good actor, but he was just all wrong for the part. So that's when they fired him and got Michael J. Fox to shoot at night and over the weekend. Poor guy got no sleep!

This one has always fascinated me because I can absolutely see Stoltz in that role since he looked like and had similar mannerisms to MJF. I guess he just acted it wrongly.

It's the first and only example I could think of when I read OP.
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O.G.
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In reply to agdoc2001 • 2:36p, 9/15/26
agdoc2001 said:
Christopher Walken as Hans Solo


Now you have Han Solo lines, in Walken's voice going through my head....
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Enrico Pallazzo
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2:53p, 9/15/26
On the Rewatchables, I always enjoy the "Cruise or Hanks?" hypothetical. Regardless of the movie they are discussing (which neither is in), they decide which one would better for it and which role it would be.
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MW03
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3:13p, 9/15/26
AG
Jodie Foster turned down Princess Leia.

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MW03
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3:25p, 9/15/26
AG
Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone

John Travolta turned down Forrest Gump to make Pulp Fiction.

Burt Reynolds was supposed to be Bond after Connery.

Speaking of Connery, Ian McKellan and Mark Ordesky say Connery turned down the role of Gandolf. That article is pretty wild. Harvey Weinstein wanted to kick Peter Jackson off the project and hire Tarantino to make them. Can you imagine a Tarantino version of The Lord of the Rings? I cannot.

Regarding Connery, this article says they offered him 15% of the box office to play Gandolf.

Quote:
In what might well be the most famous "what if" in Hollywood casting history, Sir Sean Connery was probably the biggest name New Line Cinema eyed for the role of Gandalf. The studio apparently pulled out all the stops to convince him to join Middle-earth, offering a staggering salary and a 15% cut of the trilogy's total box office receipts, which would have netted him around $450 million.

Not yet retired, Connery infamously turned down the role entirely because he simply did not understand the material. It was a stunning example of poor judgment, as revealed by producer Mark Ordesky "We did make an offer to Connery but he said no. We never got an answer until years later, but apparently he read the material and just didn't get it."

To be fair to Connery, he later admitted that he eventually read JRR Tolkein's book, the script, and watched the finished films, and his opinion didn't change, even with 450 million reasons to regret: "I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it."

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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to MW03 • 3:40p, 9/15/26
AG
Sir Sean Connery as Gandalf: You shall not pass, motherf……!
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O.G.
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In reply to MW03 • 3:44p, 9/15/26
MW03 said:
Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone

John Travolta turned down Forrest Gump to make Pulp Fiction.

Burt Reynolds was supposed to be Bond after Connery.

Speaking of Connery, Ian McKellan and Mark Ordesky say Connery turned down the role of Gandolf. That article is pretty wild. Harvey Weinstein wanted to kick Peter Jackson off the project and hire Tarantino to make them. Can you imagine a Tarantino version of The Lord of the Rings? I cannot.

Regarding Connery, this article says they offered him 15% of the box office to play Gandolf.

Quote:
In what might well be the most famous "what if" in Hollywood casting history, Sir Sean Connery was probably the biggest name New Line Cinema eyed for the role of Gandalf. The studio apparently pulled out all the stops to convince him to join Middle-earth, offering a staggering salary and a 15% cut of the trilogy's total box office receipts, which would have netted him around $450 million.

Not yet retired, Connery infamously turned down the role entirely because he simply did not understand the material. It was a stunning example of poor judgment, as revealed by producer Mark Ordesky "We did make an offer to Connery but he said no. We never got an answer until years later, but apparently he read the material and just didn't get it."

To be fair to Connery, he later admitted that he eventually read JRR Tolkein's book, the script, and watched the finished films, and his opinion didn't change, even with 450 million reasons to regret: "I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it."


James Brolin was almost Bond is Octo....that one.



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fc2112
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4:14p, 9/15/26
Shirley Temple as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. She'd have been great.
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javajaws
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In reply to Cinco Ranch Aggie • 4:17p, 9/15/26
AG
Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Sir Sean Connery as Gandalf: You shall not pass, motherf……!

I only hear Samuel L Jackson when I read that line in my head lol
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin
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AustinAg2K
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In reply to MW03 • 4:51p, 9/15/26
MW03 said:
Can you imagine a Tarantino version of The Lord of the Rings? I cannot.

I can't either, but I absolutely want to see it.
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TXAG 05
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In reply to MW03 • 5:03p, 9/15/26
AG
MW03 said:
Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone

John Travolta turned down Forrest Gump to make Pulp Fiction.

Burt Reynolds was supposed to be Bond after Connery.

Speaking of Connery, Ian McKellan and Mark Ordesky say Connery turned down the role of Gandolf. That article is pretty wild. Harvey Weinstein wanted to kick Peter Jackson off the project and hire Tarantino to make them. Can you imagine a Tarantino version of The Lord of the Rings? I cannot.

Regarding Connery, this article says they offered him 15% of the box office to play Gandolf.

Quote:
In what might well be the most famous "what if" in Hollywood casting history, Sir Sean Connery was probably the biggest name New Line Cinema eyed for the role of Gandalf. The studio apparently pulled out all the stops to convince him to join Middle-earth, offering a staggering salary and a 15% cut of the trilogy's total box office receipts, which would have netted him around $450 million.

Not yet retired, Connery infamously turned down the role entirely because he simply did not understand the material. It was a stunning example of poor judgment, as revealed by producer Mark Ordesky "We did make an offer to Connery but he said no. We never got an answer until years later, but apparently he read the material and just didn't get it."

To be fair to Connery, he later admitted that he eventually read JRR Tolkein's book, the script, and watched the finished films, and his opinion didn't change, even with 450 million reasons to regret: "I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it."


I believe Patrick Stewart was also in the running for Gandalf. And Christopher Lee wanted the role, but they case him as Saruman instead.
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VP at Pierce and Pierce
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6:50a, 9/16/26
Leo as Patrick Bateman. Not sure he does the character as well as Bale but would have painted Leo in a different light career wise. Felt like he wasn't taken seriously as an actor until he crushed it in The Departed.
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One Eyed Reveille
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3:54p, 9/16/26
AG
One I saw recently was Nicolas Cage as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. I just don't see that AT ALL

but at the same time it had Russell Crowe as Aragorn or Boromir. I could have seen him as Boromir
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Mathguy64
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In reply to One Eyed Reveille • 4:43p, 9/16/26
AG
One Eyed Reveille said:
One I saw recently was Nicolas Cage as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. I just don't see that AT ALL

but at the same time it had Russell Crowe as Aragorn or Boromir. I could have seen him as Boromir


Fat Crowe or thin Crowe? Because at one time he was a happy meal shy of 3 bills.
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boy09
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5:02p, 9/16/26
AG
Steve Carell as Michael Scott is iconic, but Bob Odenkirk could have killed it as well.

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HalifaxAg
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In reply to Cinco Ranch Aggie • 6:22p, 9/16/26
AG
Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Sir Sean Connery as Gandalf: You shall not pass, motherf……!


I think you mean Sam Jackson.....as the "white wizard"
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HalifaxAg
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6:24p, 9/16/26
AG
No one mentioned Nick Cage as Superman!?
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agimarc
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3:21p, 9/17/26
Gig Young was originally cast as the Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles. Collapsed on set the first day of shooting due to either withdrawal or inebriation. Gene Wilder stepped in wonderfully. Cheers -
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bagger05
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4:22p, 9/17/26
AG
I always thought Will Smith would've been great as Neo.

Michael Keaton turned down Groundhog Day, which I think is a pretty perfect movie as is, but I bet he would've nailed it. Not better than Bill Murray but I think he would've been great.

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malenurse
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In reply to agimarc • 6:41p, 9/17/26
AG
agimarc said:
Gig Young was originally cast as the Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles. Collapsed on set the first day of shooting due to either withdrawal or inebriation. Gene Wilder stepped in wonderfully. Cheers -

Richard Pryor was one of the writers and campaigned for the role of Bart. IIRC, his drug issues made Brooks choose Clevon Little.
The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But, it's still on the list.
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