When it comes to our favorite movie characters we can’t imagine any other actors having portrayed them. Take for example, Indiana Jones. Can you imagine if Danny Devito had been given that role? Crap, me either. Here’s a list of 26 beloved main characters and the actors that almost played them. Why 26? Because I was shooting for 25 and went 1 over…sue me!
INDIANA JONES
WAS: Harrison Ford
ALMOST WAS: Tom Selleck (Not available due to conflicts with Magnum P.I.)
THE TERMINATOR
WAS: Arnold Schwarzenegger
ALMOST WAS: Lance Henriksen (The guy who played the android Bishop in Alien*)
HAN SOLO
WAS: Harrison Ford
ALMOST WAS: Burt Reynolds, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte (All fine actors but…c’mon!)
MARTY McFLY (Back to the Future)
WAS: Michael J. Fox
ALMOST WAS: Eric Stoltz (His acting was too dramatic)
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN WILLARD (Apocalypse Now)
WAS: Martin Sheen
ALMOST WAS: Harvey Keitel
RIPLEY (Alien)
WAS: Sigourni Weaver
ALMOST WAS: Veronica Cartwright
PETER VENKMAN (Ghostbusters)
WAS: Bill Muarray
ALMOST WAS: John Belushi (I guess he could’ve played a ghost…)
BEETLEJUICE
WAS: Michael Keaton
ALMOST WAS: Sammy Davis, Jr. (No, I’m not kidding. I’d like to see this, actually)
MAVERICK (Top Gun)
WAS: Tom Cruise
ALMOST WAS: Matthew Modine
SPIDER-MAN
WAS: Tobey Maguire
ALMOST WAS: Leonardo DiCaprio
NEO (The Matrix)
WAS: Keanu Reeves
ALMOST WAS: Ewan McGregor, Leonardo DiCaprio
ROBOCOP
WAS: Peter Weller
ALMOST WAS: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Considered too big), Lance Henriksen (Bishop from Alien* again)
SUPERMAN
WAS: Christopher Reeve
ALMOST WAS: Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, James Caan, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds
FORREST GUMP
WAS: Tom Hanks
ALMOST WAS: Bill Murray, Chevy Chase (Chevy turned this role down…fantastic move, bud!)
BATMAN
WAS: Michael Keaton
ALMOST WAS: Alec Baldwin, Billy Murray, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Sheen, Tom Selleck, Mel Gibson
McMURPHY (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
WAS: Jack Nicholson
ALMOST WAS: James Caan
ALEX (A Clockwork Orange)
WAS: Malcolm MacDowell
ALMOST WAS: Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons
FERRIS BUELLER
WAS: Matthew Broderick
ALMOST WAS: John Cusack, Jim Carrey, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Michael J. Fox
CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW
WAS: Johnny Depp
ALMOST WAS: Michael Keaton, Jim Carrey, Christopher Walken
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
WAS: Johnny Depp
ALMOST WAS: Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr.
JOHN McCLANE (Die Hard)
WAS: Bruce Willis
ALMOST WAS: Richard Gere
“DIRTY” HARRY CALLAHAN
WAS: Clint Eastwood
ALMOST WAS: Frank Sinatra (Are you feelin’ lucky, kiddo?)
DON VITO CORLEONE
WAS: Marlon Brando
ALMOST WAS: Frank Sinatra (Sinatra offered, but Coppola was adamant about casting Brando.)
ANDY DUFRENSE (The Shawshank Redemption)
WAS: Tim Robbins
ALMOST WAS: Kevin Costner (He later strongly regretted turning the role down…we don’t.)
CAPTAIN JOHN MILLER (Saving Private Ryan)
WAS: Tom Hanks
ALMOST WAS: Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson (Wouldn’t have been so bad, eh?)
RICK DECKARD (Blade Runner)
WAS: Harrison Ford
ALMOST WAS: Dustin Hoffman (Dressed as Tootsie, of course.)
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EDIT: An astute reader from FARK noticed that I had confused Alien and Aliens when crediting Lance Henriksen with the role of Bishop. He’s right, Bishop did not appear as a character until Aliens. Thanks Hawk24!
By Bex on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
How could you forget that Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in the Matrix?
By Johnny Chicago on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
DUSTIN HOFFMAN as DECKARD???
Oh, the shame… I would have vomited.
Now Hendricksen as the Terminator MIGHT have worked and was going to happen, but the producers said very clearly to Cameron “we want a BIG name so we can protect our $$$ should this go straight to video.”
Lance STILL IS in the movie as he plays Detective Paul Winfield’s right hand man.
He was also given a “bigger” role in Cameron’s “Aliens” as the android Bishop and in Aliens3 as the original “human inspiration” for the androids at the end of the film.
Just a bit o’ extra trivia there.
But Dustin Hoffman…?
feh.
By Tim on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
Johnny, you should pay a little closer attention to the Aliens timeline…
By Tim on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
ah… unless you’re talking about in AVP. I thought you were misunderstanding the end of 3.
My bad.
By Wes on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
Marcus Burnett & Mike Lowrey (Bad Boys)
WAS: Martin Lawrence and Will Smith
ALMOST: Dana Carney and Jon Lovitz (confirmed by Carvey on the Dennis Miller Radio Show on 10/25/07)
By Ken on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
Die Hard Hans Gruber
Was:Alan Rickman
Almost:Gene Simmons(KISS)
By summer on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
i know ths is old but…
The Wizard of Oz..
Was: Judy Garland
Almost: Shirley Temple
The original character of Dorothy was only supposed to be around 10 years old but due to Shirley Temple not being released by her company to do the movie the role was then given to Judy Garland and the character of dorothy became 16 years old!
By KEVIN on Jan 6, 2008 | Reply
CASABLANCA ALMOST STARRED RONALD REAGAN AND ANN SHERIDEN
By brandi Boobs on Jan 6, 2008 | Reply
I went into porn because of Linda Lovelace
http://www.myblog.110mb.com
By JerryElbow on Jan 7, 2008 | Reply
In addition to “Batman” and “Forrest Gump”, I’ve read elsewhere that Bill Murray turned down the lead roles in “The Witches of Eastwick” (went to Jack Nicholson) and “Rain Man” (not sure which role on this one).
Another one I’ve heard is that the Axel Foley role in “Beverly Hills Cop” originally went to Sylvester Stallone. The way I’ve heard it, Sly showed up wit an entirely different script that he insisted they use and they told him to hit the highway and went with the unlikely (but excellent) casting of Eddie Murphy. Sly’s script didn’t go to waste though, he later used it for the forgettable film, “Cobra”.
By jim on Jan 7, 2008 | Reply
Both Keitel in Apocolypse and Stoltz in Back were actually filmed for a few weeks and both were fired because they weren’t right for the roles. Keitel hated the whole thing and wanted out and finally Coppolla realized he made a mistake with him.
By Charlie on Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Jimmy Stewart turned down the lead in High Noon.
He later said it was biggest mistake he ever made.