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Notstarring.com...the greatest what-if site ever

Spielberg turned down an offer to direct Last Action Hero in order to direct Schindler's List...now, I am a fan of that movie, despite it's silliness, but to say that was a smart move on Spielberg's part is an understatement.
 
John Cusack, Nicolas Cage, and even co-star Emilo Estevez were rumored to play John Bender in the Breakfast Club.
 
Black Lushus said:
Speaking of Nic Cage, he turned down an offer to star as Randy the Ram....THANK GOD!
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This was well known for awhile now.
 
Supposedly Cage was a smokescreen casting choice. Afronosky only wanted Rourke, but the studio couldn't insure the movie with him as the star. They cast Cage, secured the funding, and then Cage had to drop out. With no other choice ready, they had to cast Rourke. I don't know how true that all is; I just remember hearing it before filming started.
 
Tom Cruise was the first choice to play Donnie Brasco.

Edward Norton was offered the part of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho but turned it down.

Christian Bale was dropped in favorite of Leonardo DiCaprio to play Patrick Bateman. Bale was later rehired after Leonardo DiCaprio dropped out of the project.

Molly Ringwald turned down Pretty Women.
 
It appears that Nick Cage has been offered or auditioned for pretty much every role in every film over the last 25 years.
 
Ice Cube turned down the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump because he didn't want to appear stupid. That would've been interesting to say the least.

Jean Claude Van Damme passed on Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat to star in Street Fighter. As well as Cameron Diaz was set to play Sonya Blade, but broke her wrist prior to filming.

Christian Slater and River Phoenix both turned down playing Eric Draven in The Crow.

Eddie Murphy turned down the role of Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Robert.

Steve Buscemi turned down John Turturro's role in Transformers.

Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Sinise, Tom Sizemore were all rumored to play Alonzo Harris in Training Day.

Queen Latifah was considered for Halle Berry's role in Monsters Ball.
 
Mattdotcom said:
Danville_Wrestling said:
HarleyQuinn said:
Some of this info is questionable at best. The Robin Williams one for example was that RW said he wanted to play Joker (being a big fan of Batman in general) but was never given any real consideration. SMG as Dawes IIRC was purely fan speculation/fan want over any real consideration, again.
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Oh I see. Might they have gotten that confused with the 1989 version of Batman that RW was rumored to have been considered for before they settled on Jack? I also had no idea they were going to make a 5th Batman film in the 1990s.
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Howard Stern as The Scarecrow!
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I remember reading about that. Thank goodness that didn't happen. Stern is not an actor, and I don't think he would have been able to pull that off.
 
"The Auteur" Joel Schumacher could have guided him through a brilliant performance.
 
Matt Damon turned down the role of Harvey Dent in "The Dark Knight".

Mickey Rourke turned down the role of Axel Foley in "Beverly Hills Cop".
 
Brooklyn Zoo said:
Mickey Rourke turned down the role of Axel Foley in "Beverly Hills Cop".
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He also turned down the role of Eillot Ness in "The Untouchables".
 
The original drafts of Beverly Hills Cop were more drama oriented, so I believe it. It didn't turn into a comedy until they got Eddie Murphy, who replaced Sylvester Stallone a few weeks prior to filming. I think they went with Eddie because he could just improv and they knew they'd have a comedy on their hands.
 
Well then that makes more sense. I just don't think I could see anyone else in that role OTHER than Eddie.
 
This made me giggle.

Heath Ledger was offered the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man but declined because he didn't want to risk being typecast as a super-hero.
Actor who got the part: Tobey McGuire

Being typecast as a super-villian must be nicer.
 
HaVoC said:
Edward Norton was offered the part of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho but turned it down.
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Now I can't help but imagine Norton as Batman and Bale as Bruce Banner...

luke-o said:
It appears that Nick Cage has been offered or auditioned for pretty much every role in every film over the last 25 years.
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It appears that Nick Cage has been offered or auditioned for pretty much every role in every film over the last 25 years.

I believe it.
http://www.cracked.com/forums/topic/44906/dob-introduces-nicolas-cage-game
 
Medium-hot take: Physically, I feel like Arnold would be good for Man in Yellow Hat. I always felt like that character would physically fit from having to chase after and lug George around all day. How many out of shape people do you see carrying around monkeys?

BruiserBrody said:
The sex scene. Shudders
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Brod, you'll be happy to know Queen Latifah got nude in that Bessie Smith HBO biopic a few years back.
 
This is the kind of stuff that fascinates me where an actor had the role then lost it due to injury/quitting/etc.

- Meg Tilly had been cast as Constance, Mozart's wife (in Amadeus). She injured her leg the day before shooting began and had to be replaced by Elizabeth Berridge.
- The role of Selina (in Supergirl) was originally to be played by Dolly Parton. Production materials were even printed describing her role in the film.
- Shirley MacLaine was originally cast as the mother in Poltergeist. She left the project to star in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT.
- Mariel Hemingway won the role of Iris Steensma in Taxi Driver, but due to family pressure, had to turn it down.
 
Mentioned earlier but Eddie was a last minute replacement in Beverly Hills Cop. It caused him to miss a half season of SNL to shoot. The show had to quickly pre tape a bunch of sketches in summer of 83 to have stuff in the can to air during the shows he missed
 
My favorite Eddie Murphy close call is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home almost being a vehicle for him. He was originally supposed to be the marine biologist. Obviously, the role was drastically rewritten to be a love interest when he dropped out.

I feel like having that character be Eddie Murphy wisecracking instead of a generic love interest would have made a great movie even better. Now I'm getting pissed we missed out on Enterprise crew being Eddie's foils.
 
I feel like almost every major movie in the 80s was trying to tack Eddie on. I always think of some of the earliest concepts for a Batman movie had Ivan Reitman at the helm with Bill Murray as Batman, making the film similar to the Adam West series. Most of what I read has Eddie Murphy tied as Robin early on. Some places claim Michael J. Fox. Since a lot of this talk starts around 81, I tend to believe Murphy was the original idea since Family Ties didn’t even start until 1982.
 
A few interesting roles that never happened

-Mick Jagger wanted to play Dr Frank'Furter in "Rocky Horror"

-Not mentioned on the site, but Ken Russell wanted Jagger to play the Cardinel for "The Devils". Also, according to the site, Barbara Streisand turned down a role for the movie, and the idea of her in a movie with topless nuns writhing around in ecstasy is something else.

-John Denver was offered the lead role for "An Officer and a Gentleman", but he didn't like the script.

-Not casting, but George Lucas considered directing "Apocalypse Now"
 
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