19 Movies That Would’ve Been Very Different If Other Stars Were Cast

The pre-production stage of a movie can take months to complete and one of the main things included is the casting stage. Many actors go through that in order for the producers to find the ideal people to portray the movie characters. And while sometimes things look easy and set, actors can drop out at the last minute. This makes us imagine how different a movie would be if it was them who had actually played the iconic role.

1. Johnny Depp was supposed to play the main role in American Psycho.

Initially, American Psycho was supposed to be directed by Stuart Gordon. The director saw only Johnny Depp in the main role and persuaded him to take it. But the author of the novel abruptly changed his mind. He pulled Stuart Gordon’s rights to the book and called Johnny Depp a lightweight actor who was too old to play the part. Depp was 28 at the time.

2.Emily Blunt turned down the role of Black Widow in Iron Man 2

Today, it’s really hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Natasha Romanoff except Scarlett Johansson, but Marvel Studios was considering a lot of different actresses. According to Emily, the only thing that stopped her from wearing a dark leather costume was her busy schedule and her work on Jack Black’s Gulliver’s Travels. Later, the actress said that she was even happy she didn’t get to play Natasha, “Usually the female parts in a superhero film feel thankless: She’s the pill girlfriend while the guys are whizzing around saving the world.”

3. Katie Holmes was almost Annette Hargrove in Cruel Intentions.

The studio wanted Katie Holmes, the star of Dawson’s Creek. But scriptwriter Roger Kumble decided that he needed someone with a stronger personality. He saw Ryan Phillippe’s girlfriend once (Reese Witherspoon) and asked him to invite her for dinner.

At the dinner, Roger literally kneeled down before the young actress. He remembers saying, “Please, it’ll be 15 days, you’ll be great.” And Reese was like, “I’ll do it. But we need to work on the character.” Roger was like, “Anything, anything, anything. She wanted to strengthen the character, and she was right. And she and I got together, and we gave Annette more bite, so she wasn’t a doormat. And I’m very grateful to her for that.”

4. Leonardo DiCaprio would’ve played the role of Rick in The Mummy.

There were rumors that Leonardo DiCaprio begged the producers of The Beach movie to postpone the production, so he could film The Mummy, whose script he really loved. Unfortunately, the producers refused. Meanwhile, The Mummy creators cast Brendan Fraser, who was brilliant in the role.

5. Tilda Swinton as Sybill Trelawney in the Harry Potter series.

Tilda Swinton turned down the role of Sybill Trelawney in the Harry Potter films for a simple reason: Boarding schools were something she really disliked. She once explained in an interview, “That’s why I dislike films like Harry Potter, which tend to romanticize these places. I think they are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don’t feel children benefit from that type of education. Children need their parents and love.”

6. Keanu Reeves dreamt about the role of Wolverine.

When Keanu Reeves was asked about the roles he would like to play, he said he’d love to portray Wolverine, but he knows that he missed his chance because Hugh Jackman was so good. And we just can’t understand why Keanu Reeves is still not in the Marvel or DC universe.

7. Jessica Chastain turned down the role of Marilyn Monroe for Blonde.

At the preproduction stage, there were rumors that the starring role would be played by Jessica Chastain. However, as we all know, Marilyn Monroe was portrayed by Ana de Armas. In an interview, Chastain revealed that she’d turned down the role herself. She said that she wasn’t interested in making another Marilyn Monroe biopic.

8. Shailene Woodley as Rey in Star Wars.

The director had a shortlist of candidates for the part. Some of the actresses considered included Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley, Elizabeth Olsen, Felicity Jones, Jessica Henwick, and Billie Lourd, the daughter of Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original film. In the end, Lucasfilm decided to hire some not-so-famous actors for the main roles. This is how the stunning Daisy Ridley got to play Rey.

9. Harrison Ford turned down the part of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.

Director Steven Spielberg and actor Harrison Ford worked together on the Indiana Jones franchise, but when Spielberg offered Ford the role of Alan Grant, he turned it down. So, Sam Neill portrayed Grant perfectly. And there’s even a poster where Ford is running away from a dinosaur. The actor himself didn’t comment on the situation so we can only guess — maybe he thought the part was too similar to Indiana Jones?

10. Nicolas Cage turned down the role of Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Nicolas Cage had a chance to play Aragorn I in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy but he refused to do it for personal reasons — he didn’t want to leave his home for such a long period of time. That’s why Viggo Mortensen became the first High King of the Reunited Kingdom and gained world fame thanks to this role.

11. Josh Hutcherson as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man. The Movie.

Before the actor became popular as Peeta from Hunger Games, he was one of the first candidates for the role in The Amazing Spider-Man. The Movie. There are even some videos from his audition. But in the end, the spider suit went to Andrew Garfield. Josh Hutcherson says, “Yeah, of course, I’d think about doing it: It’s Spider-Man, that’d be really cool.”

12. Eddie Redmayne wanted to be Kylo Ren in Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.

The charming English actor that portrayed Newt Scamander wanted to be the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. He remembers that it was a very bad audition for him, “And she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of ‘koohh paaaah’ [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like 10 shots the casting director is like, ‘You got anything else?’ I was like, ‘No.’” He also failed the audition for the main role in The Hobbit. But maybe it’s for the best because he had more time for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

13. Courtney Love as Satine in Moulin Rouge!

The outstanding Courtney Love wanted to get the part of Satine. Even though Courtney is great at what she does, it is hard to imagine her in this role, so we can only imagine what the film would be like if the producers hadn’t chosen Nicole Kidman.

14. Tom Hiddleston as Thor

The smiley British man actually tried to get the main part. He worked out and put on some weight, but the producers said, “Actually, you should play the bad guy.” This is how Tom became the charming, yet evil brother of Thor.

15. Josh Hartnett as Loki in Thor.

Josh Hartnett was really interested in this character and even met the director to talk about the part but Tom Hiddleston got it. It is so hard to imagine anyone else but Tom in the role of the cunning brother of Thor, right?

16. Oliver Hudson could’ve played the role of Jack on This Is Us.

Oliver Hudson had every chance to get the role of Jack Pearson in the This Is Us series, but the actor preferred to go on a 10-day fishing trip instead of the set. Eventually, it was Milo Ventimiglia who played the main role and got several Emmy nominations for it.

Oliver’s main work is in his role in the Rules of Engagement sitcom where he acted for 7 seasons.

17. Robin Williams always wanted the role of Joker.

Robin really wanted to be in the Batman franchise. First, he took part in the casting for Tim Burton’s Batman, auditioning for the role of the Joker, but Jack Nicholson got the part. Then, he had a chance to get the part in Batman Forever, this time playing the Riddler, but he didn’t get it again. When Robin found out that Christopher Nolan was looking for someone to portray Joker, he said, “Chris, call me, I’ll do anything. I could be a great character — or some weird little man in the background in Arkham Asylum.” But unfortunately, he never got to play any of the Batman characters.

18. Lucy Lawless could have become Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings.

The amazing Cate Blanchett could have been replaced by Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess because she was originally offered the part. But the actress turned it down because of a very busy schedule. Later, Lucy said, “It would have been great if I was part of this success but truthfully, it did break my heart not being able to be a part of the film.”

19. Charlie Hunnam first agreed but then dropped out from 50 Shades of Grey.

In 2013, all the newspapers announced the news of the year: Charlie Hunnam would star in the screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. But a few months later, the actor changed his mind and refused the role. As it turned out, Hunnam had a nervous breakdown due to his busy work schedule.

The actor realized that he wouldn’t be able to do his job properly, but this decision was very difficult for him. Hunnam hasn’t seen any of the films in the trilogy because he called that situation “the worst professional experience” of his life.

Can you imagine any of these iconic roles being played by different actors? Do you think the result would have been better or worse?