Iconic movie roles originally offered to someone else

Marilyn Monroe and then Shirley MacLaine wrere offered the role of Holly Golightly before it went to Audrey Hepburn.
Truman Capote actually wanted Marilyn IIRC.

The thing is, as much as I enjoy Audrey Hepburn as Holly, there's a part of me that absolutely thinks Marilyn Monroe or Shirley MacLaine would have been better. Audrey Hepburn always felt she was miscast and I honestly don't disagree. Not that she didn't still do her best in the movie, but it's not hard for me to imagine Shirley MacLaine or Marilyn Monroe (mostly Marilyn honestly) as Holly Golightly.
 
Tom Cruise was offered the role of Ren in "Footloose" before Kevin Bacon. I think he could of pulled that off.
 
Truman Capote actually wanted Marilyn IIRC.

The thing is, as much as I enjoy Audrey Hepburn as Holly, there's a part of me that absolutely thinks Marilyn Monroe or Shirley MacLaine would have been better. Audrey Hepburn always felt she was miscast and I honestly don't disagree. Not that she didn't still do her best in the movie, but it's not hard for me to imagine Shirley MacLaine or Marilyn Monroe (mostly Marilyn honestly) as Holly Golightly.
I think Audrey Hepburn was the perfect Holly Golightly for that particular film, but Monroe and MacLaine would have been perfect for an adaptation that was closer to the novella.
 
I think Audrey Hepburn was the perfect Holly Golightly for that particular film, but Monroe and MacLaine would have been perfect for an adaptation that was closer to the novella.
When I listen to Audrey's line readings as Holly, which are exquisite and funny and poignant, I can definitely imagine Marilyn's readings as well (shades of Lorelei Lee to a degree).

Oddly I had never read of Shirley MacLaine being considered for the part but I can now well imagine that casting (with the benefit that her childhood was spent here in Richmond before her family moved to Northern Virginia). Hearing her accent and cadence in the part of Ouiser Boudreaux of Louisiana certainly reminded me of older ladies I grew up with and still know in Central and Tidewater VA.
 
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I think Audrey Hepburn was the perfect Holly Golightly for that particular film, but Monroe and MacLaine would have been perfect for an adaptation that was closer to the novella.
This is why I need to stop making posts right before going to bed. That's definitely what I was thinking when I typed my post out last night, and definitely not what I said. Thank you, this is more accurate to my thoughts about actresses playing Holly Golightly.
 
I just learned over the weekend while watching My Fair Lady on TCM that Cary Grant was originally offered the role of Henry Higgins and refused it, saying no one else could do that role except for Rex Harrison. Rightly so--Rex is the best! :love:
 
I think just about anyone could have played the part of Rose in Titanic. It's not a challenging role. I wanted to slap her at least 10 times during that dreck of a movie. I like Kate Winslet but IMO she's about the worst choice they could have made opposite Leo DeCaprio. Or maybe Leo was the one who was miscast.

:lol: I always thought that too. I think they could have put any two of the big "Young Hollywood" actors of that timeframe into those roles and the movie still woulda been a big hit as long as the actors had some chemistry together. I like both actors, but I think any of the young stars of that time would have been equally good in those roles.
 
Another infamous example is Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future.


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When I had first heard this years ago I was :eek: because I don't think Back to the Future woulda been as huge a hit as it was (and I don't think there would have ever been a BTTF 2 or 3) with Eric Stoltz in that role. He seemed to have like this underlying dark presence to me (not 'evil' dark, just ... sadness and darkness and depression), that didn't match the lightness that Marty McFly had. It would have been a totally different movie.
 
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Back to Micheal Keaton, he was supposed to play Jack on Lost but the character was supposed to die in the pilot. When they decided to keep the character, they had to find someone else.
Wait what??? I never knew this. Wow. Did they have to get someone else since Michael Keaton was primarily a 'movie' star and they needed someone who was a 'TV' star and could commit to the filming schedule of a television show? Although I do love Michael Keaton, I'm not sure I see him in this role as it fully played out. Matthew Fox was perfect for that role.
 
I've always thought DiCaprio took a long time to look like a grown up, whereas Winslet looks her age or older, so as a result I thought they were mismatched in Titanic. Agree that that there are likely a lot of actors who could have played either role.
 
Wait what??? I never knew this. Wow. Did they have to get someone else since Michael Keaton was primarily a 'movie' star and they needed someone who was a 'TV' star and could commit to the filming schedule of a television show? Although I do love Michael Keaton, I'm not sure I see him in this role as it fully played out. Matthew Fox was perfect for that role.


When J.J. Abrams first conceived the series, back when he wrote this insanely intriguing “show bible,” he wanted former Batman star Michael Keaton to play the daring doctor at the heart of the series.

But there was a catch — Jack was supposed to die in the pilot episode, setting up the character Kate to become more of a leader among the survivors. That plot point is largely what attracted Keaton to the role, since it wasn’t your typical long-term television commitment.

Things were rolling along for Keaton to help kick off the series until the folks at ABC got a look at the pilot script and decided Jack was too cool to kill so quickly. Abrams tried to woo Keaton to sign on for a full-fledged role, but he wasn’t interested, so the producers brought in Fox to fill the void. The rest, as they say, is TV history.
 
I just learned over the weekend while watching My Fair Lady on TCM that Cary Grant was originally offered the role of Henry Higgins and refused it, saying no one else could do that role except for Rex Harrison. Rightly so--Rex is the best! :love:
And I have read that Jack Warner wanted James Cagney to play Alfred Doolittle instead of the creator of the Broadway role, Stanley Holloway. It's my understanding that both Grant and Cagney turned down the respective roles and told Warner in no uncertain terms that Harrison and Holloway should be cast.

Audrey Hepburn felt Julie Andrews should play Eliza and accepted the role only after Jack Warner was vehement that Andrews had absolutely no chance of being cast.
 
Audrey Hepburn felt Julie Andrews should play Eliza and accepted the role only after Jack Warner was vehement that Andrews had absolutely no chance of being cast.
Yes, and Audrey unfairly had to pay for that casting. She took a lot of flack for Julie getting snubbed which was of course not her fault. And then Audrey was snubbed at the oscars by not even being nominated.
 
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Audrey Hepburn felt Julie Andrews should play Eliza and accepted the role only after Jack Warner was vehement that Andrews had absolutely no chance of being cast.

hmm ... is there some juicy drama around this I never knew about? :shuffle:
 
hmm ... is there some juicy drama around this I never knew about? :shuffle:
Not that I know of. Julie hadn't made any films at that point and Audrey Hepburn was a huge box office draw and with a projected huge budget to make MFL he wanted someone well known in movie theaters. The worst that I have read is that Jack Warner didn't think that Julie was "photogenic enough".
 
I have never forgiven Jack Warner. Love Audrey Hepburn. The part was written for Julie Andrews. I keep imagining what it would have been like with Julie Andrews.

As for Rex Harrison, I had the opportunity to see him act live in a play in London near the end of his life. The theater was old and near the tube so you could hear the trains in the background. There were no microphones - just the actors using their professional voices and the audience (about 500 people). The part called for Harrison to mumble in his beard. I heard every word clearly enunciated. I have always remembered what it meant to watch/hear wonderful, professional actors perform live on stage.

Cary Grant was right.
 
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I have never forgiven Jack Warner. Love Audrey Hepburn. The part was written for Julie Andrews.

As for Rex Harrison, I had to opportunity to see him act live in a play in London near the end of his life. The theater was old and near the tube so you could hear the trains in the background. There were no microphones - just the actors using their professional voices and the audience. The part called for Harrison to mumble in his beard. I heard every word clearly enunciated. I have always remembered what it meant to watch/hear wonderful, professional actors perform live on stage.

Cary Grant was right.
Did that happen to be "The Kingfisher" with Claudette Colbert?
 
With regard to Titanic, I agree that DiCaprio looked a little younger than Winslet at that time. For me this was okay, because in real life, boys often mature a little bit slower than girls physically, but that doesn't stop teenage girls from dating them. :D Actually, if anything, DiCaprio's youthfulness somewhat enhanced the contrast between him and Rose's fiance and kind of underscored the odds Jack was up against.

Personally, JMO, I think both of those actors brought something unique to the roles, and I don't think they would have been easily replaceable. Like, I can't really picture lithe and languid Gwyneth Paltrow as Rose. Winslet brought an element of realness and rebelliousness to that character that made her memorable, IMO.

DiCaprio to me isn't even a question. I can't really think of who could have been more effective as Jack or would have been more right in the role. It was a role that looked easy on the surface but required charisma and skill to make it work. If you peruse the list of other actors who were apparently considered, the choice of DiCaprio only looks smarter:

https://screenrant.com/titanic-movie-jack-rose-actors-almost-cast/#:~:text=Before Leonardo DiCaprio was cast,Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff.
 
DiCaprio to me isn't even a question. I can't really think of who could have been more effective as Jack or would have been more right in the role. It was a role that looked easy on the surface but required charisma and skill to make it work. If you peruse the list of other actors who were apparently considered, the choice of DiCaprio only looks smarter:

https://screenrant.com/titanic-movie-jack-rose-actors-almost-cast/#:~:text=Before Leonardo DiCaprio was cast,Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff.
Agreed. Out of that list, the only one other than Leo that I could have seen in the role was O'Donnell, but I think they made the right choices for the two leads. And Billy Zane was very effective as the bad guy.
 
Al Pacino as Han Solo (Harrison Ford cast)
Al Pacino was already a major star, but Han Solo was Harrison Ford's breakout role. I wonder what would have happened to Ford if Pacino had said yes. Maybe George Lucas, who had already used Ford, would have given him a different part in a sequel to Star Wars, but then again, maybe Ford would have kept on with carpentry.
 
After reading The Hunger Games books, I thought the casting of the two male leads should have been switched. Liam Hemsworth should have played Peeta and Josh Hutcherson should have played Gale.
 
Just like no skater owns a piece of music, I don't believe that any one actor owns a role. Plays do this all the time, I don't see why TV or movie roles are any different. Just because another actor could have done as a good a job as the one who actually did the role, doesn't mean the hired actor was bad.
 
One thing I know is that Audrey Hepburn took extensive singing lessons thinking she'd get to sing in MFL but then was told that her voice would be dubbed.

Julie Andrew has said many times she doesn't hold it against Audrey and thinks that Audrey Hepburn was a great person.
 
DiCaprio to me isn't even a question. I can't really think of who could have been more effective as Jack or would have been more right in the role. It was a role that looked easy on the surface but required charisma and skill to make it work. If you peruse the list of other actors who were apparently considered, the choice of DiCaprio only looks smarter:

https://screenrant.com/titanic-movie-jack-rose-actors-almost-cast/#:~:text=Before Leonardo DiCaprio was cast,Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff.
I think Jared Leto would have been amazing in it also. But he refused to audition.

I did like Leo DiCaprio in the role. It's a role that someone with a soft edge to their acting needs to play. Leo has that for sure.
 
One thing I know is that Audrey Hepburn took extensive singing lessons thinking she'd get to sing in MFL but then was told that her voice would be dubbed.

Julie Andrew has said many times she doesn't hold it against Audrey and thinks that Audrey Hepburn was a great person.

Audrey's vocals were used at the beginning and the end, and in the brief reprise, of "Just You Wait".
I think the only really crappy part of about the dubbing controversy was that Audrey took the role with the idea that she'd be singing all of the songs "with help" for the high notes, and then as she was filming scenes, they led her to believe that was what was going to happen as she already filmed some musical numbers lip synching to her own sung tracks (the fact they had her sing the score also made her believe they intended to use it in the actual film), and she only found out they were going to replace almost all of her singing with Marni Nixon in a roundabout way during filming was what got her. She actually stormed off set when she found out, but then came back the next day and apologized for her behavior and continued shooting without further problems. I think had she just been told from the beginning they were going to dub her nearly completely, she would have been disappointed but understood. The fact they tried to trick her and not tell her was what got her. It really is disrespectful.

I think had they told her from the beginning, she, Marni and George Cuckor (or the Andre Previn who supervised the score adaptation) could have worked together to blend the voices better and create the singing character much in the way Deborah Kerr did when Marni Nixon dubbed for her for The King and I, which really was one of the best dubbing jobs ever. Nixon really sounded like Kerr and Kerr and Nixon worked together to come up with how "Anna" was going to sing those songs for the movie version.
 
Al Pacino was already a major star, but Han Solo was Harrison Ford's breakout role. I wonder what would have happened to Ford if Pacino had said yes. Maybe George Lucas, who had already used Ford, would have given him a different part in a sequel to Star Wars, but then again, maybe Ford would have kept on with carpentry.
And stopped crashing planes? ;) I see Pacino as so New York that I cannot imagine him as a space cowboy. I guess the movie executives didn't want him to play Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" because of his short stature and were opting for Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Jack Nicholson and even "Sonny" (James Caan) read for Michael. But Coppola wanted him and stuck to his guns.
 

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