you know them you love them and you
couldn’t imagine things without them but
you should try I don’t know I can
imagine quite a bit welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 alternate
casting choices in film but we’re a
little rushed so if you’ll just get on
board we’ll get out of here
for this list we’re taking a look at
actors who were at one point considered
for iconic movie roles that later went
to other people in most of these cases
had the original actors been cast it
would have made for a very different
movie yeah baby
number 10 Burt Reynolds as James Bond on
Her Majesty’s Secret Service
I admire your luck Mr Bond James Bond
when Sean Connery walked away from the
James Bond series after five film’s
producers scrambled to find someone to
fill his big bespoke shoes Burt Reynolds
was approached black turned the role
down by saying an American couldn’t play
the quintessentially British secret
agent for the good old American life for
the money for the glory and for the fine
mostly for the money producers hired
unknown Australian George Lazenby
instead my name’s bond James Bond when
the Aussie quit after one film another
yank was tapped West Adam once of course
how clever but Batman declined the part
for the same reason as Reynolds allowing
Connery to resume the role you just
killed James Bond
Stanny what was I just proves no-one’s
indestructible number 9 Sylvester
Stallone is Axel Foley Beverly Hills Cop
initially plastic surgery aficionado
Mickey Rourke was attached to star in
this action comedy Kennedy but when his
holding contract expired
producers asked rocky himself sly
thought it would be a pretty good film
except for all that damned comedy a fool
finally so he rewrote the script as an
action flick but this caused budget
problem since comedy unlike action is
cheap Stallone was then allowed to leave
and take his reworked script with him
allowing Eddie Murphy
to step in Jesus Christ
oh and Stallone script it’s called Cobra
nobody knows about number eight Sean
Connery as Gandalf the Grey the Lord of
the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring rig
aioli armed with both a beard and a
happenin accent Connery has everything
it takes to be a killer Gandalf in the
end there can be only one however the
former bond turned down the role for a
very simple reason he didn’t understand
the script we can’t hope you geniuses
can we although that move made him the
only person brave enough to admit not
getting the whole Hobbit thing
it was a pricey decision as the films
were hugely successful and led to
another trilogy but the question is do I
need the Empire we can’t be sure if Ian
McKellen gets the story but he sure
seems okay with it number 7 John
Travolta as Forrest Gump Forrest Gump
the way to move just wait one minute
Travolta passed on this iconic rom-com
drama
despite being a top pick for the part
and despite having been in a string of
duds he’s got a plethora of
opportunities regular gene sure Pulp
Fiction restored his career that same
year but it’s just one of the many
classic roles the actor didn’t accept
other Travolta Passover’s include
American Gigolo
Chicago and Apollo 13 as for Gump Chevy
Chase and Bill Murray also turned it
down before Tom Hanks took the role
weirder still is Gump author Winston
grooms pick John Goodman I get the
feeling that this here ain’t exactly
working out number 6 Will Smith as neo
the matrix Oh this flicks about to get
real real jiggy
yes before Keanu Reeves would his way
into the matrix The Fresh Prince himself
was offered the lead in this mind bender
walk this way
Oh Smith has no regrets about passing on
Neal exciting Reeves bullet-time
awesomeness in the film gotta stick to
what we each do best
while there are rumors that you and
McGregor also turned down the iconic
role he denies this speculating if there
were truth to the rumor it’d be his
agents fault his agent fail emic bald
robber was not available for comment
how did this happen we’re smarter than
this apparently not
number five Christopher Walken is han
Solo Star Wars Episode four a new hope I
am you me and we are here Walken was a
leading contender for this iconic role
as were Nick Nolte and Al Pacino it’s a
true story also considered at various
points where Burt Reynolds Richard
Dreyfuss James Caan Sylvester Stallone
Kurt Russell James Woods Chevy Chase
Bill Murray Steve Martin and anyone who
wasn’t Harrison Ford don’t say anything
and we’ll get along just fine
George Lucas had previously used and
liked Ford an American Graffiti but
wanted new faces for his space opera
although Lucas denied Ford an audition
he did hire him to read solos part
during auditions sessions before giving
in and just casting him
I’m so lonely I’m captain and Millennium
Falcon number four Nicolas Cage as
Superman Superman lives we’re sitting on
top of the story of the century here
there was a lot of buzz around this
Kevin Smith Pen script in 1996 Bush
things started off well with Fifi payer
play contracts issued for both director
Tim Burton and Nic Cage as the would be
Clark Kent remove ass kick let’s keep it
that way Kevin Spacey meanwhile was
tapped to play Lex Luthor and Tim Allen
and Jim Carrey were each in the running
for Brainiac heyday a 1998 release date
was set to tie in with supe 60th
anniversary but by April of that year
production was halted after 30 million
dollars was spent on the non film
don’t just break your heart number three
Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly back to the
future
betrayed unlike most alternate casting
choices on our list Stoltz actually
spent several weeks filming Back to the
Future however a month into production
director Robert Zemeckis and Stoltz
himself decided the actor wasn’t quite
right for the part and producers finally
secured their first pick Michael J Fox
Fox then had to balance night shooting
of the film with daytime shooting of a
sitcom family ties sucked a total of a
minute and a half in the last six nights
however a tiny smidgen of stole teased
McFly does remain in the film he drives
the DeLorean away from the libyans yeah
we can’t tell it to be there number two
Oh Jay Simpson as the Terminator the
Terminator I’ll be back
along with eventual futuristic cyborg
Arnold Schwarzenegger OJ Simpson was a
studio top pick for the title role in
the Terminator all I know has never been
on a white guy Simpsons sweet dreams of
robots stardom were dashed by director
James Cameron who felt the former
running back was just too darn nice to
play a cold-blooded killer juice was
then best known for his football days
and the occasional TV commercial that’s
why I switched to the ship Flex ematic
some time ago it would be many years
before the shocking event that made him
a household name his supporting role in
The Naked Gun series doc says I should
be on my being in this good as new in a
week and back on the force sorry
that’s wonderful
whoa before we cast our top pick here
are few honorable mentions Jack I let me
try and get this out I love those
redheads man I shall take you to the
Black Pearl asshole you’re me Oh
Oh Sodom yah it was almost as though I
knew what was going to be around every
corner maybe they really are deviled
eggs two possessed let’s face it this is
not the worst thing you’ve got me done
number one Tom Selleck is Indiana Jones
Raiders of the Lost Ark didn’t duh duh
did what
as with Star Wars George Lucas was
hesitant to reuse Harrison Ford and
opted for the somewhat fresher face of
Tom Selleck that’s crazy
although Selleck was interested and even
screen tested for the role he couldn’t
accept it due to his commitment to the
then unaired magnum p.i private
investigator
Lucas buckled again and cast for just
three weeks before production began
trust me ironically Selleck could have
accepted both parts had he known Magnum
would be delayed for over six months
because of a writer strike once thought
ran over and over through my head if I’d
been on time do you agree with our list
what stars would you prefer to see in
your favorite roles for more
brain-melting top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com thank you for all your
cooperation
you
couldn’t imagine things without them but
you should try I don’t know I can
imagine quite a bit welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 alternate
casting choices in film but we’re a
little rushed so if you’ll just get on
board we’ll get out of here
for this list we’re taking a look at
actors who were at one point considered
for iconic movie roles that later went
to other people in most of these cases
had the original actors been cast it
would have made for a very different
movie yeah baby
number 10 Burt Reynolds as James Bond on
Her Majesty’s Secret Service
I admire your luck Mr Bond James Bond
when Sean Connery walked away from the
James Bond series after five film’s
producers scrambled to find someone to
fill his big bespoke shoes Burt Reynolds
was approached black turned the role
down by saying an American couldn’t play
the quintessentially British secret
agent for the good old American life for
the money for the glory and for the fine
mostly for the money producers hired
unknown Australian George Lazenby
instead my name’s bond James Bond when
the Aussie quit after one film another
yank was tapped West Adam once of course
how clever but Batman declined the part
for the same reason as Reynolds allowing
Connery to resume the role you just
killed James Bond
Stanny what was I just proves no-one’s
indestructible number 9 Sylvester
Stallone is Axel Foley Beverly Hills Cop
initially plastic surgery aficionado
Mickey Rourke was attached to star in
this action comedy Kennedy but when his
holding contract expired
producers asked rocky himself sly
thought it would be a pretty good film
except for all that damned comedy a fool
finally so he rewrote the script as an
action flick but this caused budget
problem since comedy unlike action is
cheap Stallone was then allowed to leave
and take his reworked script with him
allowing Eddie Murphy
to step in Jesus Christ
oh and Stallone script it’s called Cobra
nobody knows about number eight Sean
Connery as Gandalf the Grey the Lord of
the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring rig
aioli armed with both a beard and a
happenin accent Connery has everything
it takes to be a killer Gandalf in the
end there can be only one however the
former bond turned down the role for a
very simple reason he didn’t understand
the script we can’t hope you geniuses
can we although that move made him the
only person brave enough to admit not
getting the whole Hobbit thing
it was a pricey decision as the films
were hugely successful and led to
another trilogy but the question is do I
need the Empire we can’t be sure if Ian
McKellen gets the story but he sure
seems okay with it number 7 John
Travolta as Forrest Gump Forrest Gump
the way to move just wait one minute
Travolta passed on this iconic rom-com
drama
despite being a top pick for the part
and despite having been in a string of
duds he’s got a plethora of
opportunities regular gene sure Pulp
Fiction restored his career that same
year but it’s just one of the many
classic roles the actor didn’t accept
other Travolta Passover’s include
American Gigolo
Chicago and Apollo 13 as for Gump Chevy
Chase and Bill Murray also turned it
down before Tom Hanks took the role
weirder still is Gump author Winston
grooms pick John Goodman I get the
feeling that this here ain’t exactly
working out number 6 Will Smith as neo
the matrix Oh this flicks about to get
real real jiggy
yes before Keanu Reeves would his way
into the matrix The Fresh Prince himself
was offered the lead in this mind bender
walk this way
Oh Smith has no regrets about passing on
Neal exciting Reeves bullet-time
awesomeness in the film gotta stick to
what we each do best
while there are rumors that you and
McGregor also turned down the iconic
role he denies this speculating if there
were truth to the rumor it’d be his
agents fault his agent fail emic bald
robber was not available for comment
how did this happen we’re smarter than
this apparently not
number five Christopher Walken is han
Solo Star Wars Episode four a new hope I
am you me and we are here Walken was a
leading contender for this iconic role
as were Nick Nolte and Al Pacino it’s a
true story also considered at various
points where Burt Reynolds Richard
Dreyfuss James Caan Sylvester Stallone
Kurt Russell James Woods Chevy Chase
Bill Murray Steve Martin and anyone who
wasn’t Harrison Ford don’t say anything
and we’ll get along just fine
George Lucas had previously used and
liked Ford an American Graffiti but
wanted new faces for his space opera
although Lucas denied Ford an audition
he did hire him to read solos part
during auditions sessions before giving
in and just casting him
I’m so lonely I’m captain and Millennium
Falcon number four Nicolas Cage as
Superman Superman lives we’re sitting on
top of the story of the century here
there was a lot of buzz around this
Kevin Smith Pen script in 1996 Bush
things started off well with Fifi payer
play contracts issued for both director
Tim Burton and Nic Cage as the would be
Clark Kent remove ass kick let’s keep it
that way Kevin Spacey meanwhile was
tapped to play Lex Luthor and Tim Allen
and Jim Carrey were each in the running
for Brainiac heyday a 1998 release date
was set to tie in with supe 60th
anniversary but by April of that year
production was halted after 30 million
dollars was spent on the non film
don’t just break your heart number three
Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly back to the
future
betrayed unlike most alternate casting
choices on our list Stoltz actually
spent several weeks filming Back to the
Future however a month into production
director Robert Zemeckis and Stoltz
himself decided the actor wasn’t quite
right for the part and producers finally
secured their first pick Michael J Fox
Fox then had to balance night shooting
of the film with daytime shooting of a
sitcom family ties sucked a total of a
minute and a half in the last six nights
however a tiny smidgen of stole teased
McFly does remain in the film he drives
the DeLorean away from the libyans yeah
we can’t tell it to be there number two
Oh Jay Simpson as the Terminator the
Terminator I’ll be back
along with eventual futuristic cyborg
Arnold Schwarzenegger OJ Simpson was a
studio top pick for the title role in
the Terminator all I know has never been
on a white guy Simpsons sweet dreams of
robots stardom were dashed by director
James Cameron who felt the former
running back was just too darn nice to
play a cold-blooded killer juice was
then best known for his football days
and the occasional TV commercial that’s
why I switched to the ship Flex ematic
some time ago it would be many years
before the shocking event that made him
a household name his supporting role in
The Naked Gun series doc says I should
be on my being in this good as new in a
week and back on the force sorry
that’s wonderful
whoa before we cast our top pick here
are few honorable mentions Jack I let me
try and get this out I love those
redheads man I shall take you to the
Black Pearl asshole you’re me Oh
Oh Sodom yah it was almost as though I
knew what was going to be around every
corner maybe they really are deviled
eggs two possessed let’s face it this is
not the worst thing you’ve got me done
number one Tom Selleck is Indiana Jones
Raiders of the Lost Ark didn’t duh duh
did what
as with Star Wars George Lucas was
hesitant to reuse Harrison Ford and
opted for the somewhat fresher face of
Tom Selleck that’s crazy
although Selleck was interested and even
screen tested for the role he couldn’t
accept it due to his commitment to the
then unaired magnum p.i private
investigator
Lucas buckled again and cast for just
three weeks before production began
trust me ironically Selleck could have
accepted both parts had he known Magnum
would be delayed for over six months
because of a writer strike once thought
ran over and over through my head if I’d
been on time do you agree with our list
what stars would you prefer to see in
your favorite roles for more
brain-melting top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com thank you for all your
cooperation
you
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