14 Iconic Roles That Almost Went to a Different Actor in the Same Franchise
Sometimes failing is the best thing that can happen to you. Just ask any actor who narrowly missed out on a starring role in a hit franchise; they’re the most well-adjusted people you’ll ever meet.
Roman Roy, ‘Succession’
It’s crazy to think that we almost had Jeremy Strong cranking off inside a glass skyscraper instead of Kieran Culkin, but head writer Jesse Armstrong says that Strong initially insisted on playing Kendall Roy.
Blanche Devereaux, ‘Golden Girls’
Betty White was originally cast as Blanche, but producers had second thoughts when they realized the character was extremely similar to White’s turn as Sue in The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Buffy and Cordelia Chase, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Charisma Carpenter thought she was ready for the lead role, while Sarah Michelle Gellar didn’t. The two wanted to swap parts, but Joss Whedon knew better, and made Gellar play Buffy while Carpenter played Cordelia Chase.
Drax the Destroyer, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
Chadwick Boseman was denied the role that eventually went to David Bautista in 2014. Instead of being part of an ensemble cast for a few movies, he became an entire superhero and capped off his career leading a franchise as the Black Panther.
Dwight Schrute, ‘The Office’
John Krasinski got his foot in the door as a hopeful to play Dwight Schrute, but convinced casting directors to let him read for Jim. As the story goes, his instant chemistry with Jenna Fischer won him the part.
Michael Scott, ‘The Office’
Rainn Wilson, meanwhile, was the first person in the door to audition for the part of Michael Scott — he even has the day-one sheet to prove it. Art imitates life, and he’d go on to play the guy who always wanted Michael’s job.
Lorelai Gilmore, ‘Gilmore Girls’
Mädchen Amick made it way down the audition pipeline for the starring role. Producers decided she looked too young to be a mom (despite being just three years younger than the youthful-looking Lauren Graham, who went on to win the role). Amick was later given a three-episode stint as Sherry Tinsdale.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, ‘Harry Potter’
Tom Felton tried out for two different heroes before being cast as a villain. He says there’s video out there of him with dark brown hair, glasses and a scar pretending to be Harry, as well as red hair (and, oddly, blonde) for Ron.
Captain America, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’
Sebastian Stan was up for the big role, but was ultimately rejected, only to later become Bucky Barnes. His big takeaway was: “Try not to take things personally, learn how to face rejection, no matter what you do, stay obsessed with it.” How did he obsess over the role? By not reading any comic books, but instead getting really into World War II documentaries. He says Band of Brothers was the perfect study guide because “Steve Rogers and Bucky are both orphans and kind of like brothers.”
Bruce Wayne, ‘The Dark Knight’
Heath Ledger’s casting as the Joker in The Dark Knight was extremely controversial, but paid off extremely well. Odds are good that the critics would have been proven right if he’d been cast as Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins like he’d hoped.
Bruce Wayne, ‘The Dark Knight’ (Again)
Cillian Murphy had the impression that an internal candidate had the position locked in from the start — “It was obvious that Christian Bale was going to be Batman” — but he got far enough down the audition pipeline that they stuffed him into Val Kilmer’s batsuit. He wound up landing the co-villain role, Scarecrow.
Dave Lizewski, ‘Kick-Ass’
Christopher Mintz-Plasse says the director hated him during the audition, which seems to be a pattern in his career. Jonah Hill’s utter disdain made for the perfect on-screen chemistry in Superbad, but it was a disaster for his chances at playing Dave Lizewski. Instead, he got to play Red Mist.
Regina George and Cady Heron, ‘Mean Girls’
Lindsay Lohan was supposed to play Regina George, but when Freaky Friday came out, producers thought her burgeoning stardom would make her less believable as the bad girl. So director Mark Waters took his Cady, Rachel McAdams, and made her the Regina. He felt McAdams was too old to play Cady anyway, so this was a win-win-win for him.
Joey and Chandler, ‘Friends’
Hank Azaria auditioned for Joey Tribbiani, but ended up as one of Phoebe’s love interests, David the science guy. Meanwhile, Jon Favreau aimed for Chandler Bing, but landed a role as a Monica love interest, Pete the ultimate fighting champion guy.
