13 Iconic Roles That Could’ve Been Played by Different Actors

When a film director plans a movie, they usually keep a certain actor in mind to play the lead part. But sometimes, this actor turns the role down, or casting directors are not satisfied with their auditions. If that happens, they have to look for other candidates. It’s interesting that some of our favorite movies were planned with different actors in mind, but turned out differently due to various circumstances.

Marilyn — 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.

Selina — The Batman

Many young actresses auditioned for the role of Catwoman in the newest Batman movie. One of the potential candidates was Nathalie Emmanuel, who starred in Game of Thrones. But eventually, Zoë Kravitz got the role. It’s worth mentioning that previous Catwoman performers, like Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry, and Anne Hathaway, all supported this casting choice.

Napoleon — The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The elusive agent, Napoleon Solo, could have been played by Robert Pattinson. But Henry Cavill managed to win the part, even though Pattinson had been his competitor for years and was the one who landed some iconic roles Cavill auditioned for.

Cavill wanted to play Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter series and Edward in The Twilight Saga, but he lost to Pattinson. So the starring role in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. became his personal triumph.

Adaline — The Age of Adaline

The role of the never-aging beauty, Adaline, was offered to Natalie Portman, but the actress turned it down without explaining why. So Blake Lively agreed to play this character, and it paid off. She was nominated for a few prestigious movie awards for her performance. And even though she didn’t win any of them, we still can’t imagine anyone else playing Adaline as convincingly as Lively did.

Rick — 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.

Megan — The Girl on the Train

Producers wanted Margot Robbie to play the beauty who is watched by Emily Blunt’s character from the train’s window every day. However, Robbie didn’t join the project for some reason, so Haley Bennet, who was little-known at the time, got the role. According to the film’s director, he followed the recommendations of his colleagues and never regretted his choice.

Jane — The Legend of Tarzan

Margot Robbie also got the chance to replace another actress. Producers’ first choice for the role of Jane in The Legend of Tarzan was Emma Stone, but she turned it down. So Jane has become another bright character in Robbie’s filmography.

Kevin — The Devil’s Advocate

Originally, Joel Schumacher was planning to direct the screenplay adaptation of The Devil’s Advocate, and he wanted Brad Pitt to play the young lawyer. But Schumacher was replaced with Taylor Hackford, and Pitt was left outside the project. Eventually, Keanu Reeves got the role of Kevin, who chose to star in The Devil’s Advocate over Speed 2, even though he was promised a nice amount of money for it.

Amy — Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon produced the movie and planned to star in it. But her colleagues persuaded her against it. “David Fincher said I wasn’t right for the role, and I actually completely agreed with him,” Witherspoon explained in an interview. Eventually, Rosamund Pike played the starring role.

Rosalind — The Gentlemen

Originally, Kate Beckinsale was cast for the role of the main character’s wife, but she dropped out 2 weeks after shooting began due to family reasons. Luckily, director Guy Ritchie had an excellent replacement in mind, Michelle Dockery, the Downton Abbey star.

Mary — The Other Boleyn Girl

Jessica Biel auditioned for the role of Mary, but eventually, it went to Scarlett Johansson. It made Biel very upset because she dreamt of playing this character. “Movie directors want that top tier of girls,” she complained in an interview.

Lestat — Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

The rights to the screen adaptation of the novel were bought in the 1970s, and John Travolta was supposed to play Lestat. But at some point, the project was put on hiatus because there were too many vampire movies on the market.

But by the time the movie was in preproduction, Travolta had become too old to portray the ever-young vampire, so Tom Cruise landed the role and was remarkable in it.

Jane — Becoming Jane

Keira Knightley was considered for the role of Jane Austen. Perhaps one of the reasons for this was that Knightley played the starring role in Pride & Prejudice, based on the writer’s other novel. But eventually, Anne Hathaway landed the role, and everyone loved her performance.

Would you want to watch these movies starring the cast that was originally planned by the filmmakers? Share your opinion in the comments below.

Kate Winslet shed light on the dynamics of filming intimate scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio, particularly in “Revolutionary Road.” Despite their palpable on-screen chemistry and off-screen friendship, Winslet found it challenging to perform such scenes, especially in front of her then-husband, director Sam Mendes.