Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film-by-Film Directory of Actors Considered For Roles Given To Others

1083 Pages·2005·7.44 MB·English

by  Eila Mell

Casting Might-Have-Beens
A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others
EILA MELL
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE
BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE
e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-0976-8
©2005 Eila Mell. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher.

On the cover: background ©2004 Thinkstock; clockwise from top: Jessica Biel,
Maria Conchita Alonso, Kelly McGillis, Aidan Quinn, Brandon Lee
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
For Jack and Erin
CONTENTS
Preface
The Films and Roles
Notes
List of Names and Terms
PREFACE
Screenwriter William Goldman has said that actors become stars by accident.
Would Al Pacino be the star he is today had Robert Redford accepted the role of
Michael Corleone in The Godfather? Then there’s Humphrey Bogart, who
practically owes his career to George Raft. Bogart made the following films Raft
rejected: Dead End, It All Came True, The Maltese Falcon, High Sierra, All
Through the Night, and Casablanca. Bogart is a legend; if not for Raft we might
not even remember him.
Then there are the future stars who are turned down for roles. Imagine Tom
Hanks rejecting Uma Thurman, saying that acting with her was like acting in a
high school play. It’s true! This was before Pulp Fiction made her an A-list
actress and got her an Oscar nomination. Thurman auditioned to play opposite
Hanks in The Bonfire of the Vanities. Although director Brian De Palma was
interested in her, Hanks had casting approval, and Melanie Griffith (hot from
Working Girl) was cast instead.
Casting Might-Have-Beens is full of such stories. The information was obtained
through extensive research (see Notes section) and interviews.
The book is arranged alphabetically by film title (giving date). The actor who
played the role is first listed along with the character’s name. Immediately
following, in parentheses, are the actors considered for the role, followed by one
or more paragraphs telling the story behind the casting decision. Copious source
notes accompany the entries, beginning on page 263; they are indicated by
superscript numbers, which start over with each new letter of the alphabet.
An index of all actors, whether cast or considered, concludes the work.
In the book Live from New York, Lisa Kudrow gives some insight to the actor’s
point of view: “There’ve been a couple of things that I didn’t get or got fired
from, where friends who had a little more experience said, ‘It’s always a
blessing when a door closes because another door’s going to open.’”
Casting Might-Have-Beens gives you the chance to picture, for example, Danny
Thomas as the Godfather, Michael Jackson as Edward Scissorhands, or Marilyn
Monroe as Cleopatra. Imagine how different your favorite films might have
been!
THE FILMS AND ROLES
About Last Night (1986)
Rob Lowe as Danny (Dan Aykroyd)
James Belushi as Bernie (John Belushi)
Paramount Pictures asked Saturday Night Live costars John Belushi and Dan
Aykroyd to star in About Last Night. The movie was based on David Mamet’s
play, Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Belushi’s younger brother, Jim Belushi,
starred in the play. When John Belushi asked his brother how he would feel if he
took the role in the film, Jim said that it would kill him. John Belushi turned the
part down.1 The movie was made a few years later with Jim who had, by that
time, made a name for himself on the same show that made his late brother (John
died of a drug overdose in 1982) famous—Saturday Night Live.
Above Suspicion (1943)
Fred MacMurray as Richard Myles (Clark Gable)
Clark Gable turned down Fred MacMurray’s role in Above Suspicion.2
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Kay Hammond as Mary Todd Lincoln (Una Merkel)
Una Merkel was originally cast as Mary Todd Lincoln. Director D.W. Griffith
later changed his mind. He gave the part of Mary Todd Lincoln to Kay
Hammond, while Merkel was switched over to the part of Ann Rutledge.3
Una Merkel switched roles in Abraham Lincoln.
Absence of Malice (1982)
Paul Newman as Michael Gallagher (Al Pacino)
Sally Field as Megan Carter (Diane Keaton)
Director Sydney Pollack originally wanted Al Pacino to star as libeled
businessman Michael Gallagher in Absence of Malice. The two had previously
worked together when Pacino starred in Pollack’s 1977 film, Bobby Deerfield.
Pacino agreed to take on the part of Gallagher. Soon after, Pacino dropped out
unexpectedly. Pollack replaced him with Paul Newman.4
Diane Keaton was offered the part of Megan Carter. Keaton turned it down.
Sally Field was cast in her place.5
Absolute Power (1997)
Ed Harris as Seth Frank (Clint Eastwood)
Clint Eastwood was initially sent the script of Absolute Power with the thought
of him playing the role of detective Seth Frank. Eastwood read the script written
by William Goldman. He liked it, but had a problem with the part of Seth.
Eastwood felt that this role was something he had done many times before.
Instead, Eastwood wanted to play thief Luther Whitney. In Goldman’s
screenplay Luther dies halfway through the film. If Eastwood were to star he
would have to be in the film all the way through. Goldman altered the script to
suit Eastwood and the actor signed on for the part. The role of Seth Frank was
given to Ed Harris.6
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
William Hurt as Macon Leary (Kevin Costner)
Geena Davis as Muriel Pritchett (Ellen Barkin, Colleen Camp, Kate Capshaw,
Laura Dern, Melanie Griffith, Amy Madigan, Mary Steenburgen, Victoria
Tennant, Jo Beth Williams) All of the above actresses auditioned for the part of
Muriel Pritchett. Ellen Barkin had a particularly difficult time at the audition.
She has said that during her reading she was just waiting for it to be over, and
was disappointed because she felt she was letting down William Hurt and
director Lawrence Kasdan.7 She told Entertainment Weekly that her audition was
“terrible,” and that she thought the part was very difficult to audition for.8
Kevin Costner was offered the starring role of Macon. He didn’t want it, and it
went instead to William Hurt.9