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Old 08-08-2013, 12:07 PM
 
Location: Somewhere flat in Mississippi
10,062 posts, read 12,748,250 times
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Has anyone seen the 1976 version of A Star Is Born? It stars Barbra Streisand as an aspiring rock singer who falls in love with a veteran rock singer played by Kris Kristofferson. As her career rises, his goes into decline due to his self-destructive ways. According to Wikipedia, Streisand wanted Elvis to play the role Kristofferson took, but he declined. Considering what Elvis was doing to himself at the time, perhaps the part hit waaaay too close to home.

George Raft, one of Warner Brothers' leading "tough guys" during the 1930s, turned down the leads for High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon, roles that made Humphrey Bogart a star, while Raft's career fizzled.

Any other "what-might-have-beens" you can think of?
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Old 08-10-2013, 07:33 PM
 
Location: TOVCCA
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Molly Ringwald turned down the leads in both "Pretty Woman" (Julia Roberts) and "Ghost" (Demi Moore), two blockbusters.
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Old 08-11-2013, 11:59 AM
 
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I love this kind of Hollywood trivia. There's actually a whole website dedicated to it:

notstarring.com -- movie trivia

My favorite "what-might-have-beens":

George Raft. He was best known for his roles in old Hollywood gangster movies (including the original 1932 Scarface). He turned down the leads in both Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. If he hadn't turned those roles down, he might have been as big a name has Humphrey Bogart, and Humphrey Bogart might not have been Humphrey Bogart.

Lucille Ball was one of the actresses considered for the role of Scarlett in Gone with the Wind. Can you imagine Lucy Ricardo as Scarlett? We all know Lucille Ball as the queen of comedy and slapstick, but in the 1930s, it seems she was being groomed to be a Hollywood movie starlet like Ginger Rogers or Katherine Hepburn.

Ronald Reagan. He was considered for the role of Mr. Braddock in The Graduate.

Gangs of New York. I enjoyed this film, but the one thing that almost ruined it for me was the casting of Cameron Diaz as Jenny. Worst casting ever. It's interesting to see all the actresses that were considered for that part. Because Scorsese had the movie in development for decades, the actresses considered varied widely. Very, very widely. For example, both Bridget Fonda and Jane Fonda. Both Arquette sisters. Everyone from Natalie Portman to Goldie Hawn.

Forrest Gump. Dave Chappelle, Ice Cube and David Alan Grier all turned down the role of Bubba. Tupac is said to have auditioned for the role. Nicole Kidman and Demi Moore both passed on Jenny. Bill Murray was considered for Forrest. Chevy Chase and John Travolta both turned down Forrest.

Speed. The role of Annie was originally meant for Ellen DeGeneres. Later on, Kim Basinger, Halle Berry and Alyssa Milano of all people, turned the role down. If they hadn't, we might not have the Sandra Bullock we have today.


More recently:

Silver Linings Playbook. Anne Hathaway turned the role of Tiffany down because of scheduling conflicts. (Good thing she had Les Mis for getting an Oscar.) Angelina Jolie was gunning hard for the part but Jennifer Lawrence swooped in at the last minute and beat her out, as well as Rachel McAdams, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Banks, Rooney Mara and Kirsten Dunst.


I could do this forever.
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Old 08-12-2013, 06:02 AM
 
Location: The DMV
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Seems fairly common that the actors/actresses who ends up on film were not the original choices. Although I think in many cases, they got it right. I can't imagine Pretty Woman being as successful with Molly Ringwald. Or Raiders with Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones.

So the "might have beens" could be the opposite. I'd think 'An Officer and a Gentleman' may have bombed if John Denver was in the lead....
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Old 08-15-2013, 07:31 AM
 
Location: Long Island
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At my university many years back, an assistant director who worked on many films came to my school. He worked with Cameron Crowe and Francis Ford Coppola a lot.

Jerry Maguire was suppose to star Tom Hanks and Winona Ryder. Tom Hanks was out, but Winona Ryder was still in, until they paired up Tom Cruise and Winona. They looked more like brother and sister standing with each other. So the part ultimately went to Renee Zellweger.
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Old 08-21-2013, 10:10 AM
 
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Has this been mentioned yet? (I haven't read the posts).

Anyway, Natalie Wood turned down the "Bonnie" part in "Bonnie and Clyde". She would have been great in that. Instead, it went to Faye Dunaway, who, IMHO, was too tamed for it. She was nearly boring.
Wood would have added a cute quirkiness and excitement, making the movie's conclusion more poignant.
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Old 08-21-2013, 11:15 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica
36,857 posts, read 17,275,575 times
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Eddie Van Halen wanted to join KISS in the early 80s but they felt he was too big for the band.

That would have been weird.
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