20 actors whose screen time was cut after being promised a great role

Fans were thrilled to learn that Simone Ashley was cast in F1 alongside Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem. Sadly, her work wasn’t included in the final cut, which was especially strange considering she attended the movie’s London premiere. 

Some actors totally understand why their work gets cut from a project. Andy García filmed a part for the film Dangerous Minds, but he felt that his character’s storyline was unnecessary and was unsurprised to see that the filmmakers agreed. 

Angela Bassett has been snubbed in Hollywood more times than anyone can count. The supreme actress was cast as Brad Pitt’s boss in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but everything she filmed got cut from the final edit. The only trace of Bassett in the film is her voice. 

Kristen Wiig has been cut out of a movie, too. The hilarious woman filmed some scenes for Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but they didn’t make the final edit. 

Many actors dream of appearing in a Marvel film. There probably aren’t any actors who dream of being cut from a Marvel film. Unfortunately, that was the reality for Katherine Langford, who filmed a scene for the end of Avengers: Endgame that didn’t make the movie. 

Uma Thurman filmed scenes for the movie Savages , playing the mother of Blake Lively’s character. The director, Oliver Stone, praised Thurman’s performance (how could you not?) but said hard decisions had to be made because the movie could only be so long. 

KiKi Layne’s character was very important in Don’t Worry Darling, but she wasn’t shown nearly as much in the film as she had anticipated. Most of what Layne filmed for the movie was cut. 

Ana de Armas was included in the trailer of a film called Yesterday, only to be left out of the film entirely. The uproar was so strong that Universal was sued for false advertising. 

Mickey Rourke’s work in The Thin Red Line was cut, and he was incredibly upset as he believed very strongly in his work. Hopefully softening the blow for Rourke, Adrien Brody, Bill Pullman, and Billy Bob Thornton all did work for the film that wasn’t used. 

Timothée Chalamet was hurt when he saw the final edit of Interstellar because he was only included in a few scenes. It took the actor by surprise as he had filmed much more than what was shown. 

The ever reasonable Amy Poehler expected to be cut from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. She had a small role as a bank teller and figured that what she filmed would get cut because of how long the film already was. 

Before Robert Pattinson was the Robert Pattinson that audiences know and love today, he was a young actor with a part in the film Vanity Fair. Everything he filmed for the movie ended up getting cut, but it worked out in the end because the casting director, feeling guilty for Pattinson’s omission, offered him a role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

Harrison Ford filmed a scene for E.T. as he was dating one of the writers at the time. The scene didn’t really fit with the story, though, so it got cut, leaving the film Harrison-less. 

Manny Jacinto was slated to be part of the Top Gun: Maverick cast. Given his popularity at the time of casting — The Good Place was in its prime — fans expected him to have a major part in the film. Unfortunately, Jacinto didn’t have a speaking part in the final cut and was more of a background actor than anything. 

Paul Rudd was promised a role in Bridesmaids that ultimately did not materialize. The comedian was supposed to go on a date with Kristen Wiig, and it’s an absolute travesty that audiences weren’t treated to what would’ve most certainly been an iconic scene. 

It’s hard to imagine cutting Ellen Pompeo out of anything, but before she made it big with Grey’s Anatomy, she was completely cut out of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind after filming multiple scenes. 

Tobey Maguire filmed scenes for the film Life of Pi, but after the fact, the director, Ang Lee, decided that Maguire had too much star power for the role. His scenes were refilmed with actor Rafe Spall instead. 

In another world, Dax Shepard is included in the final cut of Knocked Up. The actor filmed a few scenes for the film, but his work wasn’t used in the end. 

If you look at Harry Shum Jr.’s film resume, you’ll think that he was in Crazy Rich Asians. But if you watch the film, you’ll see that he’s not in it until the credits roll. Shum Jr. filmed more than was shown for the movie, but he was cut as the director, John M. Chu, felt that his character didn’t fit enough in the story. 

Tim Roth was cut from the final version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , a major surprise given his professional relationship with Quentin Tarantino. But hey, he probably still got paid.