20 movies that made a major casting change deep into filming

Solomon and Sheba could only have emerged from the 1950s, focusing as it does on the tumultuous love affair between the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (played by Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida, respectively). Brynner actually wasn’t the first person tapped to play Solomon, however. Tyrone Power originally played him, but, sadly, Power actually had a heart attack and died while filming. The movie would go on to become a success, but one can’t help but wonder what it would have been like if Power had starred as Solomon.

Richard Gere might be one of his generation’s most beloved and successful actors, but he’s had his fair share of setbacks in various movies. He was initially supposed to appear in The Lords of Flatbush,  for example, but due largely to his conflicts with Sylvester Stallone, he was ultimately fired from the production. This understandably led to some bad blood between the actors, and their dislike of one another continues to this day. Perry King ultimately replaced Gere.

Chicken Little might not be one of the most acclaimed and well-known Disney films, but it still has its charms. It was also originally supposed to be a very different film from the one that viewers saw. Among other things, the title character was supposed to be female, with Holly Hunter providing the voice. She’d even recorded a significant amount of dialogue before executives decided that the character needed a boy in order to draw in a larger audience. Hunter was let go, the character was retooled, and Zach Braff ultimately provided the voice. 

Released in 1967, Valley of the Dolls is in some ways the very epitome of a trashy, campy movie. It certainly had its fair share of production troubles, including some recasting. Judy Garland was originally slated to play Helen Lawson, but she was ultimately fired from the production. She was ultimately replaced by Susan Hayward, who had her own fair share of troubles on the set, most of which centered around her contentious relationship with her co-star, Patty Duke.

The Wachowskis earned their place in sci-fi history with The Matrix and its sequels, which continue to be thought-provoking pieces of cinema. The Matrix Reloaded is notable for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that it originally starred the late musician Aaliyah as Zee. Unfortunately, Aaliyah died in a plane crash during filming, which necessitated a recast. The role of Zee eventually went to Nona Gaye, and the Wachowskis shot all of the scenes with the new actress. 

One of Sandra Bullock’s first notable appearances was in the film Demolition Man, in which she played the character of Lenina Huxley. However, it turns out that Bullock wasn’t the first choice for this particular role. That distinction belongs to Lori Petty. As sometimes happens on film sets, however, Petty had some pretty significant disagreements with producer Joel Silver and, as is usually the case in these scenarios, she said she left due to “creative differences.” Bullock took on the role, which helped to establish her career in Hollywood.

Though many recastings occur because of differences or disagreements on set, some stem from more pragmatic reasons. Nicole Kidman, for example, had to pull out of the filming of the movie Panic Room thanks to an injury she’d sustained during the filming of Moulin Rouge. Given the physical demands of Panic Room,  which was directed by David Fincher, Jodie Foster was ultimately brought in to replace Kidman, even though the short notice meant that she didn’t really have very much time to rehearse or to get into the role.

There Will Be Blood might feature one of Daniel Day-Lewis’ best performances, but Paul Dano is also a very notable and disturbing presence in the film. He plays twins Paul and Eli Sunday. As it turns out, however, this wasn’t the original plan. Instead, Eli was originally supposed to be played by Kel O’Neil, but he left the production — both because he didn’t get along very well with director Paul Thomas Anderson and because he had less interest in acting — and Dano ended up taking on both roles.

Aragorn is arguably Viggo Mortensen’s most notable and beloved role. It’s thus all the more surprising that he wasn’t originally cast as the man who would eventually become King of Gondor. Instead, the role was originally given to Stuart Townsend. It quickly became clear during production, however, that Townsend just wasn’t the right person for the part, and Peter Jackson landed on Mortensen. There’s no doubt that Jackson’s beloved trilogy would never have been the same if he hadn’t made this crucial bit of recasting.

Ryan Gosling has repeatedly shown that he’s one of the most versatile and beloved actors of his generation, but that doesn’t mean he’s been perfect for every role. For example, he was originally cast in The Lovely Bones,  but he was fired partway through filming due to creative differences with director Peter Jackson. The two just had very different ideas of how the character should look — it didn’t help that he didn’t consult with his director about any of this — so the role was ultimately taken over by Mark Wahlberg.

Thanks to the success of the first two Harry Potter films, it was clear that this was a franchise with staying power, but this ultimately proved a bit of a problem when it came to the character of Dumbledore. This is because actor Richard Harris, who played the character in the first two movies, passed away before Chamber of Secrets hit cinemas. As a result, he ended up being replaced by Michael Gambon, who would play the role of Dumbledore for the remainder of the series’ run.

Mike Myers might have gone the extra mile in terms of making the role of Shrek his own, but he wasn’t the first person to voice the curmudgeonly green ogre. That honor goes to the late Chris Farley (who, like Myers, was an alum of Saturday Night Live). While Farley did record a significant amount of dialogue for the first Shrek film, he sadly passed away before filming was completed. Fortunately, Myers was able to step in, and the rest, as they say, is film history.  

By this point, it’s impossible to imagine anyone other than Ben Whishaw in the role of the beloved Paddington Bear. As it turns out, however, another actor was actually first in the role, and that was none other than Colin Firth, one of the most respected actors of his generation. Though he would have made a great Paddington Bear, it was ultimately decided that the performance he gave just didn’t align with the vision that the creative team wanted from the movie, and so he was ultimately replaced with Whishaw.

All the Money in the World raised more than a few eyebrows thanks to the controversy surrounding Kevin Spacey, who was originally cast to play J. Paul Getty. Once the sexual assault allegations against Spacey became public, however, he was ultimately recast while the movie was still filming. He was ultimately replaced by Christopher Plummer. The recasting turned out to be the best for both the film and Plummer, who was ultimately nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now remains one of the most famous films about the Vietnam War, and it also featured one of the early great performances from Martin Sheen. As it turns out, however, Sheen wasn’t originally cast as Benjamin L. Willard. That distinction belongs to Harvey Keitel. However, Keitel had more than a few disagreements with Coppola, and the two ultimately parted ways. This turned out to be for the best, and it’s inarguable that Sheen is a natural fit for the role.

Given that Her  focuses on a man who begins a relationship with his AI assistant, it feels both prescient and relevant. Scarlett Johansson provides the voice of Samantha, and it’s hard to imagine the film without her. As it turns out, however, she wasn’t the first person hired to voice Samantha; instead, that went to Samantha Morton. Ultimately, however, her voice wasn’t deemed a match for what Spike Jonze wanted for the role, so the dialogue was re-recorded.

V for Vendetta is one of those films that only becomes more relevant with every year. It features a number of terrific performances, including Hugo Weaving's. However, Weaving wasn’t the first person chosen to play the role of V; instead, that went to James Purefoy. As is so often the case in Hollywood, he left the production due to creative differences. This probably ended up being just as well, as the role ultimately lent itself to Weaving’s unique set of acting skills.

One of the most notable recastings of the 1980s occurred in Back to the Future.  Fans of the film know that Eric Stoltz was supposed to play Marty McFly, thanks to Michael J. Fox’s commitments to being on Family Ties, but it quickly became clear that he wasn’t the right person to play the character. Ultimately, he was replaced by Fox, and cinematic history was made. Given the extent to which Fox became synonymous with the role, it’s now impossible to imagine anyone else playing this particular character.

James Cameron is one of the most visionary filmmakers working in Hollywood, and he has shown himself to be particularly skilled in sci-fi. Aliens was one of his major hits of the 1980s, but the film had a few hiccups during filming, particularly when it came to the character of Dwayne Hicks. Originally, James Remar was slated to play the character, but he left about a month into production due to what was later revealed to be drug possession charges.

Heath Ledger was much in demand throughout the 2000s, and one of his most notable roles was in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.  However, he sadly passed away while the film was still being made. In the end, his character was played by several different actors, including Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law. It was a clever solution that simultaneously honored Ledger and his contribution to the film while also ensuring that the work itself wasn’t entirely scrapped.