These 17 Actors Were Cast Last Minute In Iconic Movie Roles

I literally can't imagine anyone but Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones.

There are countless movie characters that are pretty much ~inseparable~ from the actors who played them. However, some of them might've looked a whole lot different if not for last-minute replacements and call-ups!

HBO

Here are 17 times exactly THAT occurred...

1. We all know Marty McFly as Michael J. Fox.

Universal Pictures

But did you know that the role initially went to Eric Stolz?

Paramount Pictures

Michael is so synonymous with Back to the Future that it's hard to believe the role of Marty was first filmed with Eric. Eric filmed almost the whole movie (in the depths of winter, no less) even though the producers knew he was going to be replaced!

The change was so sudden that director Robert Zemeckis announced it through his bullhorn ON SET. This is what he said to the cast and crew: "I'll give you the bad news. We’re going to have to reshoot most of the movie because we've changed the cast and there’s going to be a new Marty: Michael J. Fox."

2. Paddington is, of course, voiced by the great Ben Whishaw — and we wouldn't have it any other way!

StudioCanal

But Ben was actually a replacement for Colin Firth!

20th Century Fox

The beloved bear was initially voiced by Colin, but as it turns out, he couldn't quite find the right voice during production.

The "uncoupling" seemed to be a mutual one, with Colin stating: "It's been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and to come to the sad realisation that he simply doesn't have my voice."

Don't worry, Colin, you've done plenty to be proud of! Thankfully, Ben took the reins, and I can't imagine Paddington sounding like anyone else.

3. One of the most iconic superhero performances of all time is undoubtedly Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

20th Century Fox

But for the character's first appearance in X-Men, Logan was actually played by Dougray Scott.

Paramount Pictures

I know what you're thinking — but Hugh is Wolverine! Well, I'm sorry, Hugh was a last-minute call-up to the role. The movie was already two weeks into production when it was decided that Dougray was too injured from an accident filming Mission: Impossible II to perform the stunts.

So the film that kicked off a new century of superhero movies and thrust Hugh into the limelight could have looked entirely different. Would we have even gotten the 10-plus films after X-Men?!

4. Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in Batman Returns is considered by many to be the best iteration of the iconic masked villain.

Warner Bros.

But Michelle's role actually went to Annette Bening at first!

Marimax Films

Michelle's iconic performance could have never been! It was Annette's pregnancy that led to Michelle stepping in, and what a wonderful job she did! 

Producer Denise Di Novi elaborated on what it was like having to recast so late: "We were a little bit in a panic because we'd fitted the costumes and the mask and everything, and then Annette was pregnant." 

Annette bounced back from being cut from the film and — among many other accomplishments — went on to win a BAFTA for American Beauty a few years later, so a good result all around, really!

5. The character of Aragorn is synonymous with Viggo Mortenson, and for good reason!

New Line Cinema

But Lord of the Rings could have been totally different, since the part was first handed to Stuart Townsend!

Warner Bros. Pictures

Whaaat?! THE vital role in one of the most successful film series of all time could have looked a whole lot different. Right before filming The Fellowship of the Ring, Stuart was replaced by Viggo, and now it's absolutely impossible to imagine anyone else as Aragorn!

According to the Queen of the Damned star, Stuart was fired because he "wasn't working hard enough", which he refutes. Some believe it was due to his age — he was around the same age as the actors playing the hobbits, while Viggo was 20 years older.

No offence, Stuart, I'm sure you would've been great, but I'm forever grateful for the Aragorn we know and love!

6. Hugo Weaving was perfect as the voice of V in V for Vendetta.

Warner Bros. Pictures

However, it was James Purefoy who was initially cast as the silver-tongued antihero.

Netflix

That's right, we could've seen (or, rather, heard) a totally different V in the dystopian classic. First-time director James McTeigue sent James home from set after he wasn't satisfied with his voice. 

TBF, the whole role is played from behind a mask, and so the voice is pretty damn important! Hugo's eloquent alliterations were ideal for V.

Just for fun, here's a scene that highlights Hugo's masterful performance as V!

youtube.com

7. If I say "Indiana Jones," whom do you picture? Harrison Ford, of course!

Paramount Pictures

But here's something wild: Indiana was initially going to be played by Tom Selleck!

CBS

By the time he was working on Indiana Jones, George Lucas had already cast Harrison in two of his films, and he apparently wasn't keen on the idea of him becoming the Robert De Niro to his Martin Scorsese. However, after screen tests and a month of considering the offer, the beautifully mustached Tom declined the role, leaving Harrison to pick up the mantle...and pick it up he did!

George later admitted that Harrison was a “perfect fit” for the role — well, of course he was, George!

8. Christian Bale's performance as Patrick Bateman is certainly one for the books.

Lionsgate Films

But it turns out that Leonardo DiCaprio had to drop out of American Psycho in order for Christian to get the role.

20th Century Fox

Just picture it — a fresh-faced Leo, Hollywood's newest heartthrob, hot off the success of Titanic, playing an egotistical and homicidal businessperson. Apparently, Leo was advised to drop the role because of his fan base. "There is an entire planet full of 13-year-old girls waiting to see what you do next, and this is going to be a movie that has horrible violence toward women," said the film's screenwriter.

Who knows if that's why he actually ducked out, but Christian's version of Patrick turned out to be so incredibly disturbing that I cannot imagine anyone else doing it!

9. Sofia Coppola famously played Michael Corleone's daughter in the third film of The Godfather trilogy, but that certainly wasn't how it was supposed to go.

Paramount Pictures

Winona Ryder had actually quit during the filming of The Godfather: Part III.

Universal Pictures

This is perhaps one of the most well-known (and some say disastrous) Hollywood casting stories. Winona's last-minute dropping out left Francis Ford Coppola short of an actor for Michael's daughter. It was then, of course, that he turned to his own 18-year-old daughter to play the part.

Who knows if the film would've been more kindly received if Winona hadn't dropped out, but at least Sofia went on to have a successful directing career!

10. Captain Benjamin Willard — a key role in Apocalypse Now — was played by Martin Sheen, and it's impossible to picture him played by anyone else.

United Artists

However, Harvey Keitel was originally lined up for the part, until he was fired during filming.

Warner Bros.

Here's Francis Ford Coppola in ANOTHER recasting headache, but this is one of his own making! The famous director allegedly let Harvey go because he was too "afraid" of shooting in the jungle.

Harvey doesn't buy that reason, however, saying that he'd already spent three years in the jungle with the US Marine Corps.

Whatever the reason, there were apparently no hard feelings, and Martin sure was a great Captain Willard in the end!

11. Paul Dano's portrayal of Eli Sunday in There Will Be Blood was the perfect tonic to Daniel Day-Lewis's performance.

Miramax Films

However, filmmaker Kel O'Neill (director of The Empire Project) was actually supposed to play Eli!

Barry King / WireImage / Via Getty Images

Paul was actually on set thinking he was going to be playing Eli’s brother when Kel was fired. As always, there are myriad outlandish rumours about why Kel lost the part, but he himself has simply said that it just wasn't working out, so we’ll take his word!

Director Paul Thomas Anderson then asked Paul if he could play Eli, and what a masterpiece they ended up making!

12. It's hard to imagine Shrek without Mike Myers' voice at the helm.

Dreamworks Pictures

But Shrek was actually supposed to be played by Saturday Night Live legend Chris Farley.

Paramount Pictures

The big green ogre and internet sensation we all know and love was gonna sound quite different from Mike's "Scottish" interpretation. In fact, Chris had recorded almost all of Shrek's lines when he tragically died.

Chris's brother has offered how Chris's version of Shrek would've differed from Mike's: "Originally, the Shrek character was a little bit more like Chris, like a humble, bumbling, innocent guy.”

Here's some of the lost (and then found) footage of Chris voicing Shrek:

youtube.com

13. I'm sure we can't imagine Beverly Hills Cop Axel Foley as anyone other than Eddie Murphy.

Paramount Pictures

But it could've been hella different, because Sylvester Stallone was actually lined up to play the role!

Orion Pictures

Sly was on board, and then he decided to rewrite the whole script to make the part fit in with his preferred all-out action roles. Stallone said, "I took the script and rewrote it as a kind of compromise, where the guy was action-oriented, but he also had a wry sense of humour.”

In the end, Sylvester and the director couldn't come to an agreement, and he walked away from the role, giving Eddie the chance to make the part his own.

Geena Davis became Dottie Hinson for A League of Their Own.

Columbia Pictures

But not before Debra Winger had quit the part. Why? Because Madonna was cast.

Universal Pictures

What went on to become an iconic Geena Davis role was going to be played by Oscar winner Debra Winger. What makes things worse for Debra is that she'd trained with the Chicago Cubs for "over three months" for the part!

Unfortunately, she was NOT happy with the casting of Madonna in another part and walked out, saying that she felt like the movie was becoming "an Elvis film".

You do you, Debra, but I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there who'd love to work with Madonna — including Geena, who was great in this!

14. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen were the perfect duo in 50/50.

Lionsgate

But Joseph actually replaced James McAvoy, who was initially cast as Adam.

Universal Pictures

Joseph had to decide immediately if he wanted to be on board, as the movie had already begun filming when James had to drop out because of a family emergency.

It must be handy to have incredibly talented actor friends hanging around for when you need them!

15. Ed Harris perfectly portrayed Christof, the eerie producer in The Truman Show.

Paramount Pictures

But it turns out that the great Dennis Hopper was the one who was intended for Christof.

20th Century Fox

Dennis's walkout was down to "creative differences" with the director, but it led to Ed taking over and perfectly playing the manipulative creator of Truman's false reality.

16. The love interest (and operating system) in Her was, of course, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures

But Scarlett actually replaced Minority Report star Samantha Morton after she'd already recorded her whole part!

Universal Pictures

This one's gotta hurt — after all that work?! Director Spike Jonze claimed that he realised Samantha wouldn't work as the voice of the operating system during postproduction. TBF, Scarlett did do a great job, but STILL!

17. Mark Wahlberg's role as Jack Salmon in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones was one of his more endearing performances.

Paramount Pictures

Despite this, Ryan Gosling was originally up for the part of Jack, but he was let go for having gained too much weight.

Lionsgate

We’d have loved to see Ryan as Jack, but he and Peter clearly had different visions for the role. Ryan routinely drank melted Häagen-Dazs ice cream (sounds like a dream, TBH) to gain 60 pounds for the grieving-father role, thinking that it was the right direction for the part.

Peter had a different image in his mind, though, and he got rid of Ryan days before filming, bringing Mark on board instead. So Ryan's weight gain was all for nothing, AND he lost out on a job — finally, I can relate to Ryan Gosling!

Do you think any of these initial casting choices would've been better than the eventual replacements? Let us know in the comments below!