19 Characters Who Were Cut From A Film Despite Having Filmed All Their Scenes

    These characters never made it past the cutting room floor.

    And...cut! While these words usually signify a scene wrapping, you never know what (or who) will make the final version of a film until the editing process is over. Here's a roundup of actors who played characters that never quite made it on screen despite working on set:

    1. To start, Shailene Woodley was set to play Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but was removed from the comic book franchise after filming a number of scenes.

    Shailene Woodley at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party

    2. Tobey Maguire was originally supposed to appear in Life of Pi, but he got nixed from the film for being "too famous" compared to the rest of the up-and-coming cast.

    Tobey Maguire at the premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon

    3. As if Bridesmaids wasn't already funny enough, it might have been even better if Paul Rudd's scene as Annie's love interest made it to the silver screen. For anyone with the DVD version of the chick flick, he can be found in a bonus features deleted scene.

    Paul Rudd at the premiere of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

    4. While it's no question that Maya Rudolph knows how to be funny, screening audiences didn't love her part in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, leading to her getting canned from the final edit.

    Maya Rudolph at the premiere of Poker Face

    5. Harrison Ford's cameo as Elliott's principal never made it in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial due to director Steven Spielberg thinking audiences would be distracted by it.

    Harrison Ford at the premiere of 1923

    6. Angela Bassett's voice was featured in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but she was actually supposed to have an on-screen role that was eventually cut last minute.

    Angela Bassett at the opening night of A Transparent Musical

    7. Natalie Portman was only 13 when she was cast as the leading lady in Romeo + Juliet. Since she was so young compared to costar Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes ended up taking the spot.

    Natalie Portman on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival 2023

    8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry opted to remove Ellen Pompeo's role as Naomi (aka Joel's ex-girlfriend) due to the different perception audiences would have had of Jim Carrey's character.

    Ellen Pompeo at the 2022 People's Choice Awards

    9. Tim Roth had a funny sequence as Jay Sebring's British butler that got axed from Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. Despite not getting any screen time, Tim's name still made it into the end credits.

    Tim Roth at the 78th Venice International Film Festival

    10. The world will never see Robert Pattinson bring the character of Rawdy Crawley to life since he got edited out of the period film, Vanity Fair.

    Robert Pattinson at Metropolitan Museum of Art

    11. Jena Malone's character Jenet Klyburn never made the initial theatrical release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but later got featured in the extended cut of the DC Comics release.

    Jena Malone at the premiere of Adopting Audrey

    12. Ricky Gervais confirmed he had a cameo in The Muppets, but the scenes never made it out of the cutting room. Later on, he scored a role in the sequel Muppets Most Wanted.

    Ricky Gervais at the National Television Awards 2022

    13. Michelle Monaghan's part as a half-demon named Ellie never played out in Constantine. "We had real story reasons for doing it. It was not her performance, she's a fantastic actress, and we really liked the work that she did," said director Francis Lawrence. "We just decided that Constantine was better alone, and feeling like he didn't have a companion that he could, sort of, lean on and have a relationship with."

    Michelle Monaghan on the red carpet

    14. Sienna Miller got cut from Black Mass after originally being set to play Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of Whitey Bulger. Director Scott Cooper cited "narrative choices" as the reason behind her being dropped from the film.

    Sienna Miller at the premiere of Extrapolations

    15. Matt Damon's brief cameo in Ocean's 8 got halted in the end. "There were a lot of people who were gracious to us that just for editorial and storytelling reasons didn't make it in and some who did," said director Gary Ross.

    Matt Damon at the opening night of Kiss the Future

    16. Ashley Judd's courtroom performance was left behind when Natural Born Killers debuted.

    Ashley Judd at the National Press Club

    17. Christopher Lee skipped the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King after learning he wouldn't be featured in the final cut, which was wild since he was easily one of the biggest villains in the franchise.

    Christopher Lee in Paris promoting The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

    18. The original release of Avengers: Endgame was supposed to include a now deleted scene with Katherine Langford as the adult version of Tony and Pepper's daughter Morgan. Joe and Anthony Russo revealed the emotional scene "felt similar" to the one where Tony gives his own eulogy.

    Katherine Langford on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival

    19. Finally, you won't find James Marsden in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood because his role as real-life actor Burt Reynolds got the boot.

    James Marsden on the red carpet

    Do you wish these characters never got cut? Share who you would have loved to see on screen in the comments!