12 Actors Who You Wouldn’t Expect To Miss Out On Career-Defining Roles
In fact, the actors who end up playing your favorite movie roles are frequently not the initial choices for the parts. This implies that if the optimal casting had occurred, enduring films may have been drastically different. How different is this? Let's just say it's difficult to even envision this parallel silver screen existence.
The actors and celebrities listed below discussed losing out on what may have been their career-defining roles. Your perspective on your favorite movies will never be the same again.
#1 Emma Watson as Mia in La La Land
Source: Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection/East News, AP/EAST NEWS
Who got the role: Emma Stone
#2 Russel Crowe as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Source: © The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/ New Line Cinema and co-producers, Mary Evans/Allstar/Graham Whitby Boot/East News
Who got the role: Viggo Mortensen
Russell Crowe once had the opportunity to take The Lord of the Rings as a brilliant next step, but he went with his instinct and declined the role of Aragorn: “I didn’t think [director] Peter Jackson actually wanted me on the film. I think he was forced into talking to me because there was a moment in time when everybody wanted me in everything... my instinct was that he had somebody else in mind... and he should be able to hire the actor that he wants.”
#3 Emilia Clarke as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy
Source: Image supplied by Capital Pictures/EAST NEWS, MARK RALSTON/AFP/East News
Who got the role: Dakota Johnson
#4 Justin Timberlake as Elton John in Rocketman
Source: David Appleby/Everett Collection/East News, Invision/Invision/East News
Who got the role: Taron Egerton
#5 Gwyneth Paltrow as Rose in Titanic
Source: face to face/Reporter/East News, EAST NEWS
Who got the role: Kate Winslet
#6 Christina Applegate as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde
Source: Image supplied by Capital Pictur/EAST NEWS, EVERETT COLLECTION/EAST NEWS
Who got the role: Reese Witherspoon
#7 John Travolta as Forrest in Forrest Gump
Source: Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection, Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot/East News
Who got the role: Tom Hanks
#8 Brendan Fraser as Superman in Superman Returns
Source: © Universal Images Group North America LLC / Alamy Stock Photo, PHOTOlink / Courtesy Everett Collection / East News
Who got the role: Brendon Routh
Fraser reportedly reminisced about how he nearly accepted a role as the next Superman but ultimately decided against it: “Of course, it’s a life-changing, amazing opportunity, but I had to reconcile with, ’Okay, say you do get the job to be the Man of Steel. It’s going to be chipped on your gravestone. Are you okay with that? You will forevermore be known as the Man of Steel.’”
#9 Matthew McConaughey as Jack in Titanic
Source: © Titanic / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers, Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot/East News
Who got the role: Leonardo DiCaprio
#10 Hugh Jackman as James Bond in Daniel Craig’s Bond movies
Source: EAST NEWS, Adam Orchon/Everett Collection/East News
Who got the role: Daniel Craig
#11 Sandra Bullock as Neo in The Matrix franchise
Source: © The Matrix Revolutions / Warner Bros. and co-producers, Mary Evans/AF Archive/Graham Whitby Boot/East News
Who got the role: Keanu Reeves
If the creators had given up trying to find the ideal male actor, the renowned character of Neo would have been quite different.
According to one of the producers, they approached Sandra since they thought she was great in Speed: “We went to Sandy Bullock and said, ’We’ll change Neo to a girl.’ [...] We sent her the script to see if she was interested in it. And if she was interested in it, we would try to make the change. [...] It just wasn’t something for her at the time. So, really, it didn’t go anywhere.”
#12 Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise
Source: EAST NEWS, © LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo
Who got the role: Rupert Grint