9 Famous Movie Roles Meant For Different Actors

For movie lovers, it's always an interesting idea to think of what some of our favorite films would have been like if other actors had played the major characters. Right? In fact, a casting director's job is not as simple as you think because the actors in Movies need to meet the demand of different people, including scriptwriters, directors, producers, or even investors. The unavoidable conflict among those people may cause the elimination of some actors who are picked as the first choice for the role.
Amazingly, the debate from inside the film crew is not for fun. The results, which are known as multiple successful movies, already left us, the audiences, in awe. They are iconic movies that pave the way for some A-list actors to start a glorious acting career in Hollywood. If that prominent movie role were portrayed by other actors, some acting careers might have a sharp change that we can't expect.
And today we're going to count down the top ten movie roles originally meant for other actors. Let's jump into the countdown.

#1 Denzel Washington as Michael Clayton in Michael Clayton, 2007.

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In 2007, when writer-director Tony Gilroy's feature film debut Michael Clayton hit theaters, he had a star-studded cast in tow with Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, and megastar George Clooney in the title role.
Clooney would go on to earn a best actor Oscar nomination for the part, but director Gilroy had his eye on Denzel Washington. Originally, Denzel said with Clayton, it was the best material I had read in a long time, but I was nervous about a first-time director and I was wrong. It happens. Oh, well, you can't win them all. Denzel went on to make Ridley Scott's hit American Gangster alongside Russell Crowe instead.

#2 Christina Applegate as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, 2001.

Source: people

We all know Reese Witherspoon as the hilarious fish-out-of-water lawyer Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. But can you believe the role almost went to TV? Kelly Bundy aka Christina Applegate. Christina is said to have turned down the role because she was just coming off of playing ditzy blonde Kelly Bundy on "Married... with Children" and didn't want to be typecast. But Christina doesn't have hard feelings about passing on the role of Elle Woods, saying, I don't regret it because Reese Witherspoon did a much better job than I ever could, and she now has way more money and way more success and so why would I even regret that? Well, at least she has a sense of humor about it.

#3 Robert De Niro as Josh Baskin in Big, 1988.

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It's hard to imagine anyone taking on the role of a twelve-year-old boy trapped in a grown man's body the way Tom Hanks did in the hit film "Big" Penny Marshall's coming-of-age story. But the role almost went to none other than Travis Bickle himself. Robert de Niro.
I mean, we all know De Niro is a legendary actor and movie tough guy, but who could imagine him playing Chopsticks on a giant floor piano in FAO Schwartz? Well, had it not been for rescheduling conflicts, it would have happened as De Niro was actually cast as Josh originally. There are a million robots that turn into something, and this is a building that.
When De Niro had to back out, Hanks stepped in and the rest is film history. While "Big" was one of the comedy hits of 1988, de Niro starred in his own comedy hit Midnight Run the same year.

#4 Jack Nicholson as Normandale in Hoosiers, 1986.

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We all know Hoosiers as one of the greatest sports films ever made, with Oscar-winner Gene Hackman leading the charge as hardnosed Coach Normandale's team, right?
But it was the world's most famous Lakers fan who originally wanted the part. That's right, none other than Jack Nicholson. At the time, Jack Nicholson was arguably the biggest movie star in the world and actually wanted to do the film, but was a witness in an ongoing lawsuit that tied him up for six months. The film shoot had a tight schedule and Jack told the filmmakers that if they had to shoot now to go ahead and find another actor, otherwise he could do the film in a year. The filmmakers had to move forward with the production and brought in Gene Hackman to play Coach Dale. After seeing the film, Nicholson tells the director, David Anspaugh, that the film is great, the actors are great, but if I had been in the film, it would have been a mega-hit

#5 O. J. Simpson as the terminator in 1984 The Terminator.

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When The Terminator was released in 1984, it became a box office smash that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's film career. I mean, if you're going to have a film where a super cyborg from the future comes back to kill Sarah Connor and anyone else who gets in the way, you're going to want someone who looks intimidating, right?
Well, when director James Cameron was casting the film, the head of the studio came to him and said, I want OJ. Simpson for the terminator. Cameron and his producing partner, Gail Anne Heard, just looked at each other and said, you got to be kidding me. Apparently, the idea was never really more than just that. An idea as Cameron found Simpson to be a little too pleasant for his taste.

#6 Bette Midler as Sister Mary Clarence in Sister Act, 1992.

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Almost 30 years later, Sister Act is still a beloved film that is popular across different generations. Not only is the film harrowing at times, but absolutely hilarious and includes uplifting musical numbers to boot. Much of the film's success could be attributed to its lead actress, Whoopi Goldberg.
Who turns in a signature performance as Dolores Wilson's sister, Mary Clarence. But it was another great actress with some major singing chops that was offered the role first Bette Midler. The role was actually written with Bette in mind, but she didn't think her fans would want to see her wearing a wimple. Well, at least we'll always have hocus pocus.

#7 Leonardo DiCaprio as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Knights, 1997.

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Back in 1997, when writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Knights were released, it had a star-studded cast, including Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Burt Reynolds, and Mark Wahlberg as Dirk Diggler, a porno actor who has to navigate newfound fame in a volatile adult film industry during the 1970s. And role kickstarted would go on to become a highly successful career for Wahlberg. In the movies, it's folded over 70.
But the director Anderson had another up-and-coming actor in mind for the role of Leonardo DiCaprio. Anderson says he had seen DiCaprio in 1990 five's Basketball Diaries, which also costarred Wahlberg, and knew he had found his lead for Boogie Knights. But DiCaprio turned the role down to star in an even bigger film that you may have heard of called Titanic and became an international heartthrob and the most in-demand actor in Hollywood. But it was actually DiCaprio who suggested to Anderson that he cast Wahlberg in the role of Diggler, and, well, the rest is history.

#8 Daniel Day-Lewis as Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, 1993.

Source: abcnews

Jonathan Demi's 1993 AIDS drama. Philadelphia was undoubtedly one of the best films of the 90s. It paired two all-time great actors Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett, a lawyer who has AIDS and is suing his old firm for wrongful termination, and Denzel Washington as his reluctant defense attorney. The scenes between the two are a masterclass in acting.
Tom Hanks went on to win his first best actor Oscar for the role. But director Jonathan Demi and writer Ron Neiswiner wanted Daniel Day-Lewis for the role of Andrew Beckett, but he declined to do in the name of his father. Demi and Nissuana were reportedly quite angry when Day-Lewis turned down the part, wondering how he could turn down what they believed would be an important film. And as great as Hanks and Washington are together, it would have been a real treat to see Lewis and Washington share screens together as well.

#9 Denzel Washington as Detective David Mills in The Magnificent Seven.

Source: people

Speaking of Denzel, he shows up on our list once again for a role that he turned down, calling it one of his biggest regrets. When director David Fincher was casting the young detective trying to track down a serial killer. He sent Washington the script, and upon reading it, Denzel said he found it to be too dark and evil.