Due to allegations of sexual misconduct, you will not see actor Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott’s All The Money In The World, which is in theaters now, despite being featured in the first trailer.
Instead his scenes were reshot with Christopher Plummer, which makes me feel bad for the makeup team that obviously worked very hard to age-up Spacey for the role.
Recasting an actor during production is far from a new thing in Hollywood, although usually they happen early in a film’s production whereas with Scott’s latest crime thriller, reshoots to replace Spacey with Plummer commenced after principal photography had been completed and with only a month left until it’s theatrical release.
In light of this, here is a quick list of famous instances where actors or actresses were replaced during production of a movie.
Her
Role: Samantha, Theodore’s AI girlfriend
Originally Played By: Samantha Morten
Replaced By: Scarlet Johansson
In this weird but touching sci-fi romance tale courtesy of Spike Jonze, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star Morton provided the voice for the pivotal role during the entirety of principal photography. However once post-production started it was decided that something just wasn’t clicking.
Thus Black Widow was brought in and provided the voice work that was more in line with Jonze’s vision for the character, which is the performance that ended up on screen.
V For Vendetta
Role: V
Originally Played By: James Purefoy
Replaced By: Hugo Weaving
Six weeks into production, the star of HBO’s Rome was either fired or walked out of production for the Wachowski siblings-scribed adaptation of Alan Moore’s dystopian graphic novel due to difficulties acting in the mask.
Having worked with the Wachowski siblings on The Matrix trilogy, Weaving was brought in to complete the rest of the film. Although some of Purefoy’s work did end up in the final cut, his voice was dubbed over by Weaving’s in post-production.
Back To The Future
Role: Marty McFly
Originally Played By: Eric Stoltz
Replaced By: Michael J. Fox
Director Robert Zemeckis wanted Fox to play Marty McFly from the very beginning due to his personality being similar to the time-traveling 80’s teenager. However scheduling conflicts arising from his ties to….well…Family Ties (FT)…. and the looming 1985 release date prompted Zemeckis to hire Erick Stoltz instead.
Four weeks of filming was completed before Zemeckis and executive producer Steven Spielberg determined that Stoltz was miscast. The footage shot thus far was failing to induce laughs as intended due to Stotlz’s intense take on the character and differing comedic sensibilities.
Despite the prospect of reshooting the four weeks-worth of footage adding $3 million to the existing $14 million budget, producer Bob Gale was able to negotiate for Fox to star in BTTF on the condition that he would still work on FT during weekdays while filming his BTTF scenes from 6:30 pm to 2:30 am (except on weekends).
So Fox operated on an average of 5-hours of sleep per day while filming the movie that would ultimately launch him into movie superstardom!
It sounds insane but then again….can you imagine anybody else playing Marty?
Even if a filmmaker is armed with the best script possible, it can all fall flat if the wrong people are cast for certain parts.
In some alternative universe, BTTF starred Eric Stotlz and probably became a mediocre-forgotten flick from the 80’s instead of a classic. Plus, given Stoltz’s appearance he probably would have fit the George McFly character better than Marty but we will never know.
The recasting was worth it however as BTTF became the biggest box office success of 1985 and subsequently launched a beloved franchise, but a brief bit of Eric Stotlz remains in the final cut, which is when Marty punches Biff in the diner.
Aliens
Role: Corporate Dwayne Hicks
Originally Played By: James Remar
Replaced By: Michael Beihn
Remar was quietly fired from James Cameron’s seminal sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien about a week into production citing creative differences, but years later it was revealed that the The Warriors star was actually let go due to drug possession charges. Remar’s severe drug habit ended up damaging his working relationship with director Walter Hill, who secured his audition for Aliens.
Beihn, who previously starred as Kyle Reese in Cameron’s previous film The Terminator, was hastily brought in to replace Remar, having missed out on the military training that the other actors playing the space marines had to go through.
While Remar is a talented actor, I simply can’t imagine anybody outside of Beihn playing Corporal Hicks. Despite having to learn his lines on short notice, Beihn was still able to give a charismatic, collecting, and believable performance as a marine who has leadership thrusted upon him.
We also shouldn’t forget his irreplaceably great chemistry with opposite Sigourney Weaver, which is clearly evident in this sequence were Hicks is training Ripley on how to use a pulse rifle.
I can’t imagine this scene being as effortlessly charming and natural if it was Remar instead of Beihn.
Only a few shots of Remar remained in the final cut, which is when the Colonel marines are entering the alien hive, but you only see his back and this was done to avoid costly reshoots.
I Wish For Everybody A Happy Christmas And A Good Night!!
Natural Born Film Critic 