15 Actors Who Were Cast for Different Roles Than They Tried for

The cast of any project that we have seen over the years played a significant role in the narrative of the project. It is the cast itself that makes sure that the audience enjoys the project and at the same time does justice to what the writers intended to do. We are well aware that often a large number of actors actually end up contesting for some of the most popular roles. Later on, these roles end up getting popular by the actor who ends up portraying them. Often the stars who were almost going to play these roles end up taking on some other role in the same project. This leads us to wonder how things would have been if it happened otherwise the star got the project they were heading for. Let’s take a look at the actors who were cast for different roles than they auditioned for in a particular movie or a franchise.

Cillian Murphy – Batman (Batman Begins)

Before Christian Bale would nail the iconic role of Batman in Nolan’s trilogy, Murphy was picked for taking the role.

 

Drew Barrymore – Sidney Prescott (Scream)

Barrymore herself wanted to take the small role as it would make for an interesting twist in the narrative of the movie.

Bruce Willis – Danny Ocean (Ocean’s Eleven)

We saw him make a hilarious cameo in Ocean’s Twelve but he could have had a larger role if he hadn’t dropped it.

 

Gal Gadot – Faora (Man of Steel)

The Wonder Woman star had to drop the role of Faora as she was pregnant and later one ended up taking the role of a much more significant DC superhero.

Michael B. Jordan – Falcon (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Before making his debut as Killmonger in Black Panther, the actor had actually auditioned for the part of Falcon which ended up going to Anthony Mackie.

 

Rainn Wilson – Michael Scott (The Office)

The Dwight Schrute actor was the first to audition for the series and ended up making a terrible impression of Ricky Gervais for Michael’s role.

Alxander Siddig – Ben Sisko (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Siddig was actually reached out after one of his performances was seen by Rick Berman but he was dropped because of the age difference.

 

Kim Cattrall – Saavik (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Nicholas Meyer had planned to cast Catrall as the Vulcan but scheduling conflicts led to the failure of the happening. She would later end up taking the role of Valeris, who was the replacement for Saavik.

Richard Burgi – Jack Bauer (24)

Burgi was extremely close to taking the role of Bauer but the studio wanted a much more popular name. In order to extend their apology, he would land the role of Alan York.

 

Jada Pinkett Smith – Trinity (The Matrix)

Just because of the lack of chemistry between her and Keanu, the actress didn’t land the role but she was favored enough to get the character of Niobe.

Stephanie Beatriz – Amy Santiago (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

Being a big fan of Andy Samberg, she got nervous and ruined the audition for the character. But she was much comfortable with the character of Megan who would end up being Rosa Diaz.

 

Joe Manganiello – Superman (Man of Steel)

Manganiello had long talks with Zack Snyder for playing Clark Kent but he had to drop the role because of his commitment to True Blood.

Lucy Lawless – Ellen Tigh(Battlestar Galactica)

Just because she didn’t want to play someone’s wife, she went for the role of Cylon.

 

Kumail Nanjiani – Unknown Character (Guardians of the Galaxy)

James Gunn had different plans for Nanjiani for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 but he had to drop them as the actor made his debut with Kingo in Eternals.

James Caan – Michael Corleone(The Godfather)

Caan was picked by the studio for the role of Michael Corleone but Francis Ford Coppola always wanted Al Pacino to be cast into that role.

So these are all the actors who were cast for different roles than they auditioned for.

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