The Other Marty / Film

Film — Animated

• Sleeping Beauty: Hans Conried, who voiced Captain Hook/George Darling in Peter Pan, was considered to voice King Stefan. In fact, he did record several voice lines for Stefan in the demo recording with his normal voice and allegedly with his higher pitch voice as Lord Duke in the final cut. But since Conried was replaced by Taylor Holmes for the voice role for Stefan, we may never know the mystery of Duke’s voice that is still never solved. Also, Bill Scott, who voiced Dudley Do Right in Dudley Do-Right, was supposed to voice Lord Duke until he was supposedly replaced by Hans Conried, who was himself replaced by Holmes for the voice role of Stefan. However, Conried's normal voice for his lines as Stefan and Scott's voice as Duke can be found in The Legacy Collection: Sleeping Beauty and the second disc of the 2008 DVD of Sleeping Beauty.
• Aladdin:
  • Aladdin's initial design was based on Michael J. Fox. He, after almost half of the film was drawn, was redesigned to look more like Tom Cruise for better appeal. The DVD Commentary points out when this starts to become more obvious.
  • Disney had finished recording Aladdin and the King of Thieves with Dan Castellaneta as Genie (Robin Williams had voiced Genie in the original movie only, and Castellaneta had replaced him for the TV series and The Return of Jafar). Then, when the filmmakers managed to persuade Williams to return for King of Thieves, they just threw out Castellaneta's work and re-recorded all of Genie's lines.
• The teaser trailer for Animal Crackers (2017) had Zoe and Owen voiced by Tara Strong and James Arnold Taylor, while the characters were officially cast with Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. They did however have different roles in the film, with Tara as Talia and James as Buffalo Bob.
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Lloyd Bridges was originally cast as Preston B. Whitmore, but he died before production began, being replaced by John Mahoney.
• Balto: Brendan Fraser was initially cast as Steele and recorded all of his dialogue. However, he didn't test well in early screenings and Jim Cummings ended up replacing him shortly before release.
• BIONICLE:
  • Mask of Light originally had Andrew Francis as the main character Takua and Jason Michas as his buddy Jaller. Sometime during recording, the directors realized the two actors' real persona was the complete opposite of their characters, so they simply switched roles. Gali was also originally going to be voiced by Lesley Ewen (who plays Nokama in the film) due to Kathleen Barr being unavailable, but in the end Barr did manage to do her lines. Very early press material still listed Ewen as her voice.
  • The trailer for Legends of Metru Nui used considerably more dramatic alternate takes for all of its lines, and Lhikan in particular had a completely different, uncredited voice compared to the final movie.
• Bolt: Chloë Grace Moretz was the first choice to voice the role of Penny, and apparently voiced the character for the entire film. But she was replaced by a stunt-cast Miley Cyrus, who went on to re-record most of Penny's dialogue for marketing reasons, Moretz's voice for Penny as a child still remains, and Mortez also voiced the replacement actress for Penny seen at the end of the film, after Penny quitted the Show Within a Show
• Nancy Giles was originally cast as Sawyer's speaking voice in Cats Don't Dance. The animation was almost finished by the time Giles dropped out and Jasmine Guy took over.
• The title character of Chicken Little was originally written to be a girl and Holly Hunter was cast in the role. She recorded all her dialogue before Executive Meddling changed the character into a boy. The revised character was voiced by Zach Braff.
• Cal in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was originally voiced by Tracy Morgan, but was replaced by Bobb'e J. Thompson at some point late in the production, as the art book still lists Morgan as Cal's voice actor, and a number of animation reels still have his voice in them (this can be seen at 0:50 and 1:37 here).
• Al Pacino was cast as El Macho in Despicable Me 2 but was replaced late in post-production with Benjamin Bratt due to Pacino leaving over creative differences. His name could still be seen on most of the trailers leading up to the movie's release.
• The Emperor's New Groove was initially conceived as a The Prince and the Pauper-esque story titled Kingdom of the Sun. In Kingdom, Pacha was originally a lookalike of Kuzco (who was called "Manco"), and was played by Owen Wilson. When the story was substantially retooled, Pacha's design was changed, so Wilson's vocals were dropped entirely and he was replaced by John Goodman.
• William H. Macy was originally cast as Marlin in Finding Nemo and recorded all the dialogue for the film before he was replaced with Albert Brooks, whom the filmmakers felt was a better fit for Marlin's neuroses and overprotective manner.
• The entire cast of The Good Dinosaur, save for Frances McDormand, was swapped out during the film's Troubled Production. For instance, protagonist Arlo was to be voiced by 29-year-old Lucas Neff. After the story was revised, Arlo was made younger and thus voiced by 13-year-old Raymond Ochoa.
• T.J. Miller was set to reprise his role as Tuffnut in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. However, his behavior in 2018 led to him being replaced with Justin Rupple.
• Hercules:
  • John Lithgow was the original voice of Hades. While he had recorded the majority of the dialogue, Lithgow was ultimately replaced by James Woods because the producers felt he wasn't energetic enough.
  • Josh Keaton originally both spoke and sang for Young Hercules. However, because of puberty and a pop music background, he couldn't hold the Incredibly Long Note at the end of "Go the Distance (reprise)". In the final movie, Roger Bart sings for Young Hercules instead.
• In the initial announcements for The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Seann William Scott and Josh Peck were slated to reprise their roles as Crash and Eddie from the previous films. They are replaced respectively by Vincent Tong and Aaron Harris.
• Jetsons: The Movie: Janet Waldo was originally going to reprise her role as Judy Jetson, and apparently recorded her lines for the film. However, she was replaced by Tiffany, who was originally only supposed to be Judy's singing voice, at the insistence of the latter's manager. As a result, the voice director, Andrea Romano, refused to take credit.
• In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, the sequel to Justice League: War, Sean Patrick Thomas had originally replaced Shemar Moore as Cyborg due to other commitments the latter had. However, when Moore became available again, the producers decided to redub it in order to provide Cyborg better continuity.
• Kung Fu Panda 3:
  • Rebel Wilson was originally cast as Mei Mei, the ribbon-dancing Panda. The extended production schedule forced Wilson to drop out, so Kate Hudson took over the role. Mei-Mei's scenes were re-animated to accommodate the change.
  • Mads Mikkelsen was originally cast as Kai but was replaced by J. K. Simmons when the character's personality was rewritten during the production.
• The Lion King (1994):
  • In the German dub, Uwe Paulsen was originally cast as Zazu. However, the part was recast and went to Eberhard Prüter. Paulsen can be heard in the original soundtrack version of "Ich will jetzt gleich König sein" ("I Just Can't Wait to be King") and in the radio play version.
  • The Italian dub was originally recorded with Luigi Ferraro and Renato Montanari as Timon and Pumbaa, but for some reason they were redubbed by Tonino Accolla and Augusto Giardino in the final product. For a mixing error, the 2004 DVD release uses the original recording of Timon and Pumbaa's voices. The 2011 release featured once again the classic voices.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas:
  • Vincent Price was originally cast as the Narrator/Santa Claus and even recorded the opening narration. Due to the death of his wife, Coral, and his own failing health,^note Price passed away three days after the film was released. Price's voice was too weak for the role, so the role was recast with Edward Ivory.
  • Patrick Stewart was also considered for the role; he recorded the opening and closing narration on the film's soundtrack.
• Raya and the Last Dragon originally had Cassie Steele in the role of Raya. Come August 2020, and it was announced that Kelly Marie Tran has taken on the role.
• In the GoodTimes Entertainment Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Film, Scott McNeil had originally recorded lines for both Slyly the Fox and Leonard the Bear before being replaced by Eric Idle and Bob Newhart, respectively.
• Shrek:
  • Shrek was originally supposed to be a vehicle for Chris Farley, but Farley died before he could complete recording and was replaced by Mike Myers. This turned out to be a good thing for the film, because Myers decided he didn't like the screenplay and pushed for a major revision. Amazingly, the writers obliged, and the rest is history.
  • Janeane Garofalo was initially cast as Princess Fiona opposite Farley's Shrek. However, with Myers stepping in as Shrek, the producers thought that Janeane's sarcastic princess was no longer suitable, so she was replaced with Cameron Diaz.
  • The French dub originally had Emmanuel Curtil (who also dubbed Mike Myers in most of his other movies) as Shrek, having recorded his performance for the entire movie and one of the trailers. However, it was eventually decided to replace him with a Celebrity Voice Actor, resulting in Alain Chabat being cast instead for both this movie and all the sequels.
• Maile Flanagan was originally cast as Colin in The Simpsons Movie, but was replaced at some point with Tress MacNeille.
• In the European French dub of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Bowser was originally voiced by Christophe Lemoine (who regularly provides the European French dub for Jack Black roles) and his performance can be heard in the first trailer, but he is played by Jérémie Covillault in the final film.
• In the teaser teailer for Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Phil LaMarr voiced Balloon Man while the character was officially cast with James Corden. However, when the actual movie came out, he was voiced by Greg Davies.
• The long and Troubled Production of The Thief and the Cobbler saw much of its cast replaced throughout its various incarnations (the 1992 workprint, 1993's The Princess and the Cobbler and 1995's Arabian Knight).:
  • Tack was originally voiced by an unknown actor for his one and only line. Sean Connery was cast for that line, and is credited in the Recobbled Cut, but he never showed up to the studio, so a friend of Richard Williams's wife filled in. The subsequent edits gave Tack an expanded speaking role, and Steve Lively was cast in The Princess and the Cobbler. Lively was demoted to Matthew Broderick's singing double in Arabian Knight. Broderick also replaced an uncredited actor as the narrator, ^note who, in The Princess and the Cobbler, was an older Tack who was voiced by Felix Aylmer in the workprint.
  • The Thief was conceived as The Voiceless, save for a few grunts, which were voiced by Ed E. Carroll in The Princess and the Cobbler. Arabian Knight gave him a running internal monologue courtesy of Jonathan Winters.
  • Hilary Pritchard was cast as Princess Yum-Yum, but was replaced in the workprint by Sarah Crowe. Crowe was replaced by Bobbi Page in The Princess and the Cobbler, who, in turn, was demoted to Jennifer Beals's singing double in Arabian Knight.
  • Yum-Yum's nurse and The Witch were both voiced by Joan Sims in the workprint, then by Mona Marshall in The Princess and the Cobbler, and by Toni Collette in Arabian Knight.
  • Anthony Quayle voiced King Nod in the workprint, but was re-dubbed by Clive Revill (save for a speech scene) in the re-edits.
  • Williams originally cast Paul Matthews, a delivery man he met during production of Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, as the Mighty One-Eye. But he was eventually replaced with Christopher Greener in the workprint and Kevin Dorsey in the re-edits.
  • Phido the Vulture was originally voiced with shrieks by Donald Pleasence. Arabian Knight gave him an internal monologue courtesy of Eric Bogosian.
• The Tragedy of Man had numerous casting changes due to the incredibly lengthy production. Each scene was produced out of order and exhibited as individual shorts while the creators desperately tried to raise more funds. About 20 years separated the first preliminary scenes and the completed film, so certain actors were replaced simply because the originals were too old or passed away during production. God, Lucifer and the Spirit of Earth all kept their original voices, but they had to be re-recorded as well in better quality and with clearer, stronger performances.
• John Malkovich was originally cast as Professor Screweyes in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. About midway through production, he was replaced by Kenneth Mars. Some snippets of his voicework, along with the deleted scenes explaining his missing eye and the crows, can be seen here.
• Walt Disney personally picked Disneyland entertainer Wally Boag to voice Tigger in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, in the hopes that Boag's animation debut could segue into a long career writing and acting at the studio. Then Disney died in 1966 and the other creatives at the studio, who were more than a little envious of Boag's treatment under Walt, quickly replaced him with Paul Winchell. Winchell himself underwent this treatment in 1998, when he was hired to reprise his role in The Tigger Movie. After just a day of recording lines, he was told that his voice had become too old and scratchy to play Tigger, and he was replaced by Pooh's voice actor Jim Cummings (who had already been filling in for Winchell here and there and also did Tigger's singing voice). When the Disney Imagineers heard about this they felt bad for Winchell, so they hired him to voice Tigger in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction that was under construction in Disney World's Magic Kingdom, in what would become Winchell's final performance.
• Jeffrey Tambor was to voice Boomer the Bear in Wonder Park, but was replaced by Ken Hudson Campbell due to allegations of sexual misconduct.

Film — Live Action

• Patricia Neal was cast as Dr. Cartwright in 7 Women but when she had a stroke during production, she was replaced by Anne Bancroft
• George Segal was cast as George Webber in 10 (1979), but walked off the set due to Creative Differences early on and was replaced by Dudley Moore. Segal and director Blake Edwards sued each other over this.
• The Alien film series:
  • Jon Finch had been cast in the role of Kane for Alien, but had fallen very ill due to his diabetes and was replaced by John Hurt.
  • James Remar was originally cast as Cpl. Hicks in Aliens, but James Cameron had him replaced with Michael Biehn a few days into shooting. A few shots of Remar from behind still made into the film.
• All Quiet on the Western Front originally had comedienne Zasu Pitts as Paul's Mother. A preview audience kept laughing when she appeared on-screen, forcing director Lewis Milestone to reshoot her scenes with Beryl Mercer.
• All the Money in the World is an extreme example. The film had been completed for a Christmas 2017 release, a trailer had been issued, and the studio had planned an Oscar campaign for Kevin Spacey, who played the significant supporting role of J. Paul Getty, when Spacey was accused by numerous men of sexual misconduct. Only a month before the planned release date, the studio and director Ridley Scott decided to reshoot all of Spacey's scenes with Christopher Plummer, who was his original choice to play J. Paul Getty, and working at breakneck speed completed all of Plummer's scenes in nine days and issued a new trailer on the day reshoots concluded. Scott has stated the Spacey version of the film will likely never be released, and the original trailer is the only viewable footage of Spacey in the role.
• Annie Get Your Gun:
  • Betty Hutton replaced Judy Garland after MGM had recorded Garland's songs and filmed a few of her scenes.
  • Frank Morgan was cast as Buffalo Bill, but died just after filming one scene. He was then replaced by Louis Calhern.
• The role of Willard in Apocalypse Now was originally played by Harvey Keitel, but Francis Ford Coppola quickly found him to be wrong for the role and he was fired about a week into shooting and replaced by Martin Sheen. Sheen later suffered a heart attack during filming, and several scenes in the finished film actually feature his brother Joe Estevez as a stand-in and voice double instead. This, and much more, is shown in the making-of documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse.
• Army of the Dead: Tig Notaro's character replaced that of Chris D'Elia, due to sexual misconduct allegations against D'Elia. Some scenes he appeared in had to be reshot, while in others he was digitally removed and replaced by Notaro via green screen. Notaro is often seen in close-up shots for this reason.
• Back to the Future is the Trope Namer, and as such, there are a few examples of this:
  • Eric Stoltz, the trope naming Other Marty. Until the Blu-ray release, the only publicly released footage of Stoltz as Marty were still images. The Blu-ray release has, for the very first time, actual video of Stoltz as Marty - as part of a half-hour bonus feature covering pre-production as a whole, with his scenes amounting to about ten seconds total, with no audible dialogue. Footage of Stoltz as Marty survives in the finished film during the scene when Marty is trying to outrun the terrorists. Much of the driving footage features Stoltz behind the wheel (see here), though he is barely visible through the windshield. Thomas F. Wilson also confirmed Marty punching Biff still retains footage done with Stoltz.
  • The recasting of Marty also affected the casting of Jennifer. Claudia Wells was originally cast for the role, but left to shoot a TV pilot, so Melora Hardin took over. When Stoltz was replaced, Hardin was dismissed when the filmmakers determined she was too tall opposite Fox. By then, Wells's pilot wrapped, and she got the part back (only to be replaced herself, ironically, by Elizabeth Shue in the remaining two films, even in a flashback from the first film in the second film).
  • J. J. Cohen was the other Biff. Originally, Cohen was cast as Biff Tannen, but he didn't look so imposing next to Stoltz, so Thomas F. Wilson was cast as Biff while Cohen was recast as Skinhead, one of Biff's mooks (it probably helped in recasting Marty that, height differences aside, Eric Stoltz and Michael J. Fox look very similar). According to Bob Gale, had Michael J. Fox been cast as Marty from the beginning, Cohen would definitely have landed the role of Biff/Griff/Buford Tannen instead of Wilson.
• Barbarella: The actor originally chosen to play disorganized Rebel Leader Dildano was Antonio Sabato Sr., and the scene was shot with him. However, his performance was deemed too serious and he was replaced by David Hemmings. Photos of Antonio Sabato in character exist.
• Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale in Batman (1989), but she sprained her ankle while rehearsing a horse-riding scene that was scrapped. She was replaced by Kim Basinger.
• Gig Young was originally cast as The Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles. He collapsed on his first day on the set due to alcohol withdrawal and Gene Wilder immediately replaced him. Some shots of Young as the Waco Kid still remain in the film, such as the reverse angle shots of the Sheriff coming to wake the Kid.
• The 1976 film version of The Blue Bird originally cast James Coco as Tylo, the dog. Coco suffered a gallbladder attack, so he was replaced by George Cole.
• Blue Skies originally cast tap dancer Paul Dapper as Jed Potter. Dapper was dismissed a week into production due to his speech impediment and overbearing criticism of co-star Joan Caulfield's dancing abilities and was replaced by Fred Astaire.
• Bride of the Monster. Loretta King replaced Ed Wood's girlfriend Dolores Fuller, because Wood believed King when she said she could finance the rest of the film. Fuller was given a minor role, and the one instance in the film in which the two actresses interact is strained, at best. Give Fuller credit for keeping her cool and being a professional about the whole thing.
• Bruce Willis was cast as Phil Stern in Woody Allen's Café Society, but was let go after a week when he became unbearable to work with. He was subsequently replaced with Steve Carell.
• Frank Sinatra was originally cast as Billy Bigelow in the 1950s film version of Carousel. Because they had to shoot each scene twice, once in standard 35mm film and once in the new 55mm film, he left the production, and Oklahoma! co-star Gordon MacRae was cast instead. Though nothing was ever filmed, they had started sound recordings before Sinatra left. Ironically, a few weeks into production, a conversion process was discovered, rendering multiple takes unnecessary.
• The title role of The Cat in the Hat initially went to Tim Allen. Allen, who never liked the book that was the basis of the movie, wanted to make the character more cynical than it already was, and was also having issues with another project he was doing at the time, The Santa Clause 2. In the end, the conflicts forced filming to be delayed, and Allen was ultimately replaced with Mike Myers, who only signed on to fulfill a legal settlement he had with production studio Universal.
• For Christopher Robin, Chris O'Dowd was cast as the voice of Tigger. However, he was let go due to test audiences not liking the voice, and the second trailer had Jim Cummings, already reprising Pooh, also reprise his role as Tigger.
• An unnamed American child actor was cast as Cleopatra and Caesar's son, Caesarian, in Cleopatra. When production stalled on Cleopatra's entrance into Rome, the actor grew too tall during the interim, and Italian Loris Loddi took over.
• Charles Laughton was originally cast as Mr. Micawber in the 1935 film of David Copperfield, but dropped out after two days of filming when he felt he was wrong for the part. He recommended W. C. Fields, a Dickens scholar, as his replacement.
• In Deep Rising, Claire Forlani was cast as Trillian St. James, but she left a few days into filming due to Creative Differences with the director Stephen Sommers, and Famke Janssen eventually took her place.
• Aaron Eckhart was cast as Andrew in Divergent, but dropped out at the last minute, and was replaced with Tony Goldwyn.
• Lynn Lipton was originally cast as Marge Houseman in Dirty Dancing, but fell ill a week into filming. Kelly Bishop, originally cast as Vivian Pressman, took over the role while Miranda Garrison filled in the vacant role of Vivian.
• Bradley Cooper was originally the voice of Bailey the Dog in A Dog's Purpose, but was replaced at some point by Josh Gad.
• For Double Jeopardy, Jodie Foster was originally cast in the role of Libby Parsons, but she became pregnant and Ashley Judd signed on to replace her.
• In addition to the three roles ^note Col. Mandrake, President Muffley and the title character. he did play in Dr. Strangelove, Peter Sellers was also cast as Major Kong. Sellers sprained his ankle just as they started filming and could not work in the cramped B-52 set. Slim Pickens stepped in to play Kong.
• Aldo Ray was cast as Gurney Halleck in Dune (1984), but he was immediately dismissed when he showed up to the set in poor health due to his alcoholism. Patrick Stewart was quickly summoned to replace him. An article in Prevue Magazine erroneously credited Ray as Halleck even after Stewart replaced him.
• In The Empire Strikes Back, Elaine Baker (wife of makeup designer Rick Baker) did makeup tests for the Emperor, but was replaced with Marjorie Eaton in the final film. This would be unremarkable except that a mix-up led to Elaine Baker being widely credited for the role (the actual film doesn't credit either of them, and only credits Clive Revill, who provided the voice dub), before things were finally cleared up by Pablo Hidalgo. Ian McDiarmid, who played the role in Return of the Jedi and the prequel trilogy, later reshot the Emperor's scene which is used in all post-2004 releases of the film.
• Enter The Ninja was originally supposed to star black-belt champion Mike Stone, who was also responsible for the film's story. Executive Meddling intervened after shooting started, and Stone was reduced to being Franco Nero's Stunt Double.
• The original cut of The Exorcist III had Brad Dourif play "Patient X", later revealed to be Father Karras possessed by The Gemini Killer. When the producers demanded someone from the first film to appear, director William Peter Blatty brought back Jason Miller to reprise Karras and re-shoot many of Dourif's scenes. In the final film, "Patient X" alternates between Miller and Dourif depending on whose perspective the audience is seeing him from.
• During the long production of Eyes Wide Shut, this occurred twice. First Harvey Keitel left to do Finding Graceland, being replaced by Sydney Pollack. Then Jennifer Jason Leigh was already in Canada filming E Xiste Nz when Stanley Kubrick asked her to return to London and refilm her scene, leading Marie Richardson to fill in her part.
• For his final film Family Plot, Alfred Hitchcock had wanted William Devane to play the villain, but he had other commitments, so Hitchcock cast Roy Thinnes in the role. Early in the shoot, Devane notified Hitchcock that he was available. Hitchcock wasn't too happy with Thinnes anyway, so he had no problem getting rid of him and bringing Devane on board, including having Devane refilm the scenes Thinnes had already completed. However, shots of Thinnes where his face isn't visible still made it into the finished film.
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore started production with Johnny Depp reprising his role as Gellert Grindelwald in late September 2020. A few months earlier Depp had been through a high profile defamation lawsuit against The Sun (a tabloid) in the UK for calling him a “wife beater”. The judgment came down about six weeks later in early November and found that there was enough evidence to find the allegations against Depp “substantially true” (meaning more likely than not) and his claim was dismissed. He was almost immediately fired after only filming one scene. Mads Mikkelsen was very quickly cast to take over the role.
• In 1954, Abbott and Costello were shooting a comedy called Fireman Save My Child when Lou Costello fell ill and had to drop out of the film. Universal replaced Abbott and Costello with Hugh O'Brian and Buddy Hackett, and made Spike Jones and his City Slickers, originally just guest stars, into the main attraction. Abbott and Costello are still visible in the completed film, in some long shots.
• Jason Robards was originally cast in the title role of Fitzcarraldo but fell ill early into filming. Director Werner Herzog eventually cast his frequent collaborator Klaus Kinski in the role.
• In Flight of the Intruder, for the court martial scene, the prosecutor was played by Ed O'Neill. During a test screening, the moment O'Neill appeared onscreen in his army uniform, there was laughter from the audience because of O'Neill's other role, Al Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children. The scene had to be reshot with Fred Thompson playing the role.
• In Freaky Friday (2003), Jodie Foster, who played the daughter in the original movie, was originally cast as the mother before Foster decided that such a casting stunt would hurt the film's overall merit. Annette Bening was cast instead, but she herself dropped out of the film to focus on her family, and Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the role four days before filming began. It ended up paying off, as Curtis was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.
• Linda Fiorentino was set to play the role of Julie Redlund in Freejack but dropped out at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts. Rene Russo was cast in her place.
• Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives: Dan Bradley, the stunt coordinator originally cast as Jason. Paramount higher-ups felt he was too bulky when they saw the first day's rushes and replaced him with the enormous C.J. Graham. Since the character wears a mask throughout the entire film, the scenes that Dan Bradley shot were not redone and some of his footage remains in the film, as he plays Jason during the paint balling sequence. If you look closely, you can tell it’s a different actor during the sequence as Dan Bradley is considerably shorter than C.J. Graham. This is also why Jason's eye color changes during the film.
• In the film version of The Fugitive, Richard Jordan was originally cast as Dr. Charles Nichols, but he was extremely ill (he ended up passing away a few weeks after its release), thus being replaced with Jeroen Krabbé.
• Gardens of Stone originally cast Griffin O'Neal as Albert Wildman. During the production, O'Neal was involved in a speedboating accident that took the life of Gian-Carlo Coppola, the director's son. O'Neal bowed out and was replaced by Casey Siemaszko.
• Geostorm originally cast Katheryn Winnick as Olivia Lawson. Winnick was replaced at some point during the film's protracted reshoots by Julia Denton.
• Nonso Anozie was originally cast as Iorek Byrnison in The Golden Compass and his voice featured in an early trailer. He was replaced late into post-production by Ian McKellen when New Line Cinema wanted a bigger name for the role. An unknown voice actress voiced Hester in the same trailer, but was replaced in the final film by Kathy Bates. Meanwhile, Adam Godley, the original voice of Pantalaimon, was replaced by Freddie Highmore when the filmmakers felt the character needed to sound closer in age to Lyra.
• Trailers for Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween had Avery Lee Jones, the puppeteer for Slappy, providing the dummy's voice. However, a later-released clip of the film had Slappy's voice sound like Jack Black (who played R.L. Stine and voiced Slappy in the first Goosebumps and had, by the time the film was released, was fresh off The House With a Clock in Its Walls). By the time the film was released, however, Slappy was voiced by Mick Wingert (Wingert had previously voiced another of Black's characters, Po, on Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness).
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix originally had cast Helen McCrory as Bellatrix Lestrange, until her pregnancy forced her to drop out midway through filming and the role be recast with Helena Bonham Carter. Once McCrory's maternity leave was over, she would later be casted in the last three film adaptations as Bellatrix's sister Narcissa Malfoy.
• Kian Lawley was cast as Chris in The Hate U Give and filmed all his scenes for the completed film. He was fired in February 2018 when a video resurfaced of him making racist comments and was replaced by KJ Apa.
• Greta Nissen played Helen in Hell's Angels when it was originally a silent film. When it turned into a talkie, Nissen's Norwegian accent made her incompatible with the role of a British aristocrat. She was replaced by Jean Harlow in her Star-Making Role.
• Samantha Morton was cast as the voice of the operating system in Spike Jonze's her, and it was her voice that Joaquin Phoenix acted off of on the set. She was replaced by Scarlett Johansson who re-recorded all of Morton's lines. Morton is, however, credited as an associate producer.
• In The Hobbit, Rob Kazinsky was originally cast as Fili, but shortly after filming began, had to drop out and was replaced by Dean O'Gorman. There are rumors that Kazinsky can be seen, at least from the back or side, in Bag End.
• Hot to Trot was originally shot with Elliott Gould as the voice of Don the Horse and Joan Rivers as the human lead. The film was re-tooled after a poor test screening to have Bobcat Goldthwait as the human (Fred P. Chaney in the final film) and John Candy (who ignored the rewritten script) as Don the Horse.
• The Hours:
  • Zeljko Ivanek was originally cast as Richie Brown's friend, Louis Waters. He filmed his part, but was replaced by Jeff Daniels when producer Scott Rudin felt he was too young to act opposite Ed Harris.
  • Betsy Blair was initially cast as older Laura Brown when the filmmakers felt that they couldn't convincingly age Julianne Moore (young Laura) for the role. They changed their minds after reviewing Blair's dailies, so they got Moore to play older Laura as well.
• Howard the Duck originally had Robin Williams cast as the voice of the title character. Williams was frustrated over the dubbing process and left after three days; he was replaced by Chip Zien.
• Lily Rabe was cast as Commander Lyme in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, but had to back out of Part 2 due to theatre commitments. Her scenes from Part 1 were cut, and Gwendoline Christie replaced her for Part 2.
• Klaus Maria Brandauer was originally cast as Captain Marko Ramius in The Hunt for Red October, but two weeks into filming, quit because of other commitments. He recommended Sean Connery, with whom he starred in Never Say Never Again, to take over the role.
• Bette Davis and Joan Crawford loathed each other and constantly feuded on the set of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. When they were paired again on Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Crawford faked an illness and left the set two weeks into production, in an ill-advised power play. She was fired from the movie. Olivia de Havilland was hired on short notice and played Crawford's part. Production stills of Crawford acting in the movie have survived.
• When Heath Ledger died during production of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, casting got creative and combined this with The Nth Doctor to have himself, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell all play his character. Each of the replacements donated their salaries from the film to a fund for Ledger's daughter Matilda, since he had died before revising his will to include her.
• A sort of a reversal of this: In The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies the actress who was to play the "good girl" love interest got fired before filming any of her scenes, which should have saved the film from this. However, she was replaced by Sharon Walsh, an extra who HAD already shot some scenes, and can still be spotted as an anonymous dancer in a couple of musical numbers. One actress/two parts rather than two actresses/one part.
• In Old Arizona started production with Raoul Walsh directing and starring as The Cisco Kid. During production, Walsh lost his right-eye when a Jackrabbit jumped through the windshield of his car, forcing Irving Cummings and Warner Baxter to step in as director and star, respectively.
• The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) originally cast Val Kilmer as the protagonist Edward Douglas. Shortly after filming began, Kilmer asked director Richard Stanley for a reduced schedule, so he received the smaller role of Dr. Montgomery, while Rob Morrow was cast as Douglas. When the production went off the rails after four days, Stanley was dismissed, and Morrow exited right away. The role was finally played by David Thewlis.
• Jane Got a Gun started production with Michael Fassbender as Dan Frost and Joel Edgerton as John Bishop. Before shooting started, Fassbender dropped out, leading to Edgerton taking his role and Jude Law stepping in as Bishop. Law left production with director Lynne Ramsay when the latter dropped out, so Bradley Cooper took over. And when Cooper left to shoot American Hustle, Ewan McGregor finally stepped in.
• Joe Dirt's parents were originally played by Roseanne Barr and Gary Busey, but the director felt Roseanne's star power, in particular, was too distracting. So their scenes were reshot with Caroline Aaron and Fred Ward.
• For John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Hiroyuki Sanada was originally cast as the film's main antagonist, Zero. He took on the role shortly after having surgery to treat an injury to his Achilles tendon, and had to drop out of the film when he didn't recover from the surgery as fast as expected, necessitating a replacement by Mark Dacascos. This also lead to the character of Zero being rewritten quite significantly, going from a serious Consummate Professional to an Affably Evil Fanboy of the titular character, all of which was inspired by Dacascos' take on the character. Eventually, Hiroyuki Sanada had a proper debut in the franchise thanks to John Wick: Chapter 4 - and him being cast as Shimazu Koji, a consummate professional character.
• Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid began filming with Peter Sellers in the key role of a struggling composer, but when Sellers suffered multiple heart attacks, the film was reshot with Ray Walston in the role.
• Gail Strickland was originally cast as Margaret Phelps in Kramer vs. Kramer. She became so intimidated by Dustin Hoffman's Method Acting that she developed a nervous stammer, making her lines unintelligible. She was replaced after a week by Jane Alexander, who previously co-starred with Hoffman in All the President's Men.
• The Last Run began production with Tina Aumont as the female lead, Claudie Scherrer. She did not get along with star George C. Scott and quit the production after numerous fights with him. Her replacement, Trish Van Devere, became Scott's fourth wife.
• Lawrence of Arabia:
  • Edmond O'Brien was originally cast as the journalist Bentley. He filmed at least two scenes before having a heart attack onset; David Lean replaced him with Arthur Kennedy. O'Brien is supposedly visible in long shot during the movie's Jerusalem scenes.
  • Albert Finney was Lean's first choice for T.E. Lawrence but was fired after two days of principal photography for unclear reasons. It soon became Peter O'Toole's Star-Making Role after Lean saw him in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England.
• The Layover originally cast Lea Michele and Kate Upton as the leads, but not long into filming Michele was replaced with Alexandra Daddario.
• In Life as a House, William Russ was cast as Officer Walker. He managed to shoot one scene before a motorcycle accident made him unable to film the rest of his role and was eventually replaced by Scott Bakula. The DVD even features the scene including Russ.
• Life of Pi originally featured Tobey Maguire as the Writer in the film's Framing Device. His scenes were reshot with Rafe Spall when director Ang Lee determined he was too well-known for such a small role.
• Little Shop of Horrors:
  • The film originally featured Paul Dooley in the minor role of Patrick Martin. During the shooting of a Focus Group Ending before release, James Belushi replaced Dooley, who still received a "Special Thanks" credit. Dooley's performance eventually received a public release in the bonus features of the original Little Shop DVD. Years after that disc became recalled, the Director's Cut Blu-ray and DVD put Paul Dooley back into the movie, even swapping his and Jim Belushi's positions in the end credits.
  • Bill Mitchell originally voiced the opening narration which appeared in the original cut and the film's official soundtrack. Stan Jones replaced him as the narrator for the theatrical cut.
• Billy West, who played Elmer Fudd and the Peter Lorre Scientist in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, had recorded dialogue for Bugs Bunny, Tweety, and Marvin the Martian as well; for some reason, these roles were replaced by Joe Alaskey and Eric Goldberg. West was reportedly not pleased.
• J. T. Walsh was originally cast as Grimmer in Loose Cannons but was removed after two days by co-star Dan Aykroyd and replaced by Paul Koslo. Walsh had previously starred in the John Belushi biopic Wired, whose infamous portrayal of Belushi infuriated Aykroyd.
• This happened in The Lord of the Rings when Stuart Townsend was playing Aragorn for two weeks before they replaced him with Viggo Mortensen. Word of God is that Peter Jackson decided Townsend was too young to play Aragorn, and he was replaced with Mortensen mere days before filming began.
• Nedra Volz replaced Edith Massey when the latter passed away during the filming of Lust in the Dust.
• Rosie Bailey was originally cast as Jesse Rockatansky in Mad Max, but broke her leg in a bike accident four days into shooting and was replaced by Joanne Samuel.
• Manhattan Murder Mystery was to star Woody Allen's then-partner Mia Farrow, but their nasty break-up resulted in Diane Keaton replacing her.
• The long and Troubled Production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote saw several actors considered for the roles of Don Quixote and Toby Grummett/Sancho Panza. Terry Gilliam's aborted attempt in 2000 had Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp in those roles, while the final version in 2017 cast Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver, respectively.
• During the filming of The Matrix Reloaded, Aaliyah died in a plane crash and was replaced by Nona Gaye, and all previously filmed scenes were subsequently reshot.
• Men in Black II: Famke Janssen was originally cast as Serleena, and completed some scenes before dropping out due to a death in the family. The role of Serleena was subsequently recast with Lara Flynn Boyle.
• Mermaids: Emily Lloyd was originally cast as Charlotte and began filming, when Cher complained that the blonde Lloyd looked nothing like her or Christina Ricci, who have raven hair (Cher and Ricci were playing Charlotte's mother and sister, respectively). Lloyd was replaced by Winona Ryder, and Lloyd later sued Orion Pictures and was given a cash settlement.
• Gabrielle Fitzpatrick was originally slated to play Dulcea in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Because she had surgery around this time, Fitzpatrick was replaced by Mariska Hargitay. When filming ran long, Fitzpatrick was able to return for the role, but some scenes involving Dulcea training the Rangers couldn't be reshot and were cut entirely.
• Gerard Butler was originally going to play the role of Lucas Harper in Mindhunters, but he dropped out to work on Timeline instead and Jonny Lee Miller was cast in his place.
• Dudley Moore was originally cast as Henry Fine in The Mirror Has Two Faces, but he had trouble remembering his lines, a symptom of the progessive supranuclear palsy that killed him in 2002, and was replaced by George Segal.
• During the turnaround as the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the filming of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Nicholas Hoult had to drop out and Esai Morales took over his villainous role.
• Cameron Diaz was originally cast as Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat: The Movie, but broke her wrist during training and was replaced by Bridgette Wilson.
• Part of the extremely long delay for Monster Trucks was caused by the original design for Creech. The original design horrified the kids at a test screening, which led to over half the audience walking out and the crew getting an earful from angry parents. The design was toned down to an Ugly Cute look for the final product.
• Move Over Darling, which started production under the title Something's Got to Give, had Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin in the lead roles. Monroe's frequent absences forced Fox, already suffering from the Troubled Production of Cleopatra, to fire her early on. Dean Martin, a friend of Monroe's, objected to the decision and threatened to quit. Fox re-hired her, but production shut down after she died. The film was subsequently re-tooled into its current form, with Doris Day and James Garner in the lead roles.
• In Muppet Classic Theater, near the end of the "Shoemaker and the Elves" segment, Rizzo comes to give advice to Kermit and Robin on how to thank the elves. In this brief scene Rizzo was voiced by David Goelz instead of Steve Whitmire, the reason being Whitmire was already puppeteering and voicing Kermit. Goelz puppeteered Rizzo instead and also performed the voice, and the editors simply forgot to replace Goelz's recording with Whitmire's.
• Murder in the First originally cast Oliver Stone as Mr. Henkin, but when he failed to show up, director Marc Rocco called up Stephen Tobolowsky as a last-minute replacement.
• Music of the Heart was due to star Madonna, who even took violin lessons for the role, but she left (reportedly over Creative Differences with director Wes Craven) and Meryl Streep stepped into the breach.
• Network originally cast Roberts Blossom as Arthur Jensen. Blossom had previously played Guernsey in Paddy Chayefsky's The Hospital, but Chayefsky, who had final control over the film, was unsatisfied with his performance and fired him. Sidney Lumet recast the part with Ned Beatty, who received an Oscar nomination for the role.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge: Robert Englund was not initially asked to return as Freddy, because New Line Cinema thought they'd be able to use any old stuntman for the part and thus be able to pay him on the cheap. Within a week of filming, it was clear that the stuntman in question (whose name has never been publicly stated) was not up to the task; his movements have been described as more akin to Frankenstein's Monster than Freddy, and absolutely lifeless. He was fired and replaced with Englund, but a small bit of his footage remains in the shower scene. It works out well, since that scene is actually supposed to be Jesse doing the kill anyway.
• Octopussy began production with James Brolin as James Bond himself. It was decided to bring Roger Moore back to the role due to the fact that Octopussy would be going up against the rival Bond film Never Say Never Again, and EON Productions decided to go with the safer bet. Brolin's screen test for the role, also featuring an interview with the man himself, is part of the film's special features.
• Burt Reynolds was cast as George Spahn in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but died a few days before he was scheduled to start filming his scenes. The role was recast with Bruce Dern.
• Colin Firth was originally cast as the voice of Paddington in Paddington (2014) and had already recorded the dialogue and a trailer had been issued advertising his presence in the film, but a few months before the film's release he and the producers mutually agreed his voice didn't fit the character, as they sought a "slightly more open and younger voice". The part was later rerecorded by Ben Whishaw.
• Nicole Kidman was initially cast as the lead in Panic Room, and had shot about two weeks worth of scenes when she dropped out due to a recurring knee injury from the filming of Moulin Rouge! that had not completely healed. She was replaced with Jodie Foster shortly thereafter. Kidman did have a part in the finished film, and has a vocal cameo as the girlfriend of Meg's ex-husband.^note Hayden Panettiere was also replaced by the completely dissimilar [even then] Kristen Stewart as Meg's daughter, but it doesn't count as this trope because Panettiere never shot any scenes.
• Maud Adams was supposed to play Olga Bariosova in The Pink Panther Strikes Again and filmed a few scenes before she was replaced by Lesley-Anne Down.
• The title monster of Predator was originally conceived as a thin, agile creature and Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast in the role. Van Damme actually filmed footage with the Predator's invisibility effect, but found the suit unbearable to wear. Eventually, the producers decided the Predator needed to be a physical match for star Arnold Schwarzenegger and cast the enormous Kevin Peter Hall as the redesigned monster.
• Michael Keaton was originally cast as Tom Baxter/Gil Shepherd in The Purple Rose of Cairo. Keaton was let go ten days later when Woody Allen felt that his performance was too contemporary for the period setting, and the dual role was recast with Jeff Daniels.
• Zach Galifianakis was supposed to play Roy Pulsipher in R.I.P.D., until he was forced to withdrew due to scheduling conflicts and Jeff Bridges eventually took over the part.
• Annette Bening was originally cast as Dr. Elizabeth Clay in Road House (1989) before she was replaced with Kelly Lynch, who was under contract to United Artists. According to Lynch, Bening was fired due to a lack of chemistry with Patrick Swayze.
• Practically the entire cast of The Room (2003) save for Tommy Wiseau himself) was swapped during the shoot: For instance, the actor who portrays the love interest, Lisa, was originally a stagehand. One of the more obvious instances is Pete, the psychiatrist character, whose actor quit before his scenes could be finished. Rather than get a new actor, Wiseau kept all the scenes that had been shot, and simply put another, never before seen character in the film's finale, where he catches Lisa and Mark together and berates them for betraying Johnny.
• Originally Scott Innes voiced Scooby in Scooby-Doo but was replaced at some point by Neil Fanning, Innes still voiced Scrappy Doo in the final film.
• Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map has this. According to Stephanie D'Abruzzo, all the roles were originally done with the puppeteers doing both the puppeteering and voice work. In the final product, only her voice work for Velma and Shirley was kept in, while the gang kept their regular voice actors and everyone else had professional voice actors.
• Shock Treatment: During "Looking for Trade", Brenda Drill is played by a different actress than Claire Toeman, who portrays her in all scenes before and after the song.
• The Woody Allen film September (1987) infamously recast about half its cast when Allen was unsatisfied with the first results. Sam Shepard, Charles Durning and Maureen O'Sullivan were replaced by Sam Waterston, Denholm Elliott and Elaine Stritch, respectively. Earlier, Shepard replaced Christopher Walken after he filmed a few scenes when Allen felt he was miscast.
• Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog began production with Bob Balaban as the doctor. He was dismissed a week later and replaced with Donald Pleasence.
• In Small Soldiers, the Commando Elite member Link Static was originally voiced by Richard Jaeckel. However, he died in the middle of production and was replaced by Bruce Dern.
• Solo originally cast Michael K. Williams as Dryden Vos, who was originally conceived as a lion-like alien. Williams was unavailable when Ron Howard took over as director and was replaced by a more humanoid Vos played by Paul Bettany.
  • Maul's dialogue was recorded by both Peter Serafinowicz, who had originally voiced Maul in The Phantom Menace, and Sam Witwer, who had voiced Maul in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Witwer's performance ended up in the final film, while Serafinowicz's performance was scrapped.
• Tyrone Power was cast as Solomon in Solomon and Sheba, but when filming a dueling scene, Power complained of a pain in his left arm, and was given brandy to ease the pain. Based on differing accounts, Power was either taken to the hospital in Gina Lollabrigida's car and died on arrival, or he died in his dressing room. On November 16, producer Edward Small offered the part of Solomon to Yul Brynner, which he accepted. Power is still visible in some long shots.
• Kath Soucie was set to reprise her role as Lola Bunny from Space Jam in the sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy and has reportedly finished her voicework, but late during post-production, she ended up being recast with Zendaya for marketing reasons.
• Matt Bomer had been cast as Superman in Superman: Flyby, which was to be directed by Brett Ratner. The project failed to materialize and Superman Returns was made instead, with Brandon Routh cast in the part instead. Bomer did eventually voice Superman in the 2013 animated film Superman Unbound.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze originally intended to feature the aforementioned Kevin Peter Hall for the part of Super Shredder - the respective costume was designed to accomodate Hall's massive stature. However, the actor became gravely ill before the idea came to fruition, and eventually passed away a month after the film premiered; the professional wrestler Kevin Nash stepped in.
• Kel O'Neill was originally cast as Eli Sunday in There Will Be Blood only to be replaced two weeks into the shoot with Paul Dano (who already played a bit part as Eli's brother Paul, thus turning them into twin brothers). An article on The New York Times Magazine claimed this was because O'Neill was intimidated by Daniel Day-Lewis' notorious intensity and tendency to remain in character off set though both Day-Lewis and the director denied this.
• Ernest Thesiger was originally the Luddite leader Theotocopulos in Things to Come, but H. G. Wells found his performance unsatisfactory and had the scenes reshot with Cedric Hardwicke. Reportedly, Thesiger only learnt about this when he went to see the premiere.
• Thomas and the Magic Railroad originally had John Bellis voicing Thomas and Michael Angelis (the UK narrator of the show) voicing Percy and James. Bellis was replaced with Eddie Glen and Angelis was replaced with Linda Ballantyne (as Percy) and Susan Roman (as James), as test audiences found that they sounded too old and their Liverpudlian accents too thick.
• For an unspecified reason, Oliver Jackson-Cohen was replaced by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as the Duke of Buckingham in 2023's The Three Musketeers after filming began.
• Adolph Caesar was cast as Leon Little in Tough Guys, but when he died a month into filming, the role was recast with Eli Wallach.
• James Arnold Taylor was cast as the titular villain in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen and voiced him in the video game adaptation, but Michael Bay decided to go for Tony Todd for the film.
• In The Truman Show, Dennis Hopper had been cast as Christof but left over creative differences with Peter Weir; Hopper was replaced with Ed Harris, who scored an Oscar nomination.
• James Purefoy was originally cast as V in V for Vendetta, and was replaced with Hugo Weaving. Since the character wears a mask throughout the entire film, the scenes that Purefoy had shot were not redone, and Weaving simply dubbed over the lines. And since the mask muffled the voice so much, all the lines had to be redubbed anyway. If you look closely, you can tell which scenes are Purefoy and which scenes are Weaving, due to the fact that Weaving is visibly taller and thinner than Purefoy.
• Judy Garland was originally cast as Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls. This would have been her first film role in five years (the last being I Could Go On Singing, which was unsuccessful). She filmed wardrobe tests and recorded "I'll Plant My Own Tree". She was fired after one week due to her substance abuse issues and replaced by Susan Hayward. She was paid half of her promised fee and was allowed to keep her copper-colored sequined pant suit designed by Travilla. She later complained about the press coverage:
  The studio hadn't even built the set yet, and the tabloids had me walking off it.
• The 1934 film Viva Villa! originally had Lee Tracy cast as journalist Jonny Sykes. While on location in Mexico City, Tracy caused an international incident by disrupting a parade. Tracy was promptly replaced by Stuart Erwin.
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit:
  • Paul Reubens voiced Roger Rabbit in the early test footage, opposite Peter Renaday and Russi Taylor as Eddie Valiant and Jessica Rabbit, respectively. The final film had Charles Fleischer, Bob Hoskins and Kathleen Turner in those roles.
  • Mel Blanc did all of Daffy Duck's speaking lines, however at the end of the piano duel sequence his "woo hoos" were done by animator David Spafford, because Blanc was elderly and didn't have the energy to do them the way he did 40 years prior.
  • Also, Mel Blanc originally recorded Yosemite Sam's voice, but it was decided Blanc's voice was too weak and not energetic enough due to his old age so Joe Alaskey was hired to re-record his lines. Blanc was unaware he'd been replaced; when viewing the final film he told the crew "they made him sound great".
• William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Originally the 14 year old Natalie Portman was cast as Juliet, but director Baz Luhrmann thought that the much older Leonardo DiCaprio looked like he was "molesting her", so the 16 year old Claire Danes was hired instead. Danes was only three years older than Juliet.
• In The Wizard of Oz:
  • Buddy Ebsen was originally cast as the Scarecrow, then swapped parts with Ray Bolger for the Tin Man, Sadly, there was aluminum powder in his makeup and he grew very sick as a result of breathing it in. He was hospitalized two weeks into filming, and replaced by Jack Haley, whose makeup was made from aluminum paste. Haley completed the movie, and no footage of Ebsen as the Tin Man has been released, if it still exists; just photographs and some audio of Ebsen singing "If I Only Had a Heart". Ebsen can be heard, if not seen, in the finished film, when the four main characters sing "We're Off to See the Wizard" (the Tin Man's solo numbers were re-recorded by Haley). Ebsen later titled his autobiography The Other Side of Oz.
  • The Wicked Witch of the West was originally supposed to have been played by Gale Sondergaard and the character was originally supposed to be a glamorous witch inspired by the wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, when producer Mervyn LeRoy decided that having an attractive Wicked Witch created a plot hole, as it played against the notion that only bad witches were ugly, the character was made into the familiar "ugly hag" and Sondergaard, looking hideous in the makeup, left the production and was replaced by Margaret Hamilton.
• In You Only Live Twice, Czech actor Jan Werich was originally cast as Blofeld, but he fell ill during filming, thus being replaced by Donald Pleasence. Some accounts also state that the crew was unsatisfied with Werich's Santa Claus-esque appearance, and picked Pleasance because of his more intimidating looks.

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