Alternate history can be a fun genre to explore in movies and books, and today we’re going to imagine what some movies that were big hits would have been like if these actors had been in these high-profile roles…
Because all of them were almost actually cast in them!
Read on and prepare to think about what could have been…
Adam Sandler has shown a lot of acting range in recent years with serious films like Uncut Gems and Hustle.
And he was almost cast as the character Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds.
Sandler said that Tarantino approached him about being in his 2009 film but that he had to turn it down because he was shooting another movie at the time.
That sure would have been interesting…
Eli Roth ended up getting the role in the wild film that relied on revisionist history.
In another tale of “what could have been?” from the Quentin Tarantino universe, late actor Michael K. Williams was in the running to play the title character in the director’s 2012 film, Django Unchained.
Williams said, “The rumors of me being considered for the lead role in Django are very true. I was in meetings with Quentin, QT as I call him. It came down to Jamie and I.”
Jamie Foxx landed the lead role in Django Unchained.
Toshiro Mifune was an actor who starred in over 150 films, including such Japanese classics as Seven Samurai, Rashomon, and Yojimbo.
But a lot of people don’t know that the iconic actor was offered the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.
Mifune turned down the role offered to him by director George Lucas because he was concerned that the movie would look “cheap”.
Mifune’s daughter Mika said, “I heard from my father that he was offered the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he was concerned about how the film would look and that it would cheapen the image of samurai, on which George Lucas had based a lot of the character and fighting style.”
I think everyone on the planet knows that Sir Alec Guinness accepted the role and Star Wars went on to be one of the most iconic films of all time.
British actor Bob Hoskins is best known for his roles in Mermaids, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Long Good Friday, among others.
And, believe it or not, Hoskins almost played the infamous Al Capone in 1987’s The Untouchables.
Photo Credit: Touchstone Pictures
Director Brian De Palma wanted De Niro to play Al Capone all along, but he met with Hoskins and asked the actor if he’d step in if De Niro ended up not doing the film.
The role of Al Capone went to Robert De Niro…and honestly, it’s pretty difficult to imagine anyone but him playing that part.
But Hoskins said that Brian De Palma mailed him a check for £20,000 for his time.
