[]
Michael J Fox instead of Eric Stolz in Back to the Future.
As originally written, John Lithgow and Edison, his pet monkey, bootlegged porno tapes with Eric Stolz in the back of a video rental place while Lithgow developed a time machine that ran on New Coke. When it worked and Eric Stolz went back to 1955, he had to be driven out to the Nevada Test Site in the back of a refrigerator because a nuclear blast was the only source of energy powerful enough to provide the 1.21 gigawatts available in New Coke. I would say that one improved in the rewrite/recast.
Another fun fact: Pris in Blade Runner was supposed to be a bitchy noir brunette while Rachel was supposed to be a blonde ingenue. Ridley Scott saw it the other way after Daryl Hannah had already been cast as Rachel and Sean Young as Pris. Which was deeply unfortunate as Sean Young hated Harrison Ford, which led to the truly rapey chemistry they have on set. I'm one of the biggest Blade Runner fans there is, but imagine it with those two roles reversed...
...even worse for Sean Young, she was supposed to be the interior designer in Wall Street and Daryl Hannah was supposed to be Gordon Gecko's trophy wife. Oliver Stone, however, couldn't see Charlie Sheen's girlfriend as anyone other than a blonde, so Sean Young got boned again. Poor girl. You'd think she'd dye her hair. Or try being less of a bitch, which has been floated as the reason she tended to get bumped out of roles.
Another one: As written, Deer Hunter stars a very Christopher Walken-like character as the semi-nerdy kid who goes off to Vietnam and ends up escaping from the Vietcong in a parlay during a game of Russian Roulette... while his gung-ho, all-american tough guy buddy from the steel mill, Robert De Niro, ends up going deep dark black and playing russian roulette for fun and money in the last days of Saigon. Walken is supposed to come back a war hero, fall in love with Meryl Streep and then venture to Saigon in an attempt to rescue Robert DeNiro, not the other way 'round.
On a more (as in less) serious note, I've always been a big fan of Joel Grey
as Chiun in Remo Williams:
And The Duke as Genghis Fucking Khan.
Speaking of casting, whenever someone argues it doesn't make a difference I always show them LA Takedown vs. Heat. Same script, both Michael Mann.
*
In an alternate universe, Bruce Lee was in Kung Fu, not David Carradine.
Alright, so maybe not of all time, but I really loved Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Almost could be one of my favourite characters ever.
- You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. Indeed that's what we provide in our own modest, humble, insignificant... oh, fuck it.
I loved that line...
Also Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith in The Matrix.
Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore....until he died. :(
Also, fun fact: he only took the part because his granddaughter told him she'd never speak to him again if he didn't.
I'm gonna vote for your comment, but I actually disagree with you.
I loved Richard Harris as an actor, but he was not the Dumbledore I wanted. In the beginning of the series, Dumbledore is silly and witty, even described as youthful. As Voldemort returns and he redoubles his efforts against him, he becomes worn and wary, even more so when he begins tracking and destroying Horcruxes.
I think Sir Michael Gambon was ultimately a better fit for Dumbledore, however it's still sad he only got the part after Richard Harris passed.
Random thoughts, sorry:
Arrested Development
HBO series
Men:
Heath Ledger's joker (sorry, typical), Daniel Craig as James Bond, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Jonny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow (considering franchise profits alone), Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt
Women:
Jodie Foster in Contact, Judi Dench as M, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, Anjelica Huston, and of course Meryl Streep.
Also, casting Die Antwoord in Chappie could have turned out worse.
I have a pet peeve about people idolizing others after their death. So when I read all the absolutely rave reviews of Heath Ledger's performance in the Dark Knight it kinda bugged me. Then I saw the movie. Wow.
And on a side note, if you have not seen his ex Michelle Williams' movie Wendy and Lucy I would highly recommend it. Pretty intense and unpredictable.
It was super brave for the writer, producer and director to cast the young Orson Welles as the lead in Citizen Kane.
I knew he was a precocious child (I almost wrote promiscuous doh) but not that precocious.
That was a terrifying scene. Carroll O'Connor will be remembered for acting as a bigot. But that is all it was. Acting.