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sammm59 t1_jdclf5k wrote

Danny DeVito passed on playing George Costanza on Seinfeld.

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[deleted] t1_jdcm6ow wrote

Thomas Jane (who I thought was the Highlander and Raiden when I was a kid) almost was Rick in Walking Dead.

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ed_lv t1_jdcn48u wrote

Bob Odenkirk was almost Michael Scott on The Office. Him and Steve Carell were the last two actors considered, and Paul Rudd almost convinced Carrell to not audition and take the job.

In season 9 we did see the alternate universe, with Odenkirk running his own office, in pretty much the same way Michael Scott did.

Looking back, we got the perfect scenario, with Carrell and Micheal Scott, and not getting The Office job enabled Odenkirk to become our favorite Saul/Jimmy/Gene

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55Branflakes t1_jdcncg9 wrote

I think Ed O'Neil (Al Bundy himself) could have been a better Walter White than that Cranston guy.

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MulciberTenebras t1_jdcnclf wrote

After Seinfeld ended, Michael Richards passed on the title role of detective "Monk"

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AreWeCowabunga t1_jdcpfc3 wrote

Replying to sammm59 (#2,316,813)

I'd never heard this before, but it seems like he'd be too old for the role. He's 5 years older than Michael Richards, 10 older than Seinfeld and 15 older than JLD and Jason Alexander. Richards already seems a little old compared to the rest, and George was supposed to be Jerry's old friend from growing up. I don't know, it just would have been a very different show with Danny.

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Gooberino74 t1_jdcq4gx wrote

Replying to Fuzzikopf (#2,317,236)

I'll admit I can't for some reason get past the first season, although I do like the show. I've tried rewatching it twice from the beginning. I think life just gets in the way, but his character is by far my least favorite and I typically like Thomas Jane as an actor. Does his character improve throughout?

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JimJordansJacket t1_jdcq4i5 wrote

Aside from the fact that Kevin Sorbo is a stupid piece of shit, right wing dickhole, he is also a terrible actor.

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mickeyflinn t1_jdcqk2l wrote

> Kevin Sorbo missed out on Fox Mulder (The X Files), Clark Kent/Superman (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), and Detective John Kelly (NYPD Blue).

And that is a good thing.

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mickeyflinn t1_jdcqs1k wrote

Replying to Gooberino74 (#2,317,325)

> Does his character improve throughout?

Yes, everything about the Expanse gets better through the first season. Season 2 and 3 is where it peaked.

The show went to shit when it moved to Amazon (s4,5 and 6).

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SantaClaws1972 t1_jdcsm6i wrote

Ryan Reynolds was offered the role of Xander on Buffy. He turned it down because he didn’t want to get typecast. I think things turned out okay for him though.

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Fuzzikopf t1_jdcu0xk wrote

Replying to Gooberino74 (#2,317,325)

> Does his character improve throughout?

Hell yeah he does, I didn't like him in the beginning either. But by the end, he was my favourite.

The first season of The Expanse is difficult for many people and even though I only needed a couple episode, I can understand why.
As someone else already said, seasons 2 & 3 are absolutely phenomenal though. Some of the best TV I've ever seen.

Season 4 is not bad either, but not as great as the previous two. Seasons 5/6 are still good compared to other shows, but overall a bit disappointing I would say.

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Delphidouche t1_jdcyey8 wrote

Michael Keaton turned down the role of Dr. Jack Shephard on LOST.

Originally the plan was to kill Jack off in The Pilot episode but the executives at ABC didn't think that was a good idea and wanted Jack to be the main character. Michael Keaton didn't want to commit to a series and the rest is history.

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Reasonable-HB678 t1_jdczh2q wrote

Replying to mickeyflinn (#2,317,386)

He's part of the subset of the Hollywood MAGA crowd that were able to get by on their good looks. I include Dean Cain and Antonio Sabato Jr among them.

Also, Sorbo's Kull the Conqueror movie was going to be- at least in the mid 80's- the third Conan the Barbarian movie. In short, thanks to Sorbo's input, it became a glorified feature length episode of his Hercules series, staying well within his comfort zone.

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quangtran t1_jdddo78 wrote

The creators of Modern Family wrote the character of Phil with Ty Burrell in mind, but the studio instead offered the role to Matt Leblanc, who turned it down (hence the role finally being offered to Ty).

The creators wanted Ed O’Niel for Jay but the studio preferred Craig T Nelson. A pay dispute meant that Craig turned down the role.

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jadedfan55 t1_jddtymf wrote

Replying to Frankfusion (#2,321,215)

Dragnet was revived in February 2003, rechristened Dragnet LA in the fall of that year, and gone by Christmas. This was the 2nd TV crime drama where Ed O'Neill tried to shed the Al Bundy imagery. He finally did it with Modern Family, where his character wasn't as crude as Al.

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ANK2112 t1_jddxi22 wrote

I dont think Lance Reddick ever got his iconic slave role

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tagen t1_jde8ajv wrote

Not quite the same, but David Caruso played the lead detective in NYPD Blue, one of the biggest shows of its time, then got replaced cuz he was just so fucking difficult to work with

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bflaminio t1_jdfkajs wrote

Tom Selleck's commitment to Magnum PI prevented him from taking the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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MrPotatoButt t1_jdgnrb4 wrote

I'm okay with that. Kevin Sorbo is a pretty mediocre actor.

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MrPotatoButt t1_jdgo6al wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,331,406)

Maybe its me, but Duchovny would have been a disaster as Mr. White. Too good looking for a for a science guy, and generally played "soft spoken" characters. I definitely could see Broderick playing Walt.

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Reasonable-HB678 t1_jdh2js8 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,331,406)

Breaking Bad (2008)

Sony and AMC were initially reluctant to cast Bryan Cranston because of his previous comedic roles. They approached John Cusack and Matthew Broderick for the role of Walter White. When they both declined, Vince Gilligan was able to cast Cranston. However, the rumor of John Cusack being offered the role of Walter has been debunked by Cusack himself in a 2020 Guardian interview, when he claimed no such offer ever came through his agents, and even asked Gilligan himself who denied making a formal offer for the role.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/trivia?item=tr1744534

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WilliamEmmerson t1_jdkm6lm wrote

Kiefer Sutherland passed on playing Red Reddington on The Blacklist which wound up being played by James Spader.

I don't know if anyone considers Red an iconic role, but it's given James Spader 10 years of employment while Kiefer has had multiple tv shows that have failed to last. Now, after 10 season, The Blacklist is wrapping up while Kiefer's next show, Rabbit Hole, will be premiering in a couple days. This will be Kiefer's 5th attempt at launching a successful series after 24 ended.

I wonder if he would change things if he could go back in time. Or maybe The Blacklist just wasn't for him either way.

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WilliamEmmerson t1_jdkmnk5 wrote

Thomas Jane might be the unluckiest. He passed on playing Don Draper on Mad Men.

He also missed out on playing Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead because he was already doing Hung and HBO wouldn't let him do both shows at once.

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WilliamEmmerson t1_jdkmzsf wrote

Replying to 55Branflakes (#2,316,997)

Ed O'Neill was David Milch's original choice to play Al Swearengen on Deadwood but HBO rejected him. Then Powers Boothe was offered the role but became ill and couldn't film the pilot. Ian McShane came on late and Boothe was cast as another character.

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