Sci-Fi Actor Replacements That Were Actually For The Best
Whether it was Patrick Stewart's journey to Gurney or Tom Selleck trading in Chewie for Higgins, here are a few sci-fi roles that could have gone to the wrong person.
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00:00 Whether it was Patrick Stewart's Journey to Gurney or Tom Selleck trading an indie for
00:04 Magnum, here are a few sci-fi roles that could have gone to the wrong person.
00:08 Sylvester Stallone is a hands-on kind of boss.
00:11 That trait turned multiple franchises into box office winners, but also resulted in some
00:15 staggeringly stupid sequels.
00:18 While Demolition Man wasn't his gig to control, his behavior would be no different.
00:22 Lori Petty, then a fresh face, showed off her dramatic chops in A League of Their Own
00:26 and her action capabilities in Point Break.
00:28 Petty won the co-starring role of Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man, but she got the axe after
00:33 two days on set.
00:34 The reason?
00:35 She and Stallone didn't mix.
00:37 In 1993, Petty was quoted by Entertainment Weekly as saying, "Sly and I were like oil
00:41 and water.
00:42 Producer Joel Silver needed a replacement, fast, and Sandra Bullock fit the bill."
00:46 Petty eventually found her own groove.
00:48 It's easy to see how she would have become a bigger part of Demolition Man, and Bullock's
00:52 lighter, softer tone makes her a foil that amps the uber-masculine strength of Stallone
00:56 vs. Wesley Snipes.
00:58 Ultimately, Demolition Man is a fun, ridiculous movie that works because of its mix of explosions
01:02 and familiar tropes.
01:04 Bullock is definitely an upgrade in the film we got.
01:06 "I don't know.
01:08 Thanks?"
01:09 The actors playing the Marines and James Cameron's aliens spent several weeks together in rehearsal,
01:13 customizing their characters' armor and building a natural camaraderie that comes through on
01:17 screen.
01:18 Then Michael Biehn came in late, and he even inherited some other guy's armor instead of
01:22 putting together his own.
01:23 That other guy was The Warrior star James Riemar, who needed to be replaced several
01:27 weeks into filming.
01:29 Facing a drug charge, he was removed from the production, and Biehn spent a fast weekend
01:33 flying to England to pick up the slack after producer Gail Ann Hurd personally called him.
01:37 A Cameron veteran, Biehn's unflappable Corporal Hicks becomes Ripley's bedrock for the movie's
01:41 back half.
01:42 He matches up to Sigourney Weaver's charisma so well that we never notice he feels a little
01:46 more quiet with his fellow Marines.
01:49 And yes, we're still mad that he's not getting the redemption he deserves in the still-canceled
01:52 Neil Blomkamp alien film.
01:55 It boggles the mind to think of a time when Sir Patrick Stewart would have turned up on
01:58 a set and gotten a… whatever, let's go with it.
02:01 Today, he ranks as a genre icon thanks to his portrayals of Professor Charles Xavier
02:05 and Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and as one of the best theatrical performers of his generation.
02:16 So it's never not a surprise to look back at David Lynch's Dune and see him as Gurney
02:20 Halleck.
02:21 It wasn't supposed to be, but the facts remain vague.
02:23 During an Emerald City Comic-Con panel in 2013, Patrick Stewart himself revealed that
02:27 casting was meant for someone else, but he showed up and Lynch just rolled with it.
02:32 For today's sci-fi fans, it's an interesting look back at the early days of Stewart's career.
02:36 Lynch's Dune featured a top-notch cast of talented professionals, and though his role
02:40 was a small one, Stewart's heartfelt reunion with Paul late in the film delivers a moment
02:44 of real movie magic.
02:46 Martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme was still building his film career when the classic
02:50 sci-fi action movie Predator started filming.
02:53 Aspen director John McTiernan recruited Van Damme to add his athletics to the film's
02:57 alien hunter.
02:58 That's also when the trouble started.
03:00 Stacked up next to the hulking cast, which included Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura,
03:04 the 5-foot, 10-inch Van Damme loses a lot of menace.
03:07 Reportedly, his version of the alien suit wasn't much fun, either.
03:11 Enter Kevin Peter Hall, who previously filled a Bigfoot suit for the far lighter Harry and
03:15 the Hendersons.
03:16 At 7-foot-plus, the new hunter towered over these comparatively puny Earthlings.
03:21 It wasn't hard to tell that this yatcha provided the apex Predator the film needed to be awesome.
03:26 Not only does Hall get to cameo with his own face during the helicopter rescue at the end,
03:30 but he returned as another yatcha and their elder for Predator 2.
03:34 Hall died in 1991, but what he did for this sci-fi icon will remain immortal.
03:39 Veteran actor Lance Henriksen is a familiar face to James Cameron fans, and it should
03:43 be no surprise to find out that they're longtime friends.
03:46 Henriksen even helped Cameron land his first major movie with The Terminator.
03:50 The Futurist, a biography of James Cameron by Rebecca Keegan, recounts the tale of Henriksen
03:54 showing up in full Terminator regalia in order to impress the film's financiers.
03:59 Until the studio sent Arnold Schwarzenegger over to discuss the role of Kyle Reese, Cameron
04:03 expressed no interest.
04:05 Meeting face-to-face changed everything, with Cameron realizing the tall, muscular, and
04:09 career-savvy Austrian would make one hell of a killer robot.
04:13 Cameron kept Henriksen for a smaller but important role as a cop, and the pair remained good
04:17 friends.
04:18 It was a last-minute shakeup that turned out well for everyone.
04:21 The Terminator launched the careers of both Schwarzenegger and Cameron into orbit, and
04:24 Henriksen would go on to be the unlikely heart of aliens and to play dozens of great, often
04:29 criminally underrated roles.
04:31 Go binge Henriksen in the X-Files-adjacent series Millennium and thank us later.
04:35 The Matrix Resurrections is a funny, ultra-meta sequel, but it is fair to say that there's
04:39 some understandable dissent over the lack of the original Morpheus, played by Lawrence
04:43 Fishburne, being replaced by a younger, even more aware version of himself.
04:48 Fishburne appears in flashback footage, but the entire point of the new Morpheus is that
04:51 this soul-centric finale centers on finding and being true to yourself.
04:55 He's colorful, groovy, and upbeat about Thomas' chances to regain his power when
05:00 his predecessor needed to experience some dark times to keep that faith.
05:03 Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who brings his stellar energy to even the most lacking roles, makes
05:08 for the perfect spiritual leader for a story about securing the happy ending you deserve.
05:13 The old Morpheus is the past, and he deserves his happy ending in Revolutions, standing
05:17 at the edge of a free Zion.
05:19 Terrence Howard gave us a pretty good James Rhodes in Iron Man as a stoic foil to Tony
05:23 Stark's antics and the only sane man in town.
05:26 Howard didn't return for Iron Man 2, with the stated real reason being a dispute over
05:30 his paycheck, which is an honest possibility.
05:33 His departure came late in pre-production, however, and Don Cheadle had to sign on fast
05:37 with little idea of what would come next.
05:39 With no disrespect to Terrence Howard's solid film chops, the results were great.
05:43 Cheadle takes Howard's stoic nature towards Stark and turns it into a lively, unflappability
05:47 that's sometimes the only thing that can deflate the billionaire playboy when he's
05:51 running full steam.
05:52 Colonel Rhodes is now Cheadle's signature role, not to overshadow his Academy Award-nominated
05:57 work in Hotel Rwanda.
05:59 For Star Wars legend Harrison Ford to get the chance to wear Han Solo's vest, he had
06:02 to be the last-minute phone call after multiple A-listers, including Al Pacino, Christopher
06:07 Walken, and Burt Reynolds, all passed on the opportunity.
06:10 Just two years before he died, Reynolds vocally regretted turning down the gig.
06:14 It was a decision that would also later help make Ford the final choice for Indiana Jones.
06:19 That was a touchy situation, as George Lucas, who wrote the script for Raiders of the Lost
06:22 Ark, voiced doubts to director Steven Spielberg about turning Ford into their go-to guy after
06:27 Han's popularity took off.
06:29 The original choice, Tom Selleck, couldn't get out of his contract for Magnum P.I.
06:33 It's not hard to picture the Hawaiian shirt-wearing TV hearthrob searching for the Ark and fighting
06:37 Nazis, but this twist of history ensured Ford's blockbuster future.
06:41 Ford's competition turned out fine, of course.
06:44 Reynolds left behind a legacy of classic movies and surprise TV appearances, and Selleck is
06:48 still trucking with a thriving TV career while also explaining how our aging grandparents
06:52 can make money off their house without losing it.
06:55 If Star Wars taught us anything, it's that taking a percentage of a guaranteed moneymaker
06:59 will feed your family for decades to come.
07:01 Matt Damon knew that when James Cameron talked to him about his Avatar project, offering
07:05 a 10% cut of the box office profits, but Damon was in the middle of a Bourne film with more
07:10 on the way and had to decline.
07:12 Sam Worthington, meanwhile, was a fresher Aussie face with nowhere to go but up.
07:16 In between his CGI-heavy shoots for the sprawling Avatar franchise, Worthington left his mark
07:20 on acclaimed miniseries like Manhunt Unabomber and Under the Banner of Heaven.
07:24 It's also true that he lends a steady new-guy humility that proves he was the right choice
07:28 for Avatar.
07:30 Dennis Hopper always gave everything to every performance.
07:33 He was the sort of live-wire talent that made the infamous 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie
07:37 even more watchable today, and that's saying a lot.
07:40 It's a terrific attribute, but not always the right thing for a story.
07:44 The Truman Show originally landed Hopper to play the God-archetype director, Kristoff,
07:48 but he made a quick departure early in filming over creative differences with director Peter
07:52 Weir, as reported by Variety in 1997.
07:55 Ed Harris was brought in fast, and his version adds the quiet menace and absolute pressure
07:59 on Truman Burbank's life that makes the movie unforgettable.
08:02 Kristoff is, in the end, unable to descend from his directorial throne.
08:06 All he can do is appeal, in Harris' perfectly stony voice, to Truman's fears.
08:10 Excellent stuff.
08:11 Spike Jonze's Her sees the reclusive Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, help his voice-only
08:16 AI assistant become her own person as she melds with others of her kind to achieve a
08:20 technological singularity.
08:22 It's heady stuff about the way our relationships enable us to grow as people.
08:26 In any case, Her rides or dies on your feelings about Samantha's voice.
08:30 Play Scarlett Johansson in full gentle-purr mode, and that's pretty hard to resist.
08:34 "Hello, I'm here."
08:36 "Oh.
08:37 Hi."
08:38 But Samantha was originally voiced by Samantha Morton, an English actor with a sweet, earthy
08:45 voice that comes through the best in her role as a troubled precog in Minority Report.
08:49 It created a dynamic with Phoenix that didn't work for Jonze, and Johansson redubbed the
08:53 role in post-production.
08:54 It's an upgrade that suits the intimate tone Ted is emboldened by to become a little more
08:58 extroverted.
08:59 In the end, the film rates as fascinating stuff that digs into the best of science fiction's
09:03 potential.
09:03 "I'm a little bit of a nerd."