15 Actors That Were Forced To Quit Halfway Through Filming

June 2024 · 16 minute read

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Hollywood is a cutthroat trade, that's for sure. One minute you may well be on peak of the film trade, with everyone short of you of their motion pictures. The next, yow will discover your self completely forgotten, with no person in point of fact remembering your title or what you were famous for. Sometimes, talented actors never even get their likelihood to shine and are all the time being cast aside on the last minute. But in all probability the most important unhappiness for those hardworking people is when they are forced to quit huge motion pictures through no fault of their very own.

Of path, occasionally it is their fault, and the issues they did or did not do make the administrators look for an excuse to hearth them. But it is by no means in point of fact clear whether the directors are in fact firing them or the actors are leaving on their very own accord. Most of the time, reasons for actors leaving films are summed up as "creative differences," which is an evident excuse for one thing else that made them impossible to paintings with. Sometimes they just get a better opportunity somewhere else. Sometimes they get injured. And on occasion they're simply not appropriate for the section, undeniable and easy.

But regardless of the case, it's at all times attention-grabbing to take into accounts what a few of our favourite motion pictures would've been like if the lead roles have been played by means of different actors.

James Remar Was Forced To Quit Aliens Because Of A Drug Problem

One of the most well-known actors to quit halfway through filming became James Remar. He turned into originally slated to play the long-lasting function of Corporal Hicks in James Cameron's Aliens, yet turned into forced to quit due to "creative differences" between him and the director. Generally, this phrase is normally used as an excuse for one thing else, and this turned into later published to be true through Remar himself.

He once admitted, "I had a terrible drug problem, but I got through it... I was initially cast as Corporal Hicks, and I was fired after a couple weeks of filming because I got busted for possession of drugs, and Michael Biehn replaced me."

But it become most probably a blessing in hide that Remar become stressed into quitting, as he become changed by way of an excellent actor, Michael Biehn. It's exhausting to consider Corporal Hicks being played by some other actor, and he no doubt introduced this persona to existence in the most productive imaginable approach.

Zendaya Quit Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B Because She Didn't Have Aaliyah's Family's Blessing

Another actor who become forced to quit a big movie was Zendaya. She barely were given through a couple of rehearsals and some take a look at shots of the film Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B before she determined to quit the profitable function. Many folks had ridiculed her after she landed the position, and a few even said she "wasn't black enough." So when she backed out, folks instantly concept it turned into on account of the public backlash she gained. But she later published that it had not anything to do with that, and that she if truth be told felt bad because she did not get the blessing of Aaliyah's family.

She defined the explanations for her departure in a video, saying, "The main reasons were the production value wasn't there, there were complications with the music rights, and I just felt like it wasn't being handled delicately considering the situation. I tried my best to reach out to the family on my own and I wrote a letter, but, I was unable to do so. Therefore, I felt not really morally okay with moving forward with the project."

James Purefoy Allegedly Quit V For Vendetta Because He Didn't Want To Wear The Mask

Yet any other actor who bowed out of a massive movie manufacturing partway into filming changed into James Purefoy. He was all coated up to play the lead in V For Vendetta, a movie that has reached cult standing since its release. The iconic mask later went on to become a logo for the hacker group "anonymous," and turned into worn through cringe-worthy self-described "political activists" internationally. But it changed into this similar mask that turned into allegedly the cause of Purefoy's exit from the film. After taking pictures a number of scenes, it's rumored that he left the film because he didn't like carrying the mask. He still seems in different scenes, on the other hand, and become dubbed over by means of the voice of Hugo Weaving in many circumstances.

But in case you ask James Purefoy, he denies the mask-related rumors. He once mentioned in an interview, "I don’t really talk about it much because we agreed not to. The only rumour I can scotch is that if anybody thinks I was too [scared] to wear a mask, they’re completely wrong. It was nothing to do with wearing the mask... It was genuine creative differences. It was genuinely about the way to approach that character, which is what creative differences are all about – and sometimes they become intolerable."

Nicole Kidman Had To Quit Panic Room Because Of Her Knee Injury 

Nicole Kidman changed into at first intended to play the lead in Panic Room, but a odd set of circumstances forced her to bow out. Previous to this film, she worked on Moulin Rouge, all through which she suffered a ligament injury in her knee. The bodily challenging position of Panic Room concerned her running steadily, combating, and normally being put through the gauntlet. It changed into all through such a many scenes that she aggravated some of the injured ligaments in her knee, forcing her to go out the movie after only some weeks of filming.

This become a big blow to production, as there were actually no different alternatives on the time. Most of the opposite actresses who would've fit the function were busy with other initiatives, and so the manufacturing team seriously regarded as scrapping the entire movie altogether. But fortunately Jodie Foster was available, and the rest is history.

Eric Stoltz Was Insufferable While Filming Back To The Future And Was Forced To Leave

Eric Stoltz was originally slated to play Marty McFly in Back To The Future, earlier than he changed into forced to quit due to creative variations. He became not even the primary choice, as the original actor slated to play the function became after all Michael J. Fox. But when instances changed and Fox suddenly became to be had for the film once more, a call turned into made to sooner or later let Stoltz move. In all honesty, despite the fact that, Stoltz it appears did not make it a hard resolution to swap him out. In the weeks he spent filming the movie, he started to annoy a large number of the staff. This incorporated hurting other actors on goal all through battle scenes, and adhering to a strange manner acting technique:

“Stoltz adhered to his approach appearing instruction and refused to answer to his real title, to the disappointment and eye-rolls of many on the group," said one of his co-actors.

One of the producers admitted: “We almost always called him Marty. We thought it was silly, but we figured if it helped him do his job, it was harmless. There were a few people on the crew who’d worked on Mask and they called him Rocky, the name of his character in that film.” The simple truth was that they needed a comedic actor to play the part, and Stoltz was a dramatic actor.

Stuart Townsend Was Forced To Quit The Lord Of The Rings Because He Wasn't The Right Fit For Aragorn 

Here is another interesting tale of an actor forced to quit partway into filming involving Stuart Townsend. You've probably never heard of this guy, but he's actually a fairly well-known Irish actor. If things had gone differently, everyone would have known his name, though, because he was so close to being Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings. After first deciding that he was perfect for the part, Peter Jackson changed his mind pretty quickly. After a little over a week of filming, Jackson told Townsend his services were no longer needed, citing creative differences, and a lack of director-actor chemistry.

After than, Viggo Mortensen came along and truly made the role his. We can't even imagine the role being played by anyone else, but who knows what it would have been like if a different actor had taken the role? One thing's for sure, though. Townsend wasn't too happy about the whole debacle, and said that he wasn't even paid for months and months of rehearsals and training for the role.

Ryan Gosling Gained A Ton Of Weight For Lovely Bones But Was Then Told He Was Too Fat 

One of the most bizarre tales of an actor leaving a major film involved Ryan Gosling and a movie called Lovely Bones. Ryan Gosling is of course a major star these days, but this movie came out back when he was still trying to get a major foothold on the film industry. When he was cast in the role by Peter Jackson, he had the idea to make the character overweight. But after gaining 60 pounds, the director thought that was the wrong choice and pressured him into leaving the movie barely a day into shooting.

Speaking about the experience, Gosling admitted: "We had a special idea of how the character will have to look. I actually believed he will have to be 210 pounds. We didn't talk very much all the way through the preproduction process, which turned into the problem," Gosling said. "It become a huge film, and there are such a lot of issues to deal with, and he couldn't maintain the actors in my view. I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it fallacious. Then I used to be fats and unemployed."

The Entire Cast Of Cursed Left Because Production Was Stalled For A Year

Cursed was a movie that really fit its title, because everything seemed to go wrong with this film. Director Wes Craven was already famous for titles such as Scream and other classic horror movies, and this was supposed to be his best movie yet. But a number of problems made this movie take way longer to film than it should have, and as a result, many actors and actresses were forced to jump ship.

It all stemmed from an issue that the production company had with the script, and they demanded production be shut down for over a year while changes were made. Over half the cast was not about to stick around while they could be working on other projects, so they left. And that's why this movie is probably the best example of actors having to quit a movie halfway through filming.

Samantha Morton Had Filmed All Of Her Before Being Replaced By Scarlett Johansson

Similar to the case of Paddington Bear, Samantha Morton was hired to play the role of the computer AI in Her, shot the whole movie, and then was replaced after the director decided she didn't fit the character. She was never actually seen on screen, but this was still a major overhaul because all of the character's lines had to be re-recorded. Luckily for everyone, Scarlett Johansson stepped in and did an amazing job, and everyone involved with the movie did everything they could to help her succeed and find the right character for the role.

Speaking about the decision, director Spike Jonze admitted: “When we shot, we initially had cast Samantha Morton [in the role]. So Samantha was really involved in giving Joaquin [Phoenix] a lot to work from. And then when we got into editing, we realized that what Samantha and I had done together wasn’t working for what the character needed, and so we ended up having to recast at that point in time.”

Jean-Claude Van Damme Was Forced To Quit Because He Hated Wearing The CGI Suit In Predator

Another huge name that quit a major movie halfway into filming was none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme. This action movie star needs no introduction, and he played many iconic heroes in countless 80s action flicks. But you probably didn't know that he was originally cast in the movie Predator. This time, however, he wasn't the hero but the enemy. He was actually supposed to be the mysterious alien species that hunts the elite team of soldiers, eventually killing every single man except for one.

Except that it didn't work out that way. Jean-Claude didn't like wearing the massive pink suit that was necessary for the character. Whenever the hero was invisible, which was most of the time, those effects needed to be done in post-production. So Van Damme was forced to wear a large CGI suit for most of the scenes, something that frustrated him to no end within a few weeks of filming. So he quit the movie, and was promptly replaced.

Harvey Keitel Was Not The Right Fit For Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made, but it's the behind the scenes antics that really make this movie stand out. Anyone who has ever seen the documentary Heart Of Darkness knows exactly how hard this movie was to make, and how many setbacks Francis Ford Coppola experienced while making this film. One of the first major halts in filming came when Francis Ford Coppola realized that Harvey Keitel was not right for the role of Willard. After a few weeks of filming, he was replaced with Martin Sheen, who added a whole new element of insanity to an already nosediving movie.

Why was Harvey Keitel forced to bow out? It had a lot to do with Willard's character. Francis Ford Coppola wanted Willard to be a silent observer of the events going on around him, someone who was affected by the war but powerless to do anything. He felt that Keitel's persona didn't fit this mold, and instead he went for the wide-eyed Martin Sheen, who was struggling with some deeply personal issues in real life at the time.

Colin Firth Basically Filmed All Of Paddington Bear Before Realizing His Voice Was Wrong For The Character

Another actor who was forced to part ways with his project was Colin Firth. He was pegged as the voice of Paddington Bear on the movie with the same title, and voiced almost the entire movie before hitting  a major block in the creative process. As it turned out, both Firth and the movie's producers agreed that his voice was too regal for a little bear. This was a mutual decision reached by both parties, but it's still insane that the movie was essentially finished before they decided to change such a major part of the film.

Firth made a statement about the incident, saying: “It’s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realization that he simply doesn’t have my voice. I’ve had the joy of seeing most of the film and it’s going to be quite wonderful. I still feel rather protective of this bear and I’m pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him.”

Mark Salling Was Forced To Quit Gods And Secrets Because He Was Caught After Committing A Disgusting Crime 

One big name that has been shrouded in controversy as of late is Mark Salling. This famous actor from Glee was ostracized and indicted for being caught in possession of disturbing child content. This obviously affected his career negatively, and he will probably never work again. He actually cut his wrists shortly before he was charged for the offence, although he survived this apparent suic*de attempt. He is now obliged to register as a s*x offender and faces 4 to 9 years in jail. All of this happened fairly recently, and he plead guilty in October.

As a result of these developments, he was fired from the cast of the mini-series Gods And Secrets, with the director releasing the following statement: "'Adi Shankar’s Gods and Secrets will be transferring ahead without Mark Salling. He has been reduce from the mini-series. I can for my part be paying for the reshoots, and I am hoping that Mark unearths interior peace."

Kel O'Neill Claims He Was Fired From There Will Be Blood, But Others Disagree 

There Will Be Blood is a film that most of us remember, and it was definitely one of the best films in recent memory. Part of the reason it was so enthralling was of course the use of some amazing actors, most notably Daniel Day-Lewis. The film also featured strong performances from young actor Paul Dano, who played the iconic role of Eli. But you might not know that Dano was not the first choice for this role, and for many weeks of filming it was Kel O'Neill that was acting as Eli.

He was replaced by Dano halfway into filming for reasons that are a little muddled. Some say it was creative differences. Others believe the rumor that Daniel Day-Lewis intimidated the actor with his method style of acting, something that Day-Lewis doubted but apologized for anyway. And others, most notably O'Neill himself, claim that he was fired by the director. “If [the director] hadn’t fired me from There Will Be Blood I would probably still be an actor dreaming of making my own films someday," O'Neill famously mentioned.

Gerard McSodepend Was Let Go From The Departed For Unknown Reasons 

Another massively fashionable movie that became released in the last few years become The Departed. This movie starred appearing greats reminiscent of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, and become directed via the extraordinarily talented Martin Scorsese. Also slated to appear in the film become Irish actor Gerard McSorely, but this never actually materialized. He had already filmed a couple of scenes as a high-ranking police officer in Boston. At the time of his exit from the film, he were researching the Boston police and talking with folks in Boston.

Some say it become a result of him being ill-prepared for the position. He had in the past dedicated an enormous period of time and assets into filming a movie about an IRA bombing. That might have cut into the time he wanted to spend on The Departed. "I just don't know and I don't even know what I'm going to do right now," said McSodepend after he discovered that he became being minimize from the film.

Sources: reddit.com

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