Roles In Hollywood That Were Really Difficult To Cast

Recasting a classic isn't an easy task, something which Disney learned while trying to find the leads for their live-action Aladdin remake. The studio is said to have looked at thousands of people before ultimately landing on relative newcomer Mena Massoud to play Aladdin and Power Rangers actress Naomi Scott to play Jasmine. 

Disney reportedly brought in casting directors from around the world to look at about 2,000 actors and actresses for the leads, bringing in unknowns and big names like Riz Ahmed and Dev Patel. However, struggles with finding a lead the right age, who could act and sing while also being of Middle Eastern or Indian descent, were said to have lengthened the casting process. It got so out of hand that Disney pushed back the planned production start date multiple times. 

When Disney and casting agents got to the point of screen testing—performing a scene with an on- or off-screen actor—that too was said to have gone on for weeks at a time, with one agent whose client was tested saying that it was "a mess." Sources say that after initial testing didn't go well, the studio even had to go back to the drawing board and look through the screen test tapes once again in order to find their lead. 

Although many were happy when Disney finally chose Massoud and Scott, others were upset given that Massoud is of Middle Eastern descent and Scott is of Indian descent. Critics have accused the studio of seeing people of color as "culturally interchangeable." 

You may be hard pressed finding a project that has gone through as many A-list actors as the as-yet-unreleased Netflix film Triple Frontier. The thriller was initially set up for Paramount, with Tom Hardy and Channing Tatum attached to star. (Previous names rumored for the project have included Tom Hanks, Will Smith, and Johnny Depp.) 

Initially, Kathryn Bigelow was set to direct based on a script from Mark Boal; she later left and was replaced by J.C. Chandor. Further down the line, Moonlight star Mahershala Ali was attached to the film as well. However, as budget costs soared, the struggling Paramount eventually decided not to move forward with the project, leading Hardy, Tatum, and Ali to depart just a month before filming was initially scheduled to start.

The movie then quickly moved to Netflix, which looked to hire an all-new cast, led by Ben Affleck and his younger brother Casey. However, Ben later left the project, reportedly to "take some time to focus on his wellness and his family." Later that week, Netflix signed Mark Wahlberg, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal to star in the film, again just a month before production was set to start.

Although we have yet to see any official stills or videos from the film at the time of this writing, it should be interesting to see what convinced so many talented actors to sign on—and what caused so many of them to leave.

The Hobbit went through a long and unexpected journey to the big screen. Guillermo del Toro was initially set to direct the trio (initially, a duo) of films, and although he never got to the casting stage, rumor has it that he had James McAvoy in mind for leading man Bilbo Baggins. (McAvoy denies he ever met with anyone about the film.) 

However, del Toro eventually dropped out and was replaced (after some hedging) with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. Jackson set about casting the film, and he had one man in mind for Bilbo—Martin Freeman. Freeman was at the time best known for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but he had just kicked off a new and exciting role, that of Dr. John Watson on BBC's Sherlock. 

Freeman was at first forced to turn down Jackson's offer to star in The Hobbit due to Sherlock, much to Jackson's chagrin. The director said he continued looking for a new star, but would "torture" himself staying up late watching Sherlock and thinking about how perfect Freeman would be in the role.

Luckily, they were eventually able to work the scheduling out, giving Freeman four months of filming in New Zealand before two months back in England to film Sherlock. The films also became a reunion for fans of the BBC drama—Freeman's Sherlock co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, landed a role as well, providing the voice and motion capture for the dragon Smaug.

If rumors are to be believed, the Harry Potter series was almost very, very different. Warner Bros. initially approached Steven Spielberg to direct the films, with the director looking to make an animated version of the books, reportedly with Haley Joel Osment voicing the title character.

However, Spielberg eventually departed the film and a new director, Chris Columbus, was brought on board. Columbus was then up against the daunting task of finding a lead for the film, with the search for a young British star said to have encompassed as many as 40,000 actors.

As most everyone now knows, Daniel Radcliffe wound up landing the part, with Emma Watson playing Hermione and Rupert Grint playing Ron. All three were new to the business, but Radcliffe actually had the most experience via his role as young David in BBC's David Copperfield miniseries. (Watson and Grint had both only appeared in school plays.)

It was the miniseries that led Columbus to approach Radcliffe to audition, but he didn't agree right away. While the chance to try out for a much coveted role like Potter seems like an easy bet, Radcliffe actually turned it down at first because his parents thought it would mean moving to Los Angeles to film the series of movies. 

Eventually, producers agreed to lessen the commitment to just two films and to shoot them in the United Kingdom, allowing Radcliffe to sign on with a little less disruption to his life. Columbus said that he knew Radcliffe was right for the part right away, and considering the billions the films made at the box office, it seems that the books' fans agreed as well.

All of the parts in the hugely popular Marvel Cinematic Universe are highly coveted, and the superhero sorcerer Doctor Strange was no exception. Ahead of the film's release, the rumor mill ran rampant with possible A-list names who could sign on to play the title character: Jared Leto, Justin Theroux, Keanu Reeves, Ryan Gosling, Oscar Isaac, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Tom Hardy, and more all had their names thrown into the mix.

Ultimately, the studio landed on Joaquin Phoenix and set about signing him for the role. However, talks eventually halted, forcing them to go back to the drawing board—and back to their first choice, Benedict Cumberbatch, who had initially been unavailable due to a commitment to star in a theatrical version of Hamlet during the movie's filming.

Negotiating Cumberbatch's magical entry into the MCU was not an easy task. Although director Scott Derrickson said that the Sherlock actor was the only one he ever "seriously considered" for the title character in Doctor Strange, they ultimately had to push back the movie's filming and planned release date in order to accommodate Cumberbatch's busy schedule. 

Although pushing back the release date was unprecedented for the studio, Marvel head Kevin Feige said that they had to do it. "We looked at some other actors for a while and ultimately decided, 'We have to try and make it work with Benedict and with his schedule,'" Feige said. It looks like they made the right choice.

Just like finding The Hobbit's Bilbo, finding The Lord of the Rings' Aragorn was a long and arduous task. Although Viggo Mortensen wound up blowing everyone away in the part, he wasn't actually the first choice—that honor went to multiple Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis. 

Day-Lewis was reportedly offered the role multiple times but later said that he turned it down because big franchises are "not for [him]." The role was then given to Irish actor Stuart Townsend, who trained for weeks before being dropped the day before the start of filming. Townsend later revealed that Jackson decided last minute that he wanted someone older to take on the role. 

Others were offered the role before Mortensen as well; Nicolas Cage revealed that he turned down the part because there were "different things going on in [his] life" that prevented him from being away for all three years of filming. New Zealand native Russell Crowe said he turned it down because the film was under budget pressure. 

Luckily, Jackson was able to find the right man for the part in Mortensen, who said he signed on because his son "egged him on to do it." Mortensen wound up earning two Saturn Award nominations—an honor in sci-fi and fantasy—as well as a slew of other accolades for his performance, so it seems Jackson made the right choice.

Like many of the films on this list, the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody also went through a few directorial shake-ups, with casting shake-ups following suit. The main role in question was the leading part of the late Freddie Mercury, whose idol status brought about a lot of baggage for potential stars signing on to the part. 

Borat's Sacha Baron Cohen was the first to commit to the role, but he eventually left the project, reportedly due to creative differences with the band. (Cohen has stated he had a couple of reasons for exiting, including wanting an edgier take on the rocker's life.)

A few months later, James Bond's "Q" in Skyfall, actor Ben Whishaw, joined the project, which was then set to be directed by Dexter Fletcher. However, Fletcher later dropped out, again due to creative differences, and although Whishaw remained in producers' sights for the lead, the part eventually went to Mr. Robot's Rami Malek.

Malek started filming the movie with director Bryan Singer, although filming did not move ahead without its problems. Production was halted shortly after Thanksgiving in 2017 when Singer reportedly stopped showing up to set, and he was later fired from the project. (The director contends he was dealing with a family emergency that the studio was not responsive to.) The project eventually came full circle, with Fletcher signing back on to replace him and finish the film.