Movie Casting What-Ifs by helitzur

Champion(s):

Andie203
Candlesticks always make a nice gift.


Runner(s)-Up:

Neil


Quiz Description

These questions cover various instances of movie casting that nearly went differently, due to a change of mind by the performer, or by the production in question, or for other fateful reasons.

Full Results:

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1 Andie203 444 98 15
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2 Neil 407 95 15
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3 elaynebw 382 91 00
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4 MoyseyC 372 87 15
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4 FlaxmanR 372 87 00
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6 PerryS 365 82 15
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7 HealyT 352 77 00
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7 MattK55 352 77 00
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9 elfm 334 72 00
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10 GoodmanDL 331 69 15
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11 WangS 310 66 00
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12 SchroederS 309 62 15
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13 ChrisRosenberg 280 59 15
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14 LackC 277 56 15
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15 SorensonG 269 53 00
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16 LuskT 262 50 15
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17 quarterrican 229 46 15
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18 JWright 218 43 15
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19 randalleng 214 38 00
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19 ArtBell 214 38 00
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21 FryedBetaKappa 210 33 15
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22 KingJA 172 30 00
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23 MichaelT 169 27 00
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24 JonesRW 157 24 00
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25 SheahanJ 154 19 00
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25 FrankensteinP 154 19 00
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27 WeikleB 124 12 00
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27 ConnorA 124 12 00
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29 Consigliari 80 8 00
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30 Kristen 76 4 00
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31 WareD 19 1 00
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Questions:

Leonardo DiCaprio chose to star in Titanic over this other 1997 movie, due to the inexperience of the director, who was only on his second feature film. DiCaprio later said that decision was the "biggest regret" of his career. Instead of claiming to be "the king of the world," he would've insisted that he was "the king of me" in which other movie?

Click to Reveal Answer
BOOGIE NIGHTS

Hollywood lore says George Raft turned down multiple roles that became huge hits for Humphrey Bogart, although that includes mostly apocryphal tales of Casablanca (Raft was never considered for it) and The Maltese Falcon (director John Huston never wanted him). However, which 1941 movie really was declined by Raft, tired of playing gangsters, to the benefit of Bogart, who got his breakthrough leading role as an ill-fated robber?

Click to Reveal Answer
HIGH SIERRA

Which actor was originally cast as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but was unable to play the role because his recently filmed TV pilot had been picked up by CBS, who refused to let him out of their contract? As far as consolation prizes go, 8 seasons and 1 Emmy award didn't turn out to be that bad.

Click to Reveal Answer
Tom SELLECK

Another supposed consolation prize was this Bette Davis starring vehicle, sometimes described as Warner Brothers' compensation to her for not being cast as Scarlett in Gone With The Wind. This antebellum Southern drama jump-started the most successful period of Davis' career and garnered her second Best Actress Oscar.

Click to Reveal Answer
JEZEBEL

Dougray Scott was initially cast in a franchise kick-off released in 2000, but had to be replaced due to production running long with his role on Mission Impossible II. The part that Scott was unable to play was re-cast with which actor, who had no previous experience in Hollywood?

Click to Reveal Answer
Hugh JACKMAN

James Cagney was originally cast as the second lead behind Edward Woods in this 1931 movie, but director William Wellman switched the roles when he decided Cagney would be more effective as the primary lead. Woods' career never reached a higher point than this movie, which vaulted Cagney into stardom.

Click to Reveal Answer
THE PUBLIC ENEMY

After Roger Moore retired from playing James Bond in 1985, the role nearly went for only the second time (after George Lazenby) to an actor who had grown up outside of Britain. Which New Zealand-raised actor was close to the consensus choice within Eon Productions, only to be turned down by its chief, Albert Broccoli?

Click to Reveal Answer
Sam NEILL

"The Search For Scarlett" was such a big event that it gets a second question in this quiz. Which actress screen-tested for the part more than anyone else, and nearly convinced her Hollywood neighbor, producer David O. Selznick, to cast her? The questionable status at the time of her years-long relationship with Charlie Chaplin, which was not clearly settled as a legal marriage, may have cost her the role.

Click to Reveal Answer
Paulette GODDARD

Just as the 15-month-long shoot of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was beginning, Irish actor Stuart Townsend was fired from his role. Peter Jackson later claimed that Townsend was too young for the part, although the last-second timing led to suspicion about severe "creative differences." Still, Jackson's subsequent casting choice lended some plausibility to his stated reasoning: which actor, 14 years older than Townsend, was hired to fill the role?

Click to Reveal Answer
Viggo MORTENSEN

Frank Sinatra was initially cast as the leading man in this 1950s Broadway musical adaptation, and had even pre-recorded the songs before dropping out. He cited a compensation dispute with the producers, although the rocky status of his marriage to Ava Gardner was another likely factor. Which movie subsequently wound up as a reunion of the same male and female leads from another musical adaptation released the previous year, from a show by the same Broadway writing team?

Click to Reveal Answer
CAROUSEL

Sofia Coppola's ill-fated casting in The Godfather Part III was due to the last-minute scramble to find a replacement for the key role of Michael Corleone's daughter. Which established young actress (18 years old at the time) had withdrawn just prior to the start of shooting, citing exhaustion from overwork on prior projects? Any hard feelings the director may have had about her decision apparently didn't last very long--she went on to appear in his next movie.

Click to Reveal Answer
Winona RYDER

After retiring from the screen following her marriage to Prince Rainier, Grace Kelly came close to a return in this Alfred Hitchcock movie. Rumor had it that her subjects were unhappy with her potentially playing a compulsive law-breaker, but the governments of France and Monaco were also embroiled in difficult negotiations at the time, removing the opportunity for Kelly and her family to leave the country for any extended period.

Click to Reveal Answer
MARNIE