Movie Casting What-Ifs by helitzur

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?

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

"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.

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?

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?

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.

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.