CAST away!
These stars were brought in to replace other actors in extremely famous roles… By Keeley Ryan
When it comes to TV and movies, pretty much everything is possible. Sometimes, that includes the recasting of characters. Whether it was because of rumours of rifts on set or intended jokes; personal reasons to scheduling conflicts, there have been many reasons that stars have been recast.
This week, we’re taking a look at some of the times famous faces were recast on TV shows and movies…
Henry Cavill announced earlier this year that he was returning to the role of Superman — and that he was leaving The Witcher, too.
The actor, who has played Geralt of Rivia since the first season of the Netflix hit, will be exiting after the show’s upcoming third season.
Liam Hemsworth will be taking on the role from then-on — and Henry told how excited he was to see what he does with it.
He said,“my journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4.
“In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf.
“As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.”
Liam, meanwhile, said that he was“over the moon”to have the opportunity to play Geralt.
He wrote,“henry Cavill has been an incredible Geralt, and I’m honoured that he’s handing me the reins and allowing me to take up the White Wolf’s blades for the next chapter of his adventure.
“Henry, I’ve been a fan of yours for years and was inspired by what you brought to this beloved character.
“I may have some big boots to fill, but I’m truly excited to be stepping into The Witcher world.”alessandra Torresani originated the role of Arrested Development’s Ann Veal, George Michael’s girlfriend, in the first season of the sitcom.
Mae Whitman later ended up replacing her — and the Parenthood actress explained that the original plan for Ann was to keep recasting the character, to play off how unmemorable she was meant to be.
She said,“they were originally going to keep replacing the actress that played Ann, just so you were always on your toes.
“And then they stuck with me, which I feel is a real insult. They were like, ‘No, no, you’re making the whole not-memorable thing work, we’ll just go with that.’”
And the world of Westeros has seen many, many characters recast — from The Night King to The Mountain to Tommen Baratheon.
But one of the changes that
“Politics led to us Parting ways.’
caused the biggest stir happened between season three and four of Game Of Thrones — mainly because they looked absolutely nothing alike.
Ed Skrein made his debut as Daario Naharis, the mercenary who aligns with Daenerys, on the third season.
It was later confirmed he would be exiting the role, with Michiel Huisman playing the sellsword for the remainder of Daario’s time on the show.
There was speculation at the time that Ed’s departure was down to him wanting to concentrate on other projects, although he maintained that that wasn’t the case.
He said,“my plan was to stay with Game Of Thrones for the long haul. That was always my plan. I would h ave loved to.
“It was a wonderful experience, but politics led to us parting ways. And from there I just said, ‘Okay, look forward, be positive. Keep calm and carry on’.”
1991’s The Silence Of The Lambs was up for seven Oscar nominations — winning five: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
So it’s understandable that fans were keen to see Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster — who won Best Actor and Best Actress playing Hannibal Lecter and FBI agent Clarice Starling — back together for 2001’s Hannibal.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be — and by 1999, the role was recast with Julianne Moore taking over.
After Ruby Rose exited Batwoman at the end of the first series, Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder took on the mantle of the superhero — and Kate Kane’s disappearance was written into the show, rather than recasting Ruby’s role.
The series’ creator and showrunner Caroline Dries said at the time that the decision was made to“reboot the character in terms of reboot Batwoman as a different character, and also respect everything that Ruby put into the Kate Kane character”.
She added,“i just think it helps the audience a little bit too, that we are not asking them to not address the elephant in the room.”
But the reluctance to recast Kate Kane didn’t last too long, as Wallis Day joined the series towards the end of season two as Kate Kane.
Katie Holmes played Rachel Dawes, the childhood friend and love interest of Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne, in Batman Begins.
But for 2008’s The Dark Knight, the second instalment in the trilogy, the role was played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
The Dawson’s Creek actress later opened up about leaving the franchise and told how while she’s got no regrets about the decision, she hopes to work with director Christopher Nolan again.
She added,“it was a decision that I made at that time and it was right for me at that moment, so I don’t have any regrets. I think that Maggie did a wonderful job.”
Another nearly-impossible-to-miss recasting within the superhero universe saw Mark Ruffalo take on Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk.
Edward Norton originally played the role in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk — but by the time 2012’s Avengers rolled around, Mark was playing the iconic green superhero.
The Glass Onion actor opened up about the change in 2014, noting that while he “really enjoyed”working on the original film, he wanted to explore other options for his career.
He said,“my feeling was that I experimented and experienced what I wanted to. I really, really enjoyed it.
“And yet, I looked at the balance of time in life that one spends not only making those sorts of films but then especially putting them out, and the obligations that rightly come with that.”
Mark Ruffalo has appeared as Bruce Banner eight times on the big screen — and most recently reprised the role for the TV series She-hulk: Attorney At Law, which poked fun at the recasting of the character.
Before he starred in the action-packed Black Adam — and well before To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before — Noah Centineo took over the role of Jesus Adams Foster in The Fosters.
Jake T. Austin previously played the role. However, following the second season, Jake told his fans he was going to be leaving the show and that his role would be recast.
He later said the decision was due to his role being reduced — and that he“wasn’t going to be able to work on anything else, so I left”.
Noah ended up playing the role for the next few years, until the show came to an end in 2018.
Rachelle Lefevre played the villainous Victoria Sutherland for the first two movies in the Twilight franchise.
But by the time Eclipse hit screens in 2010, the character was played by Bryce Dallas Howard.
Rachelle later said she was “stunned”by the decision.
She added,“i am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience.
“This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate.
“I will be forever grateful to the fan support and loyalty I’ve received since being cast for this role.”
Tom Ellis played Robin Hood in an early season of Once Upon A Time — but his time as the archer of Sherwood Forest was shortlived.
Sean Maguire took up the mantle the following season, as Robin Hood was due to take on a bigger role and Tom was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.
Shailene Woodley originally played The O.C.’S Kaitlin Cooper, the younger sibling of Mischa Barton’s Marissa, for six episodes in the drama’s first season. The character was sent to boarding school — and while Kaitlin eventually landed back in The O.C. in season three, Shailene did not.
Willa Holland ended up taking over the role.
Creator Josh Schwartz later said of the swap,“we had an idea to send her away and then, a couple of years later, the plan was to bring her back.
“The version of Kaitlin Cooper that we were going to bring back to the show was a little bit older than Shailene would’ve been able to achieve on her own and was kind of a very different character, which Willa (Holland, who took over in Seasons 3 and 4) was great for.”
Riverdale’s Reggie Mantle looked very different when the series returned for its second season, as Charles Melton took over the role from Ross Butler. Ross, who also starred as Zach on 13 Reasons Why, later told how he had to make a decision as to whether he wanted to have smaller roles on both dramas or put all of his focus on one of the roles.
He said,“before season 2 was confirmed for (13 Reasons Why), I had to make the decision of whether I wanted to focus on one character or split two characters and have a smaller role on both shows.
“Reggie’s a great character, but it’s a different tone.
“I connected with
Zach on a much more real level where I didn’t have to create so much of a character for him.
“Reggie’s more outspoken, like that jock archetype.”
Ross later made a brief return as Reggie as part of Rivervale in season 6. ■