12 Actors Who Got Cast in Movies at the Very Last Minute

"I felt unprepared. The other actors had been there for weeks and months in some cases."

Casting directors don’t always get it right the first time around. Sometimes an actor is selected for a role and it doesn’t end up working out exactly how it was planned. Along the way, the studio may decide there’s been a mistake or an actor may realize that they’re not right for a role. When the film is suddenly missing a star, there’s a scramble to find someone new to take on the part. Thankfully, there are plenty of other actors ready to step in at the very last minute.

Find out why these actors got cast last minute…

1. Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer has become known for her role as Catwoman in Batman Returns but she almost didn’t land the role. At first, Annette Bening was set to star but when she discovered she was pregnant, the role had to be recast. At the last minute, Michelle landed the part. It was so late in the game that Michelle had to wear some of the costumes that had been made specifically for Annette.

“We were a little bit in a panic because we'd fitted the costumes and the mask and everything, and then Annette was pregnant,” producer Denise Di Novi shared in Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond .

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2. Michael J. Fox

Movie fans know Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly from Back To The Future but he was actually cast in the flick in the middle of filming. A majority of the movie had actually been shot with an actor named Eric Stolz before director Robert Zemeckis decided to replace him. Robert had reportedly always wanted Michael to star in the film but the studio forced him to cast Eric. When it was clear things weren’t working, Robert was given permission to officially cast Michael -- even though the reshoots cost the studio nearly $4 million in scrapped footage.

3. Viggo Mortensen

During the casting process for The Lord of the Rings , Peter Jackson gave the role of Aragorn to Stuart Townsend. But when filming started in New Zealand, Peter quickly realized that Stuart was too young for the part and had to change things up. He offered the role to V iggo Mortensen , who was convinced to take the role by his son. By the time Viggo had got to set, many of the other actors had already been there for weeks.

“I felt unprepared. The other actors had been there for weeks and months in some cases preparing for the arduous task of shooting the whole trilogy. I also felt awkward, because I'd never been in a position of replacing another actor,” he told Yahoo Entertainment .

He continued, “I understood from the filmmakers that Stuart Townsend -- who is a great actor, and was really perfect for the part -- was too young, because he was the same age as the actors playing the Hobbits. They just needed someone who was a little bit older. It was just a bad luck situation.”

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4. Mike Myers

Mike Myers ended up being the perfect choice for the voice of Shrek but the reason he landed the role is a sad story. The part had originally gone to Chris Farley but after his untimely death, the studio was left without a lead. Well into production, Mike was brought on to take over and lend his voice to the role.

“Originally, the Shrek character was a little bit more like Chris, like a humble, bumbling, innocent guy,” Chris’ brother Kevin Farley said in the documentary I Am Chris Farley . “I understand why [they replaced him]...The studio needed to do what they needed to do. It was a bad time, bad timing…a tragedy. Mike did a great job with Shrek . He knocked it out of the park.”

5. Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson wasn’t originally cast as the operating system in Her . In fact, an actress named Samantha Morton had already recorded all of the dialogue in the film when Scarlett was cast. Director Spike Jonze explained that he didn’t realize Samantha wasn’t the right fit until post-production, during which they gave the part to Scarlett.

“Samantha was with us on set and was amazing. It was only in post-production, when we started editing, that we realized that what the character/movie needed was different from what Samantha and I had created together. So we recast and since then Scarlett has taken over that role,” Spike shared with Vulture .

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6. Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola originally wasn’t supposed to appear in her father Francis Ford Coppola ’s film The Godfather: Part III . Winona Ryder had first landed the role of Michael Corleone’s daughter but she ended up dropping out. Sofia was recruited by her dad to take over the role at the last minute, despite some more well-known actresses being the more favorable picks. The choice wasn’t well received and the film didn’t get great reviews.

“Then they came after Sofia so much that it was just like the story: The bullets that killed the daughter were really meant for the father. I felt that I did this to her. Of course, Sofia went on to have a wonderful career of her own, but it must have hurt her terribly to be told, ‘You ruined your father’s picture,’ when in fact, she hadn’t -- in my opinion,” Francis later told Vulture .

7. Eddie Murphy

Before Eddie Murphy landed the role of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop , Sylvester Stallone actually had the role. Although he accepted the part, Sylvester wasn’t a huge fan of the script and asked to make some revisions. Sylvester switched things up so the character was “action-oriented, but he also had a wry sense of humor.” Unfortunately, the changes didn’t sit well with producers and Sylvester left the project. Production had to pause but 48 hours later, Eddie was cast in the role.

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8. Paul Dano

Paul Dano had already landed a part in There Will Be Blood and had started filming when he recast into a new role. Originally, an actor named Kel O’Neill was set to play the role of Eli Sunday but shortly after arriving on set, he realized the job wasn’t right for him. Kel ended up backing out of the film and Paul, who had originally been cast to play Eli’s brother, was promoted to the role of Eli.

9. Harrison Ford

It may be hard to imagine anyone other than Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones but he wasn’t originally the top choice for the part. Initially, Tom Selleck was offered the role but the team behind his show Magnum PI wouldn’t allow him to appear in the film. At the very last moment, Harrison Ford was brought on for the part.

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10. Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis may be a major part of Freaky Friday but she wasn’t cast in the film until the last minute. Originally, the role had gone to Annette Bening but right before shooting began, she dropped out. The team scrambled to find a replacement and as filming started, they reached out to Jamie. In the end, producer Andrew Gunn says Jamie was the right choice all along.

“Annette and I sort of talked a lot about the movie [three years later], and Annette was the first one to say, ‘Jamie was so much better in that movie than I would have been.’ Annette is the most amazing, classy woman, and it’s true. It would have been just a different movie,” he told The Hollywood Reporter .

11. Mark Wahlberg

When The Lovely Bones was first cast, Ryan Gosling was given the part of Jack Salmon. He went through the entire pre-production process but ultimately disagreed with Peter Jackson about the creative direction of his character. When he left the film, Mark Wahlberg was able to step in at the last second.

“We had a different idea of how the character should look. I really believed he should be 210 pounds...We didn’t talk very much during the pre-production process, which was the problem. It was a huge movie, and there’s so many things to deal with, and he couldn’t deal with the actors individually. I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong. Then I was fat and unemployed,” Ryan told THR .

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12. Ben Whishaw

In 2014, Colin Firth lent his voice to the animated film Paddington . Although he admits to struggling to find the right voice for the stuffed bear while working on the movie, he actually recorded the entire script. It wasn’t until he wrapped that he realized he wasn’t the right fit and walked away. After the entire movie was finished, Ben Whishaw was cast in the role.

“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,” Colin told Entertainment Weekly .

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