Filmmaking is a tricky and complicated business. It requires no exceptions and everything is meant to be perfect in making a film. So, the producers and directors are bound to work with great inspection. Filmmakers collectively work hard to maintain an equilibrium throughout the course of the film. This sometimes leads them to discard anything that disturbs the smooth flow of the film. In extreme cases, even the main actors of the film are fired from the set, even if they are one of the biggest stars of Hollywood. Sometimes due to pretty bizarre reasons.
Here we present 14 famous actors who were fired from their films and the outrageous stories behind them!
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14. Claire Danes for Natalie Portman:
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Have you ever heard that an actress was replaced by another actress just because she looked like a child? Well, it happened with Natalie Portman, one of the finest actresses out there. Natalie Portman was supposed to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio for the movie, Romeo+Juliet.
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At that time of production, Natalie was 14-years-old while Leonardo DiCaprio was 21-years-old. After the filming started, the filmmakers noticed that the young skin complexion of Natalie Portman made her look like a little girl next to Leonardo DiCaprio. In the end, Natalie Portman was dropped from the cast and was replaced by Claire Danes, who was 16-years-old at that time.
13. Kevin Peter Hall for Jean-Claude Van Damme:
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No one has the guts to fire Jean-Claude Van Damme from the set! Here, things didn’t seem appealing to Mr. Van Damme himself, which resulted in his departure. For the film Predator, Van Damme was supposed to play the role of the predator in the film. The role required being locked up in a costume throughout the film, not uttering a single word.
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This turned him off. He hated the idea of spending hours in a costume where his face was supposed to be hidden all along. So he chose to drop the role. It came out to be a good news for the director because they didn’t really like how his predator looked like against Arnold Schwarzenegger. The role was then sent to a tall and slender looking man named Kevin Peter Hall, who looked just right for the role.
12. George Clooney for Robert Downey Jr.
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Who would have believed that Robert Downey Jr., better known for his role in the film Iron Man, had to be replaced because he wasn’t suitable for the role? Well, this did happen. For the award-winning film Gravity, Robert Downey Jr. was initially selected for a required role in the film.
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But after a few days of filming, the director, Alfonso Cuaron, couldn’t see Robert doing any justice with the required role. In his words, “Robert is incredibly talented, but the technological aspects of the movie presented a big obstacle to his style of acting”. He was then replaced by another incredible actor, George Clooney.
11. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Megan Fox:
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Megan Fox is undoubtedly one of the most nubile and prominent actresses in Hollywood. But surely not the kindest. For the movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Megan Fox almost went for a fist fight with the director Michael Bay. Not really but, things got a little obnoxious.
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For her role, Michael demanded Megan Fox to get a sun-tan and gain some weight for the role. This annoyed Megan so much that she literally related Michael Bay to Hitler and claimed that he’s one of the most terrible people to work with. This led to a quick dismissal of Megan from the cast and Rosie Huntington-Whitley was called in for the role.
10. Jodie Foster for Nicole Kidman:
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Jodie Foster faced a knee-injury earlier than the production of the film Panic Room, where she was supposed to play the main role.
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This led her to resign from the film due to the complications she faced. In the end, the role was given to Jodie Foster.
9. Mark Wahlberg for Ryan Gosling:
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Here we see two amazing actors swapping places for the film The Lovely Bones. Ryan Gosling wasn’t fired here, he had to resign few days before the shooting started. The reason behind that though is very strange. Ryan Gosling intentionally gained weight for the film.
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Ryan had his own idea of how his character should look like. Peter Jackson, the director of the film, got so displeased, he sent the actor packing, abandoning his role. He was replaced by another actor, Mark Wahlberg.
8. Scarlett Johansson for Samantha Morton:
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Think of a more weird dismissal than this one. Samantha Morton was originally enrolled as the cast member for the film Her. The tempting operating system in the film was expected to be simulated by Samantha Morton.
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But the filmmakers realized that Samantha’s voice wasn’t seductive enough. Her voice was not what the production team wanted. She was replaced by Scarlett Johansson who redubbed the computer.
7. Perry King for Richard Gere:
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Things got a little rough over here. A 22-year-old Richard Gere could’ve made his first movie debut by working in The Lords of Flatbush (1974), but he had other plans. Just a few days of shooting and the actor managed to make a few foes on the set.
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He got into fights and quarrels with most of the actors. The final show that Richard Gere created was way too far. He allegedly dropped a piece of greasy chicken on Sylvester Stallone’s pants on purpose. This outraged Sylvester and things almost led to a smackdown. Richard Gere was finally fired for his attitude and was replaced by Perry King.
6. Michael Biehn for James Remar:
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During the production of the film Aliens, the award-winning director James Cameron out of nowhere decided to drop James Remar from the cast. The reason given was “creative differences”. Michael Biehn got the role eventually.
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Years later though, the actual reason for the departure of James was leaked out. It was found out that James was comprehended for drug possessions, which ultimately led the director to fire him from the job.
5. Hugo Weaving for James Purefoy:
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During the production of the film V for Vendetta, James Purefoy spent six weeks on the set wearing the Guy Fawkes mask. The filmmakers quickly realized that his voice wasn’t menacing enough for the role. So he was dropped was then replaced by Hugo Weaving.
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The directors knew him for his work in the film Matrix. The filmmakers reshot all of the scenes that Purefoy originally had worked on with the new actor.
4. Katherine Heigl for Anne Hathaway:
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Heads up for a bizarre reason to quarrel with the director and ultimately getting fired from the job, here it comes! Anne Hathaway was offered the leading role in the film Knocked Up.
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Just after few days of filming, Anne Hathaway was grossed out from a required scene, childbirth. She disliked the idea so much that she started messing up with the production crew and ultimately lost her role in the film. After that, Katherine Heigl was selected for the role.
3. Cristopher Plummer for Kevin Spacey:
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Kevin Spacey faced multiple accusations a while ago. He was accused to be involved in a sex scandal. This led Netflix to fire him from the leading role of the TV series The House of Cards.
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The new film in which Kevin was supposed to star in, named “All the Money in the World”, was scheduled to be released on December 22. Now after all this occurrence, the director had to cut off all of his scenes in the film. With the new actor Christopher Plummer, the director is filming on new reels at a blazing fast pace.
2. Michael J. Fox for Eric Stoltz:
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This has to be the most fortunate replacement in the whole list! For the movie Back to the Future, Eric Stoltz played Mart McFly on the set for 6 weeks. It was later realized that his style of acting isn’t suitable for the role.
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The director, Robert Zemeckis said, “Stoltz’s performance lacked that special something to make the character really funny and memorable”. So he was replaced by Michael J. Fox. Steven Speilberg, the producer, absolutely loved the new choice. So, all of the scenes recorded with Stoltz were reshot with Michael. Thank god it happened.
1. Christian Bale comes back to his original role which was taken over by Leonardo DiCaprio:
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The level of indecisiveness in this one may be way too high. The producers of American Psycho initially singed Christian Bale for the leading role in the film. But they soon lost interest in him as their attention went to the famous Leonardo DiCaprio, who suddenly attracted the producers.
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So, Christain Bale along with the director Mary Harron was fired. The director supported the original placement of his. The fans, however, convinced the actor that the role of the film would totally destroy the romantic image he obtained from Titanic. In the end, both Christian Bale and Mary Harron were welcomed back to the set.