view some of these actor were nominated for or gain Oscars , I ’m gon na say preparing is overrated .
1.Director John Carpenter was unsure about castingKurt Russellas R.J. MacReady inThe Thingand only decided onhimthe day they flew out to film the movie. There’s actually a scene where MacReady flies a helicopter that’s not even Russell — it’s a pilot in the character’s costume because they didn’t have Russell on hand yet.
2.Dianna Agron wascasttheday before the pilot forGleebegan shooting. Producers were actually about to cut her character as they hadn’t found someone for the role — and her casting ended up vastly changing how they envisioned the character. Series creatorRyan Murphysaid Agron “ruined the part” for him because she “humanized” Quinn. “She can cry at the drop of a hat. So now her character has a conscience, a soul, and great vulnerability.”
3.Viggo Mortensenwas castafterproduction began forLord of the Rings. He replaced Stuart Townsend, who was deemed too young for the role andfired the day beforefilming began. “I felt unprepared,” Mortensenrevealed. “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.”
4.Stuart Townsend wasalso replacedinThorjust days before the start of filming.Josh Dallaswas cast in the role instead after “creative differences” (though there were rumors Townsend had been late for a screen test and was fired), and he only had a few days before he had to film.
5.Stanley Tucci similarly replaced another actor days before production began. After Ryan Gosling was cast inThe Lovely Bones, he started drinking melted ice cream and gained 60 pounds because he “really believed he should be 210 pounds.” However, he didn’t communicate this with director Peter Jackson, who “had a different idea of how the character should look.” When Gosling showed up on set to film, Jacksonfiredhim. Tucci was cast in the role instead.
6.Speaking of Tucci, heacceptedhis role inThe Devil Wears Pradaonly 72 hours before the start of shooting. “I was cast at the 11th hour,” TuccitoldEntertainment Weekly. “But it was just such a beautiful piece of writing, and there’s no way that you could ever say no to such a thing. … It touched you emotionally. It’s the perfect Hollywood movie.”
7.Over 40 womenauditionedto play Nurse Ratched inOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,and Louise Fletcher eventually nabbed the part — days before filming began. “It’s a miracle I survived the first day. I was so scared. It was only later that I realized that everybody was scared,” she said. Fletcherearnedan Oscar for her portrayal.
8.Michael Garza wascastas Ramón Morales inScary Stories to Tell in the Darkonly “a couple of days before filming” because writer/producer Guillermo del Toro and director Andre Ovredal couldn’t find someone they wanted for the role. “It was a last-minute audition, and I got it. It was crazy, a whirlwind of emotions,” Garza revealed.
9.A week beforePrison Breakbegan shooting, it didn’t have either of its leads. Wentworth Millerwas castonly a week before shooting.
10.And Dominic Purcellwasn’t officially castuntil three days prior to filming.
11.Similarly, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, who played two of the leading roles inJaws, werecastonly nine days before shooting began.
13.Sam Waterston was cast inGodlessat the last minute because the actor who was supposed to play Marshal John Cook got sick. He onlyhadfour days to prepare for the role.
14.Chris Sheffield wascastinThe Maze Runnerso late that the director Wes Ball and the producers for the film were already in Louisiana preparing the production. A few days later, Sheffield was heading to Louisiana, too, to shoot.
15.David Hayman was cast days beforeBullstarted shooting because the original actor had dropped out. “I had no time to think about it,” Haymanrevealed.“I love Paul Andrew Williams’s work. His movies and work are challenging. I love the cast. So it was a no-brainer for me to do it.”
16.Patrick Rennawasthe last actor cast inThe Sandlotafter another actor dropped out only two days before production started on location. Director David Mickey Evans called meeting Renna a “godsend” as he was perfect for the role.
17.Michael Biehn was cast inAliensweeks into filming, as James Remar had recently beenfiredafter getting arrested for drug possession. According toBiehn,Aliensproducer Gale Anne Hurd called him on a Friday and asked if he had a current passport — which, luckily, he did. By Monday, he was on set.
18.Ed Harris was cast to play Christof inThe Truman Showwhen principal photography wasalmost done, and shot for only 10 days. He replaced Dennis Hopper, who left the cast due to “creative differences.”
19.In a pretty unprecedented move, Christopher Plummer was cast inAll the Money in the WorldAFTER the film had been entirely shot. Replacing Kevin Spacey in the wake of his sexual assault allegations, Plummerreshotall of Spacey’s scenes in just nine days. He wasnominatedfor an Oscar for his work on the film.
20.Similarly, Tobey Maguirehad alreadyfilmed all of his scenes forLife of Piwhen the director decided to replace him because he was too famous, making his presence distracting. Rafe Spall was quickly cast in Maguire’s role, putting him in the rare position of being cast AFTER a movie was technically “complete,” though, of course, he had to reshoot all of Maguire’s scenes.
21.Ben Whishawwas castas the voice of the titular teddy bear inPaddingtonafter the film was shot. Colin Firth had initiallytaken onthe role but came to a mutual agreement with producers that his voice sounded too mature. “That was a bit scary because it was late in the process. We’d shot the film, but it was the right call,” recalled producer David Heyman. Firth’s exit was in June, and the film was set to come out in November. Luckily, since Whishaw was just providing a voice, they could still finish the movie for its November release.
22.Thesame happenedwith Scarlett Johansson inHer.Samantha Morton had originally been cast and worked on set throughout filming. While editing during post-production, director Spike Jonze “realized that what the character/movie needed was different from what Samantha and I had created together.” They recast Johansson in the role in the 11th hour, re-recording the character’s dialogue.
23.And finally, Hugh Jackman wasn’t cast in one of his most iconic roles until after production began. Dougray Scott was originally meant to play Wolverine in the firstX-Menfilm, but issues relating to Scott’s role inMission Impossible IIforced him to drop out just as they wereaboutto start shooting. Jackman — whohad firstauditioned for the role nine months earlier — took on the role at the 11th hour and was unprepared. In fact, Jackmansaidthat they had to push back the first scene he was meant to shoot, which was a shirtless scene, because he needed time to bulk up.
