With the rehabilitated curiosity – stemming from the footage that was recently released… albeit 25 years later! – in Eric Stoltz’s engagement as Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” pre-Michael J.Fox, and of course the big casting switcheroo on “The Hangover 2” (Mel Gibson swapped for Liam Neeson), thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the could-have-been’s of the celluloid struggle.
The following list includes roles that some passed on, movies that an actor or actress was forced to pull out of for one reason or another (ultimately having to be replaced), and some, like Stoltz, that were vetoed either just before – or at the start of – a particular film’s shoot.
43. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Tom Selleck as ‘Indiana Jones’
It was a done deal. TV star Tom Selleck would play adventure-seeking archaeologist Indiana Jones in a film by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Unfortunately the pilot of a TV series that Selleck had filmed (“Magnum P.I”) was picked up and Selleck was legally obligated to it. So the moustached-hunk was off to Hawaii, and “Raiders” was a hero short. Spielberg suggested that Lucas hire his “Star Wars” star Harrison Ford to play “Raiders”’ superman, but Lucas was dead against using actors he’d used before (always has been). Lucas eventually agreed that Ford was the best man for the job.
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