Take Two: Movies Where an Actor in a Major Role Was Replaced During Production
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Stuart Townsend as Strider/Aragorn)
Back To The Future (Eric Stoltz as Marty)
All the Money in the World (Kevin Spacey as John Paul Getty)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (Bela Lugosi)
Blazing Saddles (Gig Young as the Waco Kid)
Apocalypse Now (Harvey Keitel As Capt. Willard)
Martin Sheen was Coppola’s original choice , but was available. He started filming with Keitel but was unhappy with his performance, and replaced him with Sheen when he became available.
Take Two: Movies Where an Actor in a Major Role Was Replaced During Production
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Stuart Townsend as Strider/Aragorn)
Back To The Future (Eric Stoltz as Marty)
All the Money in the World (Kevin Spacey as John Paul Getty)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (Bela Lugosi)
Blazing Saddles (Gig Young as the Waco Kid)
Apocalypse Now (Harvey Keitel As Capt. Willard)
V for Vendetta (James Purefoy as V)
Panic Room (Jodie Foster as Meg)
Valley of the Dolls – Judy Garland was originally cast to play aging actress Helen Lawson; however, Garland’s own problems with substance abuse affected her on-set performance and behavior, which caused director Mark Robson to dismiss her and give the part to Susan Hayward instead.
Take Two: Movies Where an Actor in a Major Role Was Replaced During Production
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Stuart Townsend as Strider/Aragorn)
Back To The Future (Eric Stoltz as Marty)
All the Money in the World (Kevin Spacey as John Paul Getty)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (Bela Lugosi)
Blazing Saddles (Gig Young as the Waco Kid)
Apocalypse Now (Harvey Keitel As Capt. Willard)
V for Vendetta (James Purefoy as V)
Panic Room (Jodie Foster as Meg)
Valley of the Dolls – Judy Garland as Helen Lawson
Shrek (Chris Farley as Shrek)
Shrek is unusual in that there are apparently three performances of the lead character. Farley was cast as Shrek and had completed the majority of his voice work when he died. Mike Myers was brought in and re-recorded all of Shrek’s voice work. And then Myers had an inspiration; he felt Shrek should have a Scottish accent. So they recorded a third complete performance.