Six Actors Who Got Fired & Replaced in Popular Movies

Six Actors Who Got Fired & Replaced in Popular Movies

I didn't know: Harvey Keitel was replaced by Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now; Eric Stoltz was replaced by Michael J Fox in Back to the Future.

Stoltz worked on the film for five weeks, so there is still some footage of him in the role, as shown in the video here. There is no extant footage of Keitel, who lasted only a few days, but there is a still of him in costume.

Others who might have made the list:

1. Anne Hathaway was replaced by Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up.

2. Hugh Jackman was actually the third choice to play Wolverine. The previous two were not actually fired. Russell Crowe wanted too much money and Dougray Scott couldn't commit to any sequels.

3. In one of the oddest examples, Christian Bale was actually fired from American Psycho, but they decided to re-hire him when DiCaprio changed his mind about the role and Ewan McGregor proved to be a bust.

4. According to one site, the legend of Beverly Hills Cop goes like this: "The role of Axel Foley was originally offered to Mickey Rourke. He left when his contract expired due to problems in production. The role was then offered and accepted by Sylvester Stallone. Stallone wanted a harder-edged film, and the producers did not, leading them to let him go 2 weeks before filming. Eddie Murphy was eventually hired, and the role was rewritten to accommodate him."