George Fernandez
The business of cinema is often busy selling dreams which are miles apart from reality. I could name an array of movies which deal with the adult life crisis, especially centering around a young man or woman who recently got fired from their comfortable job. We know getting fired from a job is not something to look up to but we still gather strength from people around us and moves on. How do the actors deal with getting fired? They certainly will get another job but is it as depressing as our case? Could it be solved by burning a few thousand dollars or bagging another stellar contract?. Studio house owners often clear the air about who is the most powerful in show business by firing actors and not even letting them complete their project. A script doesn’t go to shoot without the director properly convinced about the actor’s capability to flesh out the character, so why would actors get fired in the middle of the filming, while they are all suited up for their next scene in the set? Here is the list of actors who were fired from a movie set.
15. Lindsay Lohan
If you are promptly aware of the infamous superstar’s tryst with rehabilitation centres, her name in this list shouldn’t come as a surprise. Lindsay Lohan was fired from the set of the 2010 movie ‘The Other Side’, the director of the film David Micheals was scared to proceed with shooting due to concerns of financiers about funding a movie starring Lindsay Lohan. After all, the money involved in making a movie is huge!
14. Megan Fox
The sex symbol of Hollywood was fired from the Transformer franchise for her inappropriate comment on Director Michael Bay’s filmmaking style. Isn’t it terribly foolish of Megan Fox to think that a franchise as big as Transformers wouldn’t be able to find anyone to replace her? Well, she was sacked without any second thoughts and rightly roped in model Rosie Huntington, an almost strong contender to Megan Fox’s dazzling looks.
13. Eric Stoltz
The Cinema loving community was found quite puzzled when a ‘Back To The Future’ footage with Eric Stoltz was released. It was revealed that the actor was the first choice for the role of the teenager Marty Mcfly. Director Robert Zemeckis’s decision to replace Eric Stoltz wasn’t based on any personal prejudice as the director had already started shooting and continued for five weeks before finally finding it ‘difficult’ to work with the actor and replaced him with Micheal J Fox.
12. James Purefoy
The HBO series Rome fame James Purefoy was replaced for his role as V in the movie ‘V For Vendetta’ halfway through the shot. Unfortunately, the producers of the movie though James Purefoy isn’t “dynamic enough presence”. Even though James Purefoy was fired from the movie, some of his footage made into the final cut and he is spotted wearing a mask.
11. Ryan Gosling
The La La Land fame was fired from the 2009 film ‘The Lovely Bones’. Ryan Gosling was signed up to play the role of a Dad, even from the beginning he had his reservations about him playing the role of an elder man. The actor worked hard to get a makeover, even beefed up 25 Kg but it wasn’t enough for the producers and directors so they replaced him with Mark Wahlberg days before the shooting.
10. Stuart Townsend
The Irish actor’s removal from playing Aragorn in the ‘Lord of The Rings’ is a classic example of the frequent director-actor clash that occurs in Hollywood. Director Peter Jackson approached legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis for the role of Aragorn but was repeatedly turned down by the actor before it went to Stuart Townsend. The clashes erupted between the director and actor during the pre-production lead to firing Stuart Townsend and replacing him with Viggo Mortensen.
9. Judy Garland
The ‘Wizard of Oz’ fame met with a lot of distress in the later part of career and found solace in alcohol and drugs. Judy Garland playing Helen Lawson in the 1967 ‘Valley Of The Dolls’ would have been one of the best things happened in cinema. Judy Garland was considered the perfect fit for the role but her overindulgence in alcohol made it impossible for the director to shoot with her which ultimately lead to her ousting.
8. Anne Hathaway
The ‘Les Miserables’ star wasn’t comfortable with a graphic scene in the 2007 film ‘Knocked Out’. The scene is loaded with graphics but Anne Hathaway found the depiction of a childbirth scene disgusting. She raised her objection against this one particular scene to the producers but they weren’t ready to change it, so she quit herself or else they would have definitely fired her.
7. Richard Gere
Clashes can erupt between anyone and even between popular actors. Richard Gere was initially cast as Chico in the 1974 movie ‘The Lords of Flatbush’. According to Sylvester Stallone, who plays an important character in the film, Richard Gere and him never really hit it off and they would physically fight with each other on the sets. Sylvester Stallone demanded to fire Richard Gere and find a replacement, later that role was played by actor Perry King.
6. Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton’s firing happened during the post production stage of the film ‘Her’. The movie which is about a responsive operating system that befriends a divorced man and later falls in love with him had originally cast Samantha Morton as the voice of the operation system. Director Spike Jonze felt Samantha’s voice was not fitting in with his vision and replaced her with Scarlett Johansson.
5. Jean-Claude Van Damme
The self-made action here of Hollywood was signed up to play the role of the predator in the movie ‘Predator’. The actor got fed up being in a heavy suit all day and demanded to be treated as an actor instead of visual effects, the producers weren’t ready to abide by the norms of a then relatively fresh face Jean-Claude and subsequently fired him. After all, they just had to look for someone who fit inside that suit.
4. Edward Norton
The ‘Incredible Hulk’ actor had his difference with Marvel since the inception of the project. Marvel had agreed to give Edward Norton creative freedom to mould the Hulk as per his vision but when the filming started, a disagreement evolved between both and did not end that well. Edward Norton was fired from playing The Hulk in Marvel’s magnum opus ‘Avengers’ and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo to play the superhero.
3. Sylvester Stallone
The Italian stallion of Hollywood had an illustrious career and proved his brilliance by creating popular franchises such as Rocky and Rambo. Well, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ could have been another entry in his greatest movies list if he played along to the tunes of the director Martin Brest. Sylvester Stallone is reported to have struggled to play the comic sequences and wanted to rewrite the entire script, this eventually lead to him being fired and replaced by the talented Eddie Murphy. Quite a brilliant move, Martin Brest!
2. Terrence Howard
Iron Man fans were baffled to see Lieutenant Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, played by Terrence Howards in the prequel being replaced by Don Cheadle. Terrence Howard and Robert Downey Jr were great together. However, Terrence Howard was fired from ‘Iron Man 2’ over a difference in the remuneration. Marvel went on to say that the sequel would be successful irrespective of who plays Colonel Rhodes and wasn’t willing to pay the agreed amount to Terrence Howard, who was actually earning more than his co-star, Robert Downey Jr.
1. Christian Bale
The producers of the ‘American Psycho’ would have accepted anyone other than Christian Bale. Lionsgate was so keen to rope in Leonardo Di Caprio, the golden boy of Titanic to play the role of Patrick Bateman. It is hard to figure in what insane moment someone could imagine Di Caprio, a young boy with an innocent face would be fit to play a wall street executive. Christian Bale wouldn’t have given that thundering performance if it wasn’t for director Mary Harron’s conviction in his talent. Mary Harron started working on the script and signed Christian Bale in lead role and Jared Leto and William Dafoe in supporting roles. The project that had been stalled for years finally started to move forward. However, things took a turn when Lionsgate Films acquired worldwide distribution rights, the first thing they did after coming on board was to fire Christian Bale and asked Mary Harron to find a popular replacement. What followed next is history and Christian Bale nailed his performance as Patrick Bateman.
