10+ Actors Who Were Fired While Making a Movie

Firing a movie star and finding a suitable replacement is one of the most stressful things that can happen in show business. An even bigger war of nerves is triggered by an actor who is fired in the middle of filming. Many times they have already shot all their scenes, the film is already being promoted, their name is already appearing in the trailer.

There are all sorts of reasons why this could happen. Maybe they didn't agree with the filmmakers, maybe their unprofessionalism interrupted the production of the film several times, or maybe they were replaced five times before the twelfth because their performance just wasn't good enough.

Let's take a look at some of the famous actors who got their foot in the middle of film production.

Al Pacino - Despicable Me 2

In Me, Bastard 2, Gru is on a mission when he confronts mysterious restaurant owner Eduardo Perez. After their first meeting, Gru suspects that Eduardo is actually El Macho, a legendary supervillain long believed to be dead.

Benjamin Bratt, who lent his voice to Eduardo, plays the role of a charismatic, larger-than-life sensationalist. He puts so much passion into every word that it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

Interestingly, Bratt was actually a last-minute replacement. Two months before the film was released, Eduardo was to be dubbed by Al Pacino. Although he recorded all of his lines, Pacino dropped the project with almost no warning. His departure was so late that the Oscar-winning actor's name continued to appear in trailers.

To this day, the official reason why Pacino left the production is still unknown, only an explanation was given "creative differences".

Gene Hackman – The Graduate (The Graduate)

The Bachelor , which revolves around Dustin Hoffman's character being seduced by his girlfriend's mother, helped turn Hoffman into a Hollywood superstar.

Interestingly, Hoffman almost got the chance to work with his former roommate, Gene Hackman. He was initially hired to portray Mr. Robinson, but was fired after a week of rehearsals as the director deemed him too young, even though he was a year older than the actress who portrayed Mrs. Robinson, Anne Bancroft. Hackman was replaced by someone seven years older Murray Hamilton.

In a strange way, it was the best thing that could have happened to Hackman. After he was fired, he landed a role in Bonnie & Clyde, which earned him an Oscar nomination and helped take his career to a whole new level.

Nicole Kidman - Panic Room

While working on Moulin Rouge, Nicole Kidman suffered a serious knee injury. Although she filmed several scenes for her next film, Panic Room, Kidman was unable to perform any of the physical acts, so she was replaced by Jodie Foster. However, you can still hear Kidman's voice on the answering machine today when Stephen's girlfriend leaves a message.

Since Kidman was replaced early in production, one would assume there was no major inconvenience. But since Foster was pregnant at the time, director David Fincher had to drastically change the shots and her wardrobe to hide her pregnant belly.

This was not the only complication. The scene was designed for Kidman, who is 180 cm tall. Because Jodie Foster is eight inches shorter, the lasers in the panic room were at her eye level, causing the actress to temporarily go blind every time she entered or left the room. Had Foster played from the start, many of these problems could have been avoided.

Colin Firth - Paddington (Paddington)

Dubbing characters in movies sounds pretty easy, right? You just show up at the studio and record your lines. For example, Paul Bettany recorded all his lines as JARVIS in the first Iron Man film in just two hours.

When Colin Firth was cast as the voice of the bear in Paddington, he took the role very seriously. Before recording a single line of dialogue, he met his co-stars and visited the sets, hoping it would help his performance. But it was all in vain.

After Firth recorded his lines as Paddington, and director and writer Paul King heard the voice coming from Paddington for the first time, he let out a whoop and scream. King believed that Firth sounded "overripe" and as "older man", which made him hire Ben Whishaw, who recorded all of the character's lines.

It was a bold decision, as Firth was fired just five months before Paddington hit theaters. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a good move, as Whishaw's performance as a jam-loving bear was praised and the film received general acclaim.

Stuart Townsend – Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings)

It is well known in the film industry that Stuart Townsend was supposed to play Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, but was fired as soon as production began. Townsend was said to be too young (he was 28 at the time) to play Aragorn, so he was replaced by a 42-year-old Viggo Mortensen.

However, there are conflicting details surrounding this story. Multiple sources state that the Dublin-born actor was fired after four days of filming, while Townsend himself claimed he was fired before filming even began. Others believe that his age wasn't a problem at all, but that he was removed because he was difficult to work with.

Townsend was furious, having trained and rehearsed for two months before being fired by the film's production without being paid. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the experience, Townsend stated: "I don't have any good feelings for those responsible for this film, I really don't."

Jean-Claude Van Damme - Predator

When Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast as the titular monster in Predator, he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to showcase his martial arts skills in a Hollywood film. It wasn't until he saw his costume that "Muscles from Brussels" realized he was actually playing a stuntman.

But matters do not end here. Although the filmmakers wanted the Predator to be an athletic and agile monster, Van Damme found the equipment too restrictive to perform any martial arts moves. It also didn't help that the costume Van Damme had to wear looked nothing like the final product - Arnold Schwarzenegger said it looked like a duck.

The official reason JCVD was cut from the production was that he was too small, but it's very possible that his attitude was what gave him the leg up. He was replaced by a 2.2 meter tall one Kevin Peter Hall in an over-the-top costume that created one of the most iconic monsters in cinematic history.

Janeane Garofalo - Shrek

SNL legend Chris Farley was the original voice of the title character in Shrek, but when the comedian died suddenly, the filmmakers replaced him with Mike Myers.

Many Shrek fans also don't know that Farley wasn't the only person replaced in the production. Janeane Garofalo, known for her work on The Larry Sanders Show and Secret Heroes, is set to play Shrek's love interest, Princess Fiona. Although she recorded her lines, the Emmy-nominated comedian was replaced by Cameron Diaz. To date, Garofaljeva has not received an explanation as to why she lost her job.

A possible explanation is that Myers requested that Fiona's character be fixed, so the filmmakers felt that Garofal's voice no longer suited the role. She herself thinks that she may have been abandoned because her voice sometimes "sounds like a man".

Julianne Moore - Will I Ever Be Forgiven? (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Will I ever be forgiven? tells the true story of famous biographer Lee Israel, who turns to crime after the collapse of her writing career. Julianne Moore was set to play the disgraced writer, but left the project due to creative differences.

At least that's what was originally reported. In reality, Moore ended the collaboration six days before filming and after an argument with director Nicole Holofcener. Moore wanted to wear a prosthetic nose and a "fat suit" to look as much like Israel as possible, but Holofcener refused, saying it would be distracting. This backfired on the entire production, which collapsed and a number of actors, including Chris O'Dowd, Sam Rockwell and Helen Bonham Carter, were removed.

The film got the green light a year later with a new director and Melissa McCarthy in the main role. And that was the best! Will I ever be forgiven? was a critically acclaimed film, receiving three Academy Award nominations, including one for McCarthy as Israel.

James Purefoy – V for Vendetta

In the V for Vendetta graphic novel, V is described as someone with a mesmerizing voice, amazing martial arts skills, and the agility of an Olympic athlete. When the star of The Matrix, Hugo Weaving, landed the role, it sounded like the perfect casting as he is known for his hypnotic voice and awesome fighting skills.

But James Purefoy was initially cast as the Guy Fawkes-inspired vigilante. A month into production, the British actor left the film, saying it was too difficult to act as a masked character.

As this caused a delay in production, director James McTeigue did not have the opportunity to reshoot the scenes shot by Purefoy. To save time, Weaving simply dubbed Purefoy's scenes in post-production. Since the director never officially confirmed which scenes Purefoy shot, fans have debated for years who played the masked anarchist in certain scenes.

Multiplayer - The Good Dinosaur

The 2015 film The Good Dinosaur had the most difficult production in Pixar history. Not only was the animated film's release date significantly delayed, the director and several key crew members were fired mid-production.

In addition to these problems, several players were also replaced. This is not the first time that an actor has been replaced in the middle of a Disney production. In Hercules, James Woods replaced John Lithgow as Hades. In Saving Little Nemo, Albert Brooks replaced William H. Macy as Marlin. In those cases, only one actor was fired, while The Good Dinosaur got rid of most of the main cast, including By Judy Greer, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris and John Lithgow (again).

These Hollywood stars were actually not at fault. When new director Peter Sohn joined the production, he restructured the story and removed many of the central characters. Although the main cast had already recorded most of their dialogue, their characters no longer existed in the final version of the film. The only one that wasn't replaced was Frances McDormand, who lent her voice to her mother.

Kevin Spacey - All the Money in the World

Kevin Spacey was the first choice for the role of industrial billionaire Getty. After he was accused of sexual abuse, he was replaced by the recently deceased Christopher Plummer.

It is surprising that the production team made this decision less than six weeks before the premiere of the film. Not only did the reshoots cost an additional $10 million, Plummer also reportedly learned all of his lines in two weeks and shot his scenes in eight days.

Although this sounds like a herculean task, Plummer already knew the script, as he auditioned for the role and made it to the "final". Despite his reluctance, Plummer managed to get an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Being 88 years old at the time, he became the oldest actor ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Although Spacey has already filmed all of his scenes, director Ridley Scott has stated that he has no plans to ever release the footage.

Eric Stoltz and JJ Cohen - Back to the Future

Any true Back to the Future fan probably knows that it is Michael J. Fox replaced Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly a few weeks into filming. But that decision led to another player swap that few people know about.

Although Fox was the first choice for Marty, he initially turned down the role as he was committed to the TV series Family Ties. That's how actor Eric Stoltz came into the game, but he was eventually fired, as his performance seemed too intense. After the production team rearranged the shooting schedule, Michael J. Fox was able to accept the role of Marty.

The hiring of Eric Stoltz also indirectly led to the replacement of the main villain, Biff Tannen. JJ Cohen was originally cast for him, but was replaced because he didn't look imposing enough standing next to Stoltz, who is 180 cm tall. This resulted in a new player, Thomas F. Wilson, and Cohen was cast as his lackey, Skinhead.

According to the film's screenwriter Bob Gale, Cohen would have played Biff in the final film if Michael J. Fox had been with them from the start, as he is only 163 cm tall.