10 Role Recasts That Would’ve Been Great With The Original Actor

Society in general has a tendency of getting fixated on the “What If’s” of life — roads not taken, words left unsaid and a countless variety of ways we would take things back are just a few examples that come to mind.

In Hollywood, that notion can be applied to the many occasions where a starring role was recast with an equally marketable leading star. Oftentimes it proves to be for the better, but there’s always an exception to the rule that, again, makes you just go, “What if…”

Oscar-winning actor Will Smith put many in that state of mind earlier this week when a simple Instagram post (seen below) had everyone thinking he would be starring in the upcoming fifth sequel to The Matrix. As lore goes, Smith was originally set to star as main protagonist Neo in the 1999 sci-fi smash before it was ultimately given to (and elevated the star status of) rising Canadian actor Keanu Reeves. Based on the recent multiverse trend being experimented with by many movie franchises, cinephiles everywhere were quite thrilled to see The Fresh Prince finally become The One as it was originally intended.

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RELATED: Not Starring – 15 Famous Movie Roles That Almost Went To A Different Actor

Of course, those hopes were momentarily crushed when it was confirmed by sources with knowledge of The Matrix 5 that Big Willie’s big post was just one big misunderstanding. More details below, via Entertainment Weekly:

“After sharing the video, speculation began about whether this could be the precursor to an announcement about Smith joining the cast of the fifth Matrix movie, which will be written, directed, and produced by Oscar nominee Drew Goddard (‘The Martian,’ ‘The Cabin in the Woods’). Lana Wachowski, who returned without sister Lilly to direct the most recent entry, 2021’s ‘The Matrix Resurrections,’ will executive produce the franchise’s next installment.

Those theories about Smith, however, are not true. The Hollywood Reporter’s film editor, Aaron Couch, was the first to confirm on social media. So, what could it be? Super Bowl commercial, perhaps? According to a Deadline report, the video is related to an unspecified music project. Smith’s reps have not responded to EW’s request for comment.”

While it’s still up in the air on whether we’ll see the I Am Legend star dodging bullets and doing gravity-defying backbends on the big screen, the conversation it sparked did get us thinking about many other infamously recast lead roles that we would’ve loved to see in its original form. With utmost respect to the stars who helped bring these from the cutting room floor to our screens in real life, we just couldn’t deny how great these 10 Hollywood roles would’ve been if things turned out differently.

Keep scrolling to see if you knew these actors from classic roles were even recast, and let us know if you agree or prefer things as is: