Adaptations of Stephen King’s stories have varied in quality, but a small change in the casting could have had a big impact on some of his films. Whether the movies are a hit or miss, they usually undergo a thorough casting process which sees numerous people audition for key roles. With the notoriety around Stephen King’s work, when a film adaptation is being made with his name attached, it often draws attention from well-known actors.
While some of these movies have gone on to earn critical acclaim and become hugely popular, there were interesting names tied to major characters that ultimately lost the roles to someone else. When Sissy Spacek landed the role of Carrie, several other people were contending for the part, including Melanie Griffith. Likewise, Jack Nicholson’s iconic performance in The Shining is infamous, but it could have been a very different film had Robert De Niro won the part.
10 Melanie Griffith As Carrie
Carrie (1976)
While Sissy Spacek was universally praised for her performance in Carrie, the movie could have easily starred another young actress who auditioned for the part, Melanie Griffith. Before Carrie, Griffith had appeared opposite Gene Hackman in the film Night Moves, but she didn’t rise to prominence until 1984, when she starred in Brian De Palma’s Body Double. Melanie Griffith proved herself to be a very capable young actress and continues to appear in films today, but had she landed the role of Carrie, it would have been an interesting change.
9 John Candy As Billy Halleck
Thinner (1996)
Stephen King’s Thinner follows a man who is cursed to rapidly lose weight, but once he sheds the extra pounds, the remaining weight has to come from somewhere. During a commentary track on the film, a producer revealed that King originally wanted comedy legend John Candy to star as the protagonist, but after reaching out, they never got a response. However, right around the time the film was being made, Candy’s health was in rapid decline, leading to his untimely demise in 1994. The film was released in 1996 but failed to generate many positive responses.
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8 Will Poulter As Pennywise
It (2017)
Initially, Cary Fukunaga was set to direct the 2017 adaptation of one of King’s most popular novels, It. Fukunaga had several potential options for the terrifying clown that haunts Derry, but he eventually settled on Will Poulter after seeing an outstanding audition for the part. Poulter was set to move forward with the project, but, when Fukunaga stepped down as director, Poulter also left the project and moved on to new roles in the following years. The performance of Bill Skarsgård was faultless, but it would have been interesting to see Poulter lean into the malevolent villain role.
7 Ben Mendelsohn As Pennywise
It (2017)
Even earlier in the creative process, Fukunaga had looked to slightly older actors to fill the part as Pennywise. Following on from the 1990 version starring Tim Curry, more refined actors who had proven their ability to play a convincing villain were being offered the part. Perhaps most notably, Ben Mendelsohn, whose popularity on the silver screen had grown in recent years, was offered the part but left for unknown reasons. Anyone tackling such a unique character would have had to deliver their own spin on the role, so seeing Mendelsohn’s take on Pennywise would have been a treat.
6 Robert De Niro As Jack Torrance
The Shining (1980)
Recently, Robert De Niro has enjoyed a long and illustrious career in Hollywood, but one of the earliest projects that could have been a great step up in his career eventually went to Jack Nicholson. Originally, Stanley Kubrick wanted to have De Niro as Jack Torrance in The Shining, but it was after seeing his performance in Taxi Driver that he decided to go with Nicholson. Taxi Driver is often cited as one of De Niro’s best films, but Kubrick had a very different vision for his movie. Despite this, casting De Niro would have made for another special adaptation.
5 Tom Hanks As Andy Dufresne
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Legendary actor Tom Hanks was already fast becoming a major name in Hollywood by the time The Shawshank Redemption was being made, and apparently, he was one of the top contenders for the leading role. Tim Robbins excelled as a highly intelligent man trapped in prison, but Hanks had to turn down the role due to his commitment to making Castaway. Both films went on to major success, but had the lead actors been switched, it would be interesting to see how differently the stories could have played out.
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4 Michael McKean As The Narrator
Stand By Me (1986)
Stand By Me is one of the most highly regarded films of the 80s and a departure from Stephen King’s typical stories to such an extent that many people are unaware of its source material in the novella by King. When the film was being made, director Rob Reiner was looking to cast the perfect person for the role of the narrator who frames the story and eventually settled on Richard Dreyfuss, but an early contender was Michael McKean, whom Reiner had worked with for This Is Spinal Tap. McKean would have brought something very different to the role.
3 Anjelica Huston As Annie Wilkes
Misery (1990)
It’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else in the role of Annie Wilkes in the film Misery, but Kathy Bates was not the first person to be offered the role. Bates was relatively unknown at the time of her casting, and ahead of her landing the role, another actress was offered the part but had a scheduling conflict. Anjelica Huston, who appeared as Morticia in The Addams Family, and the Grand High Witch in The Witches could have played the obsessed Wilkes. Both Bates and Huston are very different actors, and it could have resulted in a very different picture.
2 Al Pacino As Paul Sheldon
Misery (1990)
Compound that with the fact that Paul Sheldon, the famous author whom Wilkes imprisons, could have had a different actor as well, and the entire movie would have been unrecognizable. James Caan did a brilliant job as Sheldon, but the role was offered to a wide variety of actors before he was eventually chosen. One actor of note was Al Pacino, who was well-established by the time of Misery filming and could have offered a different interpretation of the trapped writer.
1 Russell Crowe As Roland Deschain
The Dark Tower (2017)
At one point, the 2017 version of The Dark Tower was set to be directed by Ron Howard, who had a clear vision for the fantasy epic adaptation. Howard’s top choice for the leading man, Roland Deschain, was Russell Crowe, who he had worked with on several projects before, but, with changes behind the scenes, the film ultimately had a very different creative team and Idris Elba landed the lead. The movie would have been very different had the original cast and crew continued, with Crowe as the star.
