Heather Locklear

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

 

  1. Jodie Foster, Taxi Driver, 1975.
  2. Amy Steel, The Powers of Matthew Star, TV, 1982-1983.     She auditioned with a young guy testing as the super-powered alien prince of the planet Quadris… Tom Cruise.  Neither one won.
  3. Jennifer Beals, Flashdance, 1982.   The “nation-wide search“ (of LA…!!) came down to  20 possibilities for flashprancer for flashprancer Alex Owens.  Locklear, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bo Derek,Janice Dickinson, Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Grey (yet she won Dirty Dancing), Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Mariel Hemingway, Helen Hunt (hated the script), Jennifer Jason Leigh, Andie MacDowell, Kathy Najimy, Tatum O’Neal, Michelle Pfeiffer,  Kyra Sedgwick, Sharon Stone  and Debra Winger, Pix of the final three – Beals, Demi Moore and Leslie Wing – were shown to the studio’s  construction guys by Paramount suits asking: “Which of these women do you most wanna fuck?”   Dissolve. 
  4. Elizabeth McGovern, Once Upon a Time in America, 1982.   Italian maestro Sergio Leoneclaimed he interviewed “over 3,000 actors,” taping 500 auditions for the 110 speaking roles in his New York gangster epic.  He certainly saw 33 girls for nymphet Deborah Gelly: Rosanna Arquette, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Beals, Linda Blair, Glenn Close, Jamie Lee Curtis, Geena Davis, Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton, Daryl Hannah, Goldie Hawn, Mariel Hemingway, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Heather Locklear, Kristy McNIchol, Liza Minnelli, Tatum O’Neal, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Cybill Shepherd, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Kathleen Turner, Sigourney Weaver, Debra Winger. Plus Brooke Shields as the younger version. Deborah was 15 in the first script; McGovern was 20.
  5. Linda Hamilton, The Terminator, 1983.       In all, 55 actresses were considered, seen or tested for Sarah Connor (aged 18; Linda was 27) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. Auteur James Cameron created Sarah for Bridget Fonda. She passed; so did Tatum O’Neal. He decided to go older… and Glenn Close won – her schedule didn’t agree. OK, Kate Capshaw! No, she was tied to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – and Kathleen Turner was Romancing The Stone. Debra Winger won her audition, said yes… then no.   The other 48 ladies were The ’80s Group: Locklear, Rosanna Arquette, Kim Basinger, Christy Brinkley, Colleen Camp, Jamie Lee Curtis, Geena Davis, Judy Davis, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Jodie Foster, Teri Garr, Jennifer Grey, Melanie Griffith, Darryl Hannah, Barbara Hershey, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Diane Keaton, Margot Kidder, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kay Lenz, Lori Loughlin, Kelly McGillis, Kristy McNichol, Michelle Pfeiffer, Deborah Raffin, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Ally Sheedy, Cybill Shepherd, Brooke Shields, Sissy Spacek, Sharon Stone, Lea Thompson, Sigourney Weaver… one aerobics queen, Bess Motta (she became Sarah’s room-mate, Ginger Ventura), two singers (Madonna, Liza Minnelli), two Brits (Miranda Richardson, Jane Seymour), five essentially funny girls, Goldie Hawn, Rhea Perlman (Mrs Danny De Vito), Gilda Radner, Mary Tyler Moore…plus the new MTM, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, then from Saturday Night Live. Most were in contention again a few years later for Fatal Attraction (won by Close) and The Accused (going to Foster and McGillis). Ten years later (after T2), Linda gave birth to Cameron’s daughter and Josephine’s parents wed in 1997… for two years.
  6. Anjelica Huston, Prizzi’s Honor, 1984.      “So let’s do it. Right here. On the Oriental. With all the lights on.” Maerose Prizzi knew what she wanted, where and when from her Family’s hit man, Jack Nicholson – the unlikeliest Mafioso since the Corleones’ James Caan. Before realising his daughter was Oscar-winning perfection, director John Huston looked at some 19 potential Maeroses. From the sublime Rosanna Arquette, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Liza Minnelli, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer (been there, done that and got the Married To The Mob and Scarface t-shirts), Debra Winger… to the ridiculous: Geena Davis, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Emma Thompson, Sela Ward, Debra Winger… and the damn stupid: Locklear, Linda Blair, Carrie Fisher, Kelly Lebrock, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ally Sheedy
  7. Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction, 1987.
  8. Candice Bergen, Murphy Brown, TV, 1988-1998.    CBS wanted Heather as Murphy – would Ladies Home Journal lie?   Bergen came back for a second take during  2016-2018.   She once admitted ty a date with Donald Trump, when they were younger and he was a “handsome douchebag.”
  9. Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman, 1989.
  10. Nicole Kidman, Days of Thunder, 1989.    Dr Claire Lewicki was aimed at all the usual misses. Locklear, Kim Basinger, Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster, Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Molly Ringwald, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Ally Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Sharon Stone, Robin Wright. And a newcomer to such rosters: the Irish Alison Doody. They all passed what was a formulaic Tom Cruise movie – ie, all about Cruise as a cocky young talent, with an older mentor, older (even taller) woman, and surpassing his enemies… literally, in this chapter, as a Daytona NASCAR driver. He chose Kidman, after seeing Dead Calm, and promptly married her. And she learned about superstar formulas. When she asked fer time to study neurosurgery for her surgeon’s role, she was told, basically, not to be so silly.

  11. Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct, 1991.
  12. Carrie Fisher, Scream 3, 1999.    More Ghostface murders begin during the shooting of Stab 3… the horror flick inside the horror flick. With an increased budget of $40m ($25m more than the first Scream), the production could afford to go after a few names for Bianca Burnette. And not just the routine telly-kids  from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Dawson’s Creek.  However, targets, like  Locklear and Jamie Lee Curtis, suddenly went deaf .
  13. Tiffani Thiessen, Fastlane, 2002-2003.   The role of police lieutenant Wilhelmina “Billie” Chambers – in charge of a pair of brash and bitter cops – was first offered to Heather.She missed nothing; the series was cancelled after 22 episodes for being too pricey at$2.6m a pop.
  14. Tiffani Thiessen, Good Morning, Miami, TV, 2003-2004.   Tiffani wins again… Heather spurned the offer of Victoria Hill, for being too close to her Caitlin in Spin City, TV, 1996-2002.   What made this show different from other TV shows about TV shows (Mary Tyler Moore, Murphy Brown)? The weather girl was a nun!
  15. Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives, TV, 2004-2008.   On creator Marc Cherry’s wish list for Susan Mayer. The show wasrefused by all networks as a kind of junior Golden Girls (Marc Cherry created both series), until winning ABC favour as a comedy-drama on the dark side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  15