- Famke Janssen, Deep Rising, 1997. Change of Trillian St James after another appearance by our old friend, Creative Differences – with director Stephen Sommers. Hw ghen looked over the Arquette sisters, Julie Benz, Selma Blair, Nicollette Sheridan, etc The jewel thief Trillian also stole her name – from a girl in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The movie stole everything else in a lame-brained pot-pourri of recent grisleys … Alien Resurrection, Anaconda, Hard Rain, Phantom, Toy Story. No, I’m joking about Toy Story. I think.
- Liv Tyler, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, 1999-2003.
- Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones’s Diary, 2000. At least she was British (but not lumpy/dumpy) unlike such diarist ideas as the Arquette sisters, Julie Benz, Selma Blair, Nicollette Sheridan, etc.
- Renée Zellweger, Chicago, 2001.
- Emily Mortimer,The 51st State, 2001. Also up for the female lead, Molly Parker, Dakota Phillips and variousunknowns.
- Cameron Diaz, Gangs of New York, 2002. Seen by director Martin Scorsese for Leonardo DiCaprio’sgirl, Jenny.
- Jennifer Connelly, A Brilliant Mind, 2001. If the choice of the right actor to portray the schizophrenic Noble Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr was vital, selecting his screen wife was even more so – hence an Oscar for Connelly and not for Russell Crowe. The other candidates included Julie Bowen, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Geena Davis, Kirsten Dunst, Portia De Rossi, Claire Forlani, Rachel Griffiths, Teri Hatcher, Famke Janssen, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine McCormack, Mary McCormick, Mia Maestro, Rhona Mitra, Julia Ormond, Amanda Peet, Christina Ricci, Meg Ryan, Chloe Sevigny, Alicia Silverstone, Mira Sorvino, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, Rachel Weisz. PS Emily Watson was rejected as “too British” – while Salma Hayek was seen because Alicia Nash came from El; Salvador… which must have meant the others were too American, Australian, South African, etc. Director Ron Howard seemed to forget they were all actresses. Odd that, as he used to be one.
- Jennifer Garner, Daredevil, 2002. “How did I become Action Girl?” asked Garner. Because 22 other girls were not punching their weight in TV’s Alias every week. They were Jessica Alba, Jolene Blalock, Neve Campbell, Penelope Cruz, Portia de Rossi, Eliza Dushku, Claire Forlani, Angie Harmon, Salma Hayek, Katie Holmes, Milla Jovovich, Nicole Kidman, Lucy Liu, Mia Maestro, Rhona Mitra, Bridget Moynahan, Natalie Portman, Kyra Sedgwick, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon. Plus the Norwegian ballet dancer Natassia Malthe, who became Typhoid in Garner’s 2004 Elektra spin-off. Garner reportedly KOed the blind hero, Ben Affleck, in one scene – he still married her three years later!
- Claire Danes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 2003. Who looks at gals when Arnold Schwarzenegger stomps around?
- Diane Kruger, Troy, 2004. Helen of Troy had the face that launched a thousand ships… and German director Wolfgang Petersen would have preferred not to have the character inhis movie. “No actress can match the expectations of the public.” He changed his mind on meeting Diane – who could do her own German dubbing, too!
- Brittany Daniel, Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders, 2004. The gods were on the Brit beauty’s side when she was passed over as Samantha Stone in the B-quickie shot in 15 days in 2004 -and shelved until 2006. Ugh!
- Selma Blair, Four Saints, 2011. Before shooting got underway in Calgary, three of the four saints (WW1 nurses in Flanders) were changed. That’s howthe British Forlani became the Canadian Dorothy Fielding.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 12