- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Quick and the Dead, 1994. The Western’s star and co-producer, Sharon Stone was full of good ideas. Like Russell Crowe as the gunslinger turned preacher – and youngsters Arquette or Matt Damon for The (cocky) Kid. “Damn, I’m fast. Is it possible to improve on perfection?” Stone then switched to DiCaprio – and when the budget couldn’t afford him, she paid him, herself. For once, a cowpoke called Kid actually looked like a kid.
- John Livingston, Mr Wrong, 1995. Lost Walter; so did Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, Noah Wylie. They were lucky! “A dreadful movie,” blasted San Francisco critic Nick LaSalle. They were lucky again in April 2013 when their union blocked the auction of 54 test tapes, including theirs with Ellen DeGeneres. “Auditions are not public performances,” said the SAG-AFTRA. “Performers are entitled to expect them to remain private.”
- Skeet Ulrich, Scream, 1996. In the handsome-hero Billy Loomis loop with Ben Affleck, Matthew Lillard, Joaquin Phoenix (refused), Kevin Patrick Walls. Plus Michael Landes and Justin Whalin, who had both played Jimmy Olsen in Lois & Clark which – in case you were thick – was subtitled The New Adventures of Superman. Ulrich won because he resembled Johnny Depp, in director Wes Craven’s other quirky horror franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984. Arquette became Dewey, re-spun for him from hunky to clunky.
- Matthew Lillard, Scream, 1996. Arquette was also up for Stu Macher. Instead, Arquette won Deputy Dewey… and Courteney Cox, his wife during 1999-2013. Dewey, scripted as a hunk. was respun to match Arquette’s comedy abilities.
- Walton Goggins, The Shield, TV, 2002-2008. Seen by creator Shawn Ryan forone of Michael Chiklis’ corrupt Strike Force, Detective Shane Vendrell – an enormous breakthrough for Goggins, soon stealing Justified from pal Timothy Olyphant.
- Joseph Fiennes, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, 2002. In the DreamWorks voicing mix for Proteus were Fiennes, David Arquette, Paul Bettany, Keith Carradine, Jeff Goldblum and Robin Williams.
- Shane West, What We Do Is Secret, 2006. When first in development, Arquette was set for the biopic of Darby Crash, leader of the punk rock band, The Germs. When West took over, the group loved his singing so much, they went back on the road – with him as lead singer. The baby-faced Crash took his life on the same day that John Lennon was murdered.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 7