- Richard Gere, Internal Affairs, 1989. UK director Mike Figgis said Paramount wanted Mel or K Gibson or Kurt Russell (big hits in ’88’s Tequila Sunrise) as the badass cop-cum-hit man. “If we’d hired a movie star to play Peck,” noted producer Frank Mancuso Jr, “we might not have been able to so successfully explore the darkness of the character.” Some 19 other stars – Alec Baldwin, Tom Berenger, Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Don Johnson, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Keaton, Nick Nolte, Al Pacino, Christopher Reeve, Kurt Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta… and four outsiders Ailver, Richard Dean Anderson, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum – all passed Peck to Gere for a double whammy comeback with Pretty Woman. “I’ve never been away,” snapped Gere. Oh, but he had. Almost to Palookaville.
- Ed Harris, Glengarry Glen Ross, 1992. Every genuine actor jumps for a slice of a David Mamet piece.
- James Woods, Hercules, 1997. The directors had no idea who should voice Hades. “Why don’t you ask Jack?”suggested their Philoctetes, Danny Vito. Jack was keen. For his normal fee – between $10m and $15m. Disney offered… $500,000. Hence talks began with David Bowie, James Coburn, Willem Dafoe, Phil Hartman, Michael Ironside, Michael Keaton, Martin Landau, Broadway’s Terrence Mann, Ron Silver, Kevin Spacey, and Rod Steiger. Then, John Lithgow got the gig and recorded it all. Next thing he knew, Jimmy Woods was adlibbing Hades to glory with Robin Williams/Aladdin bravura. And made it a growth industry with the TV series and various video games.
Birth year: 1946Death year: 2008Other name: Casting Calls: 3