- Garrett Morris, The Stuff, 1984. Seen for the junk food mogul “Chocolate Chip” Charlie W. Hobbs in the latest dish of horror from auteur Larry Cohen about a mysterious new dessert sensation arriving from… out there… somewhere… Asked about working with Cohen, Morris famously replied: “I was taught growing up that if you don’t have something nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
- Eddie Murphy, Boomerang, 1993. Orginally developed for Murphy by writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, then re-written for his TV talk show pal and finally back to Murphy (this time with a “story by” credit). All that effort for all that zilch.
- Will Smith, Bad Boys, 1995. Or changed boys… The first script, then called Bulletproof Hearts, was written for Saturday Night Live stars, Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz. “Horrified” by the wild producer Don Simpson, Carvey withdrew. So, the duo was Eddie Murphy and Wesley Snipes when the rights moved from Disney to Columbia… which fancied a Will Smith actioner. Martin Lawrence became his co-star. They both had hit TV series – The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Martin – and had the necessary wit to improvise most of their good Bad roles. Arsenio later agreed that refusing the ’96 release was the worst mistake of his career. He was not alone. Hall said Laurence Fishburne also walked away.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 3