- Mark Harmon, The Presido, 1988. The usual old cop-young cop routine but set to a dull military beat in San Francisco’s Presidio Army Base. Due for Lee Marvin-Jeff Bridges, but Lee fell ill and died. Gene Hackman-Bridges were not as hot as Sean Connery-Don Johnson – except Don was hog-tied to Miami Vice. OK, Sean-Kevin Costner – he quit so no Untouchables reunion as the pair finally became Sean-Mark Harmon. Also up for the young upstart were 15 others: Alec Baldwin Michael Biehn, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Michael Keaton, Bill Pullman, Dennis Quaid, Kurt Russell, Sylvester Stallone, Patrick Swayze, Bruce Willis, even Europeans Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme None could have saved what Chicago critic Roger Ebert called “a clone, of a film assembled out of spare parts from… the cinematic junkyard.”
- Ed Harris, State of Grace, 1990. Pullman wasn’t working out for director Phil Joanou. He sent for Harris, recovering from his Abyss injuries – but exhilarated by the “talk” of the script.
- Bill Paxton, Boxing Helena, , 1992.
- Jason Alexander, Stranger Things, 1994. Bill found the redeeming brother role too close to Sleepless In Seattle and Malice. Although Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock team set out to protect Jason as a first-time director, they encouraged him to take over. “I gotta be there anyway, so just slap on the hairpiece and let’s go.” The character was not far removed from his George on Seinfeld – “low self-esteem but eventually gets the girl and saves the day, though he’s a bumbler and a schmuck.”
- William Hurt, Michael, 1996. Tabloider goes to work on John Travolta as an angel – a saint. A boozehound, in fact.
- Eric Roberts, Doctor Who (The Movie), TV, 1996.
- Lee Jones, Volcano, 1996. “Lava? Right here in L.A?” The hero of the disaster movie was first offered to Pullman and Ed Harris.
- Sam Neill, Event Horizon, 1996. The title warned us… In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect any observers. Exactly! Pullman and Scottt Glenn veteoed being Dr William Weir aboard the spaceship Lewis and Clark (!) on a rescue mission in director Paul WS Anderson’s The Shining in Space – studio slashed from 130 (violent) mjnutes to 96.
- Dylan Baker, Happiness, 1998. All singing from the same hymn sheet – “Compelling and interesting material but… I’m a father first and an actor second” – a dozen stars fled the therapist who was a pedophile in the bleakly controversial script by young New Jersey auteur Todd Solondz.
- Harry Hamlin, Harper’s Island, TV, 2009. Stephen King meets Agatha Christie…From a 15-minute pilot to the real series, thewhodunnit lostexecs and actors, including Bill’s Uncle Marty, surrogate fatherto the bridegroom – whose wedding guests are getting knocked off on a lonely island,Ten Little Indians style, week by week).
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 10