- Matt Smith, Doctor Who, TV, 2010. Harry Potter as the 11th Doctor? Aunty BBC thought again after realising he’d collected $14m for just one of his Potter outings. (By 2013, it was estimated he was Britain’s richest young celeb = worth 56.18m pounds sterling!
- Andrew Garfield, The Amazing Spider-Man, 2010.
- Eddie Redmayne, Birdsong, TV, 2011. It took the one-time 007 book writer Sebastian Faulks more than a decade to get his WW1 novel into cinemas. In 2006, he reported: “All the original actors are now too old – Ralph Fiennes and before him Daniel Day-Lewis. More recently they were talking about Orlando Bloom… By the time it gets made, the star of Harry Potter could end up being old enough for it – is he a good actor?” Hollywood even insisted upon Jake Gyllenhaal for the UK hero. Finally, Working Title TV made it with BBC and NBC as a mini-series with the Old Etonian of the hour – from Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Pillars of the Earth, My Week With Marilyn. His French lover was played by Radcliffe’s Potter kisser, Clémence Poésy.Radcliffe, meantime, had become the UK’s richest “young celebrity – worth £56.18m, in front of Robert Pattinson, £44.16m.
- Martin Freeman, The Hobbit trilogy, 2011.
- Ezra Miller, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 2014.
- James McAvoy, It Chapter Two, 2018. At one time The Penguin, The Rock, Peter Quill, Harry Potter, Deadpool, The Green Hornet and Doctor Who were suggested for the adult Bill Denbrough – ie, Danny De Vito, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Pratt, Daniel Radcliffe, Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogan, David Tennant. Also in the mix: Zac Efron, Will Ferrell, Sean Hayes, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Rogan and such off-the-wall outsiders as UK comics Russell Brand, James Corden, Eddie Izzard and Matt Lucas! McAvoy was the real McCoy – and one of the biggest Stephen King fans around. Bill Skarsgård had more fun as Pennywise this time. No literal nightmares about fighting the clown, no kid actors scared by him in scenes, his five-hour make-up cut by half and less dialogue… in the 262nd of King’s staggering 313 screen credits. (King Kameo: Pawnbroker).
- Ezra Miller, The Flash, 2019. (Released in 2023). After their Gotham triumph, the Batman boys, Jon Peters and Peter Guber, planned the first Flash movie as long ago as 1991. Much later, Ryan Reynolds was up for what would have been the first of his three superheroes (counting Captain Excellent in Paperman). Next? Chris Pine in 2016. They never happened. But 28 years later, Bradley Cooper, True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten, Scott Porter and Daniel Radcliffe, were in the mix. Plus the Lost star Matthew Fox… back in ’91 the choice was another Fox – Michael J Furthermore, the actual writer-creator (with artist Harry Lampart) of the three scarlet speedsters was yet another Fox – Gardner Fox, 1911-1986. (What? Oh no, the fourth Flash, Barry’s grandson, Bart, didn’t arrive until 2006).
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John Leguizamo, The Menu, 2022. Four years earlier, Dan had been set as f Movie Star, part of the bizarre once-in-a-lifetime dinner created by a vengeful top chef Ralph Fiennes giving the rich (and food critics!) what he feels they deserve. But when knife came to fork, this might have been just one weirdo movie too many for Dan’s career. Leguizamo took over, making the washed-up star into his own revenge on Steven Seagal after having suffered him during Executive Decision, 1995.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 6