- Shevonne Durkin, Leprechaun 2, 1993. Richards was close but Durkin was closer to playing Bridget in the first of the five insane sequels to the adventures of the titular Warwick Davis. Willow, it ain’t. Well, there was never a Willow in Space or Willow Back 2 the Hood…
- Mariah O’Brien, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, 1994. The producers crossed her off their Beth list for the sixth chapter of the franchise since 1977. Denise was among the many turning turned down as a red swimsuited lifeguard babe on Baywatch, TV, 1989-2001.
- Elizabeth Berkley, Showgirls, 1994.
Writer Joe Eszterhas interviewed 50-plus exotic dancers and, aided by Hawaiian weed, came up with All About Eve in Vegas. And Pamela Anderson, Angelina Jolie, Denise Richards, Charlize Theron and the inevitable unknown, Vanessa Marcil (too shy for nudity) fled his sexy heroine, Nomi Malone. Jenny McCarthy was favourite, except she couldn’t dance. Producer Charles Evans then found Elizabeth Berkley, from Saved by the Bell. In one of its 2018 It Happened in Hollywood podcasts, Hollywood Reporter took unseemly delight in reporting she agreed to audition in his New York hotel room – even adding that “after being blown away by her performance,” he convinced Paul Verhoeven to give her a shot. Unable to land his dream mix of Madonna and Drew Barrymore as the 90s Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, the Dutch director decided to create his own star. He failed – and ruined Berkley’s career. “If somebody has to be blamed, it should be me because I asked Elizabeth to be abrupt in that way because her character had a history of drug abuse, so I tried to express that through her abruptness.” So Richards won Verhoven’s next flop, Starship Troopers, 1997, and not Berkley. She never made another A-List film since Woody Allen’s The Curse of the Jade Scorpion in 2001, yet survived on TV: CSI: Miami, Law & Order, The L Word. - Liv Tyler, Armageddon, 1997. On the list for Ben Affleck’s lover (to her father, Bruce Willis’ horror). But the real story had Willis’ deep-core driller squad (Affleck included) sent into space by NASA to stop a Texas-sized astronaut hitting Earth where it hurts. Like, everywhere.
- Kelly Rutherford, Scream 3, 2000. Lost Christine to a Vegas-born Vegas dancer who said (of course, she did): “You can take the girl out of Vegas, but you can’t take Vegas out of the girl.” Also in the mix were: Richards, Charisma Carpenter, Jennifer Connelly, Shannen Doherty, Kate Hudson, Alyssa Milano, Keri Russell, Rachel True, Liv Tyler and Kate Winslet
- Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, 2000. For the girls, Lara Croft is their James Bond. Well, more of a sexy Indiana Jones. And 22 hopefuls wanted to bringther sassy, video-game adventurer to life. Demi More was, perhaps, the most keen, but who was simply disregarded. Christina Applegate, Drew Barrymore, Victoria Beckham, Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Eggert, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Hudson, Elizabeth Hurley, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lopez, Gwneth Paltrow, Anna Nicole Smith (a joke, surely), Catherine Zeta-Jones were considered. Fairuza Balk, Natalie Cassidy, Kirsten Dunst and Milla Jovovich auditioned while Denise Richards, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman and Liv Tyler simply refused. And Lara’s guy (who fled the sequel) was Daniel Craig – complete with a Walther PPK pistol that he would use again as 007 in Casino Royale, 2005.
- Jessica Alba, Fantastic Four, 2004. Up for Susan Storm, aka Invisible Woman. Elizabeth Banks, Kate Bosworth, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel McAdams, Meg Ryan, Julia Stiles, KaDee Strickland, Renee Zellweger were also lucky to lose this mess – second of four flop versions of the comic. One day, Marvel will doubtless regain all rights and fit the Four into its triumphant Cinematic Universe.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 7