- Laurence Fishburne, Mystic River, 2002. Schedules got in the way of playing Boston homicide cop Whitey Powers. Director Clint Eastwood only had himself to blame. He had, after all, made Whitaker a star as Bird in 1987 and from then on, Whitaker’s diary was jammed.
- Josh Holloway, Lost, TV, 2004-2010. He beat Matthew Fox to the role of James “Sawyer” Ford. Then,Whitaker quit in to his fourth movie, First Daughter, 2004. and Fox was promoted to Dr Jack Shepard – originally due only in the pilot.Fox and Whitaker later co-starred in Vantage Point, 2008.
- Terrence Howard, Crash, 2005. For the role ofa black TV director told that his black characters are not black enough – in Paul Haggis racism treatise that won the Best Film Oscar.
- Jeffrey Wright, Lady in the Water, 2005. A change of Mr Dury… of whom it was said: “Wow! He’s hearing the voice of god from a crossword puzzle!” It was an M Night Shyamalan film that began as a bedtime story for his two daughters. Shoulda stayed there.
- Richard T Jones, Vantage Point, 2007. Having read for Holden in the suspenser about a plot to kill the US President, Whitaker was made the innocent tourist with a vital camcorder, Lewis – originally a Russian called Lewicki! William Hurt was POTUS.
- Josef Cannon, Frenchy, Hong Kong-Thailand-US, 2008. Neither the pitch (ex-mercenary haunted by his past ) nor the film, the second from producer-auteur-star Jean-Claude Van Damme (then called The Eagle Path) seduced buyers at the 2010 Cannes festival. Two years later, it failed again to win a distributor as Soldiers idem in 2014 as Full Love. Last I heard in 2021, it was finally made over as Frenchy (JCVD’s hero role). He had considered pals Nick Nolte and Forest Whitakers for roles in a cast including his daughter, Bianca Bree, and son, Kristopher Van Varenberg (also billed as co-producer). Neither one has made another film since 2008.
- Terry Crews, The Expendables, 2009. A production delay forced Whitaker to step away from substituting Wesley Snipesin auteur Sylvester Stallone’s Dirty Dozen/Inglorious Basterds type movie. Enter:ex-San Diego Charger Terry Crews- the fourth black choice for Hale Caesar (owch!).
- Jeffrey Wright, A Single Shot, 2012. Only Sam Rockwell shone in this misjudged backwoods thriller. Director David M Rosenthal said he was inspired by Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Terrence Malick. Inmaking sure the camera was turned on, perhaps – nothing else.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 8