Javier Bardem

Posted on 6 November 2023by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

Colin Farrell, Minority Report, 2001. Steven Spielberg suddenly decided to shoot AI: Artificial Intelligence and therefore lost Matt Damon and saw Bardem, Dutch actor Yorick van Wageningen for Danny Witwer. But Farrell was hot! Minority was author Philip K Dick’s sequel to Total Recall– in 2011 Farrell starred in the re-make of the 1989 Arnold Schwarzenegger version. The reason Bardem passed was simple. “I didn’t want to just run around chasing Tom Cruise.”
Jsu Garcia, The Lost City, 2004. Directing his first movie, Andy Garcia needed the best Che Guevara he could… afford.
David Morrissey, Basic Instinct 2, 2005. “I let myself down,” said Morrissey. “When it came out… I didn’t want to leave the house.It was a very bruising experience.” Among the 14 namesrunning to Sharon Stone – or from her and the idea of playing her London shrink. Bardem, Benjamin Bratt, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Torro, Robert Downey Jr, Aaron Eckhart, Rupert Everett (!), Bruce Greenwood, Jude Law, Ewan McGrgeor,Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Perez, Kurt Russell. An obvious flop before one scene was shot in anger… As in: What can she do for an encore?
Don Cheadle, Reign Over Me, 2006. Scheduling stopped the Spanish star playing Alan Johnson, helping his old dental-school friend recover from losing his family on 9/11. The pal was Adam Sandler (trying drama again) recommended by Bardem… a fan (maybe the only one) of Sandler’s first drama failure, Punch-Drunk Love, 2001.
Carmen Maura, Tetro, 2008. Francis Coppola surprisingly replaced the latest Oscar-winner with another Pedro Almodovar favourite – veteran Spanish actress Carmen Maura! And he was delighted: “Interaction between the two characters Tetro and his mentor] would be far more intriguing if they were of the opposite sex.”
Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine, 2008. The new Oscar-winner from Spain was frankly too exhausted to make the musical version of Fellini 8 1/2 – so Rob (Chicago) Marshall sent for Daniel to be the director looking back on his women: Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren.
Edgar Ramirez, Killing Pablo, 2008. Swamped since his Oscar, Bardem had to quit director Joe Carnahan’s study of the feared Colombian drug king Pablo Escobar. His Venezuelan replacement was nearing Bardem heat in The Bourne Ultimatum and Steven Soderbergh’s Che movies.
James Brolin, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, 2009. Swamped witth offers after his Oscar, Bardem had to withdraw. Director Oliver Stone called back his George Bush star from W, 2008.
Jared Harris, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shows, 2010. In the mix to be Moriarty – like his wife, Penelope Cruz, for Sim. Except… they were pregnant! Also in the Moriarty mix: Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman, Sean Penn. Two years earlier, Pitt had been a rumoured Moriarty in the first Guy Ritchie take on Holmes.
Edgar Ramirez, Wrath of the Titans, 2011. Not keen on movie violence (wildly overblown in 3D), Bardem easily passed on Ares in the in the sequel to the re-make of the 1980 original – allowing a big break for Ramirez after his movie and TV series about the terrorist assassin, Carlos.
Ben Mendelsohn, Killing Them Softly, 2011. The title changed – although it perfectly summed up Coogan’s Trade. Likewise,the ex-con robber from Bardem to Sam Rockwell or Mark Ruffalo in the testosterone-packed film (really) noir. Changing George Higgins’ 1974 Boston-set thriller to New Orleans in 2008, made it more suitable for enforcer Brad Pitt’s line: “The United States is not a country. The United States is a business. Now gimme my money.”
Benjamin Bratt, Despicable Me 2, 2012. Due to voice the villain but left… to battle Daniel Craig in the excellent 50th anniversary James Bond film, Skyfall – #1 film in UK box-office history. At the time. (Al Pacino also quit voicing Eduardo/El Macho).
Hugh Jackman, Pan, 2015. At one time it was going to be the Spanish star as Blackbeard – and as the revisionist Captain Hook, ie Peter’s pal! Among Jackman’s co-stars was his daughter from Les Miserables, 2011, Amanda Seyfried.
Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year, 2014. Unhappy about the film’s final direction, Bardem split and his intended co-star Jessica Chastain quickly suggested Isaac, They had been classmates at classmates at New York’s celebrated Juillard. School. Other alumni include Viola Davis, Adam Driver, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Kelly McGillis, Christopher Reeve, Ving Rhames, Alan Tudyk and The West Wing’s Bradley Whitford.
Joel Edgherton, Exodus: Gods and Kings, 2013. Neither Bardem, or Jason Isaac were free to be King Ramses II. The film’s director Ridley Scott had worked with Bardem on The Counselor, 2012.
Idris Elba, The Dark Tower, 2017.
The 220th of King’s staggering 313 screen credits is the worst. Since Carrie in 1976, King’s filmed books come along in good/bad patches. Depending, not on the stories, usually supernatural, but how they’re made – film or series – and by who. . Frank Darabont, Rob Reiner made classics; Stanley Kubrick and King, himself, did not. As this tale is one of eight exhilarating books, it merits a series, not this middling mess (stuffed with King references) from director Nikolaj Arcel – a not so great Dane who by 2020 hasn’t helmed (or harmed) another movie. (Back when there were only seven books, JJ Abrams planned to film ‘em all). Christian Bale, Javier Bardem, Viggo Mortensen, plus the 2006 Casino Royale good and bad guys, Daniel Craig and Mads Mikkelsen, were up for Roland, The Gunslinger (“I do not kill with my gun, I kill with my heart”), trying to save the vital tower from Matthew McConaughey’s Man in Black (or is he really The Stand’s walkin’ dude, Randall Flagg?). When such strong (on-the-page) characters are upstaged by young Brit Tom Taylor, 14, as a typical King kid, you know something’s very wrong.

Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 16

WELCOME

to the films the stars did not make. The movies that never were. The most definitive collation of casting stories. Check up on all the films - of yesterday, today and tomorrow - that your favourite stars never made... A cast of thousands - 8,063 actors - to click on... More than 40 years in the making! And 2,777,633 words of spirited text.

The ultimate in movie trivia ... Better! Exactly the kind of history that Hollywood deserves. Back to front. Upside-down. Inside out. Full of flashbacks, close-ups, tracking shots (and, alas some badly edited sequences - sorry about that!) forming a fascinating, new and often bizarre flip-side perspective on your treasured movies and stars

HE SAID

“They’re doing stuff, but not with me. I’m not doing any more.” – Adam Driver on no more Kylo Ren/Ben Solo ... Or is it that there will be no more Star Wars?

“I’ve been acting for 42 years and then you make one cocktail…” – Stanley Tucci on his new fame as a TV food and cookery expert.

"The point is it's very hard work and you have to really want to do it. It has to be something that you're burning to say." – Martin Scorsese on directing at 80 and thinking “possibly only one more”.

“Whether you are a competent actor, or an artist, is incidental. The main business is: you’re product. I had a hard time steadying myself against that stuff.” – Robert Redford.

“I’ve never done the same thing twice and how many people can say that?” – Tom Hanks… forgetting his two successive Oscars.

“I was so excited when I got the script for Silent Night. There’s no dialogue in the entire movie! I thought this would be very good for me because it lets me use my gifts for telling a story visually. – John Woo on his Hollywood comeback at 77.

“I’ve gotta be nice about Marvel movies, because I named myself after a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage. What am I going to do, put Marvel movies down? Stan Lee is my surrealistic father.” – Nic Cage.

“The man who invented mornings was no Christian.” – Peter O’Toole.

“The moustache did the acting.” – Anthony Hopkins on Howards End.

“It’s very difficult to get 100 million people to watch anything,” – writer-director Joe Russo.

“I gave him a little part in Looper, where he got to be shot in the face by Bruce Willis. He was just so overjoyed… like a little kid.” – director Rian Johnson on his father.

“I'm not an actor - and I've got 64 films to prove it!” – Victor Mature.

“If you cast it right, you don’t have to tell the actors what to do.” – John Huston.

CCC CLIPS

>> Name Game. James Spader really started something with his Blacklist series. He played – remember? – Reddington. And now we have Austin Butler and, Emma Stone are in making Eddington… and newbie Glenn Powell is Huntingdon, his tenth gig since Top Gun: Maverick. Perhaps it’s time to re-issue Carrington… with, among others, Steven Waddington!

>> Christopher Nolan says “No, sadly no – no truth to those rumours.” About making the next Bond. So, no Cillian Murphy as Jimbo, then?

>> Rolling Stone. Those Poor Things, Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, are – naturally – in the next release of their Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s Emma’s third Yorgos collaboration. Most likely she’ll be in his next one, too, a re-make of the South Korean hit, Save the Green Planet. That was a comedy. But one can never categorise a Lanthimos experience. After all this one was first titled… And.

>> Taylor Swift’s guy, US football superstar Travis Kelce, is making moves on movies. To be as famous as Dwayne Johnson. Although people are now beginning to ask: Dwyane Whosis?

>>Brandon Routh was Superman back in the day. Today he’s in…Ick.

>> A star sure was born! Lady Gaga now getting $10million for Joker 2…

>> Sean Ono Lennon says Emma Stone should play his dad. Now there’s a thought. After all, Cate Blanchett played Bob Dylan…

>> Sly Stallone has come this far without bothering with serial killers but that’s what he’s chasing in The Epiphany. He plays a retiring cop - what else at 78?

>> Thirty years after the first, Neve Campbell returns in Scream 7. She refused #6 over a money row…

>> Beatles director Sam Mendes made Skyfall and Spectre and another actor who has played John Lennon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, might yet be the next 007…

>> Ryan Gosling tipped to be join the Marvelverse. (They need him more than he them). Henry Cavill may follow – so definitely no Bond then. Not after Argylle. If anyone witnessed that accident, could they call the appropriate authorities.

>> Will Smith comes back (or so he hopes) in an almost suicide squad blasting drug dealers in Sugar Bandits… while Colin Farrell settles for just Sugar – back to his usual smoothie looks after The Penguin…

>> White Lotus 3 resurrects Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Charlotte Le Bon, Scott Glenn and introduces Patrick Schwarzenegger. But which one is going to flash…something?

CHAMPION'S LEAGUE

The battle for the top spot between Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson has – I think – come to an end. Recently, we‘ve seen Marlon leading Jack by one or two movies – and then, almost immediately, vice-versa. The gap is much wider now between the former Mulholland Drive neighbours. Latest research dug up more titles for Jack - Mr Mom, A Christmas Story, Striptease, The Bicentennial Man, Expend4bles – so that he is now safe (?) at the top of league with 177 films he chose not to make compared to Brando’s 172. But you know - you never know…

(The full list of their huge lists of bypassed films are not on their pages for now - one of the hassles being tackled in our - yes, very slow! – restructuring).

Marlon Brando – 177
Jack Nicholson – 172
Paul Newman – 160
Cary Grant – 150
Robert De Niro – 140
Tom Cruise – 135
Dustin Hoffman – 126
Mel Gibson – 118
Sean Connery, Al Pacino – 117

Highest Brit remains, as always, Sir Sean at 117… followed by Laurence OIivier, 93; Richard Burton, 87; Peter O’Toole, 79; Elizabeth Taylor, 73; Peter Sellers, 72; Dirk Bogarde and James Mason, 68; Olivia De Havilland, 58; Vivien Leigh and Gary Oldman, 57.

Highest lady is Bette Davis, 97; Jodie Foster, 84; Michelle Pfeiffer, 81; Katharine Hepburn, 79; Julie Christie, 76; Meryl Streep, 75; Elizabeth Taylor, 73; Nicole Kidman, 72: Jane Fonda, 70; Julia Roberts, 68.

Younger Brigade: Johnny Depp 108; Leo, 75; Jim Carrey, 70; Madonna, 62; Natalie Portman, 57; Aishawarya Rai Bachchan, 40; Bridget Fonda, 36: Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Uma Thurman, 35; Jake Gyllenhall, 33: Ben Affleck, 31.

(You'll find the full list at Champions in the Main Menu)

A BOND MISS

Is Léa Seydoux now a spy…or, to be more polite, a talent scout for Eon Productions? 007’s girl in both Spectre and No Time to Die appears to assisting the (rather quiet) search for the next Jimbo. In La bête (The Beast), one of her many new French films, Léa co-stars with Hammersmith’s George MacKay - Sam Mendes’ find for 1917. He learned French for the film, so this may not be his last Paris booking.

As Gabrielle and Louis, they work extremely well together as star-crossed lovers in three time-lines: 1904, 1914 and 2044. And he looks the business in his retro tuxedo. ‘Twould be fascinating to cast an eye over her report for Barbara Broccoli’s eyes only. On verra as Léa (and now even George) would say. We’ll see.

SHE SAID

“You need your parents to set boundaries and hold you accountable and keep you away from, like, weird people.” – Scarlett Johansson on surviving as a child actor.

“I was so deeply in love with Bella, it terrified me not to live up to her as a character. I felt like I was failing her in the first week, and failing Yorgos [Lanthimos]. ). It was just difficult. I could talk to him about it, but I couldn’t talk to her about it. “ – Emma Stone on making Poor Things, leading to her second Oscar.

“Everything was so beautiful up on that screen. That make-believe world was much more pleasant than anything I was experiencing. I didn’t like reality. I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn’t look like the other women on the screen. My mother said, ‘you better learn to type,’ but I didn’t listen. Somehow, some way, thank you God, it all came true.” – Barbra Streisand, receiving lifetime achievement honour from the Screen Actors Guild.

“If I arrive at a moment in the history of cinema where I am legally obliged to have some kind of police on my set telling me what I’m allowed to do, I would rather stop filming sex scenes completely.” – French director Mia Hansen-Løve.

“I’m not one to sit around doin’ nothin’, I would never retire, I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song onstage, someday, hopefully one I’ve written.” – Dolly Parton.

“Playing it safe doesn’t necessarily get you anywhere. You have to take chances. especially if you’re a black woman. You have no choice.” – Halle Berry.

“The more famous an actress becomes, the less she's allowed to eat.” – Lana Turner.

“I don’t do T&A very well because I haven’t got much of either.” – Tea Leoni.

“I was an idiot in terms of career-building, but I had a great time.” – Sally Kellerman.

“As you get older, you realise your parents aren't these superheroes. They're actually people.” – Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

“Everybody thought I was crazy. And by the way, I thought I was crazy.” – Jennifer Lopez on spending $20m of her own money on making This Is Me … Now: A Love Story.

“It’s dangerous to repeat performances. It becomes the sole thing on your gravestone.” – Helen Mirren on playing The Queen in The Queen and on stage in The Audience.

“I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like: Is this the end of the road creatively?’” – Scarlett Johansson on surviving as a star.

WAIT & SEE...

This is such a busy year for movies that various releases have been postponed until 2025… Captain America: Brave New World, Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, Games of Thrones spin-off The Hedge Knight (not about a gardener), Ke Huy Quan’s actioner With Love, John Wick’s spin-off, Ballerina, Fast X :part 2, Avatar 3, Jurassic World 4, Black Mirror 7, Mission: Impossible 8, Fantastic Four, Superman and the dreaded Michael bio – more like horror film, surely. Oh and no The Batman 2 or Harry P TV series until 2026.