This is not the case for famous actors, who have to deal with endless headlines and speculation every time they get fired from major roles, whether or not they even deserved to get canned. How many of these big-name stars did you know had been tossed off of major productions?
Edward Norton - The Hulk
Look at 2008, the first year of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and an interesting dichotomy emerges. Marvel not only released two different films, but two films with clearly different tones. One was the extremely charismatic and comedy-heavyIron Man,and the other was… well,notthat.The Incredible Hulkquickly became the one they wanted us to forget.
Having hiredEdward Nortonas both a star and an uncredited writer, the actor proved to be fairly combative when it came to getting credit for his work. If there’s one thing Marvel doesn’t want, it’s to give up any control. And so, Norton was replaced with a much more cooperativeMark Ruffalofor the rest of the series.
Natalie Portman - Romeo + Juliet
Dear, old people, do you remember that year whenBaz Luhrmannshoehorned a modern setting intoRomeo & Julietand then added a “+” into the title and everyone was super into it? To the point that it made almost $200millionworldwide? Why in the heck was that allowed to happen?
The film did at least help jump-start the careers of some young actors, one of which wasalmostNatalie Portman. The already-working actress was originally cast in the role of Juliet, but was ultimately decided to be too young-looking for the role. The studio executivesthought it was creepyforLeonardo DiCaprioto be kissing her – even comparing the love scenes to “molestation”.
Samantha Morton - Her
Acting is the only job where you can perform the entire task, get paid, and still be considered “fired”. This is thanks to the concept of reshoots, wherein an entire character can be removed from the film or replaced with a different actor. In the case ofSpike Jonze’sHer, it was actressSamantha Morton.
Turns out that the voice of the computerized romantic interest wasn’t originallyScarlett Johansson -Morton spent the entire production on set, providing the computer’s voice. It was only in post-production that Jonze decided to replace her – a decision later stated as purely creative and not based on Morton’s performance.
Megan Fox - Transformers
It’s generally accepted that publicly calling your boss “Hitler” is a bad idea 99.99% of the time. So it’s no surprise that evenMegan Foxunderstands exactly why she was fired fromTransformers: Dark of the Moon.
After calling directorMichael Baya “nightmare” who “wants to be like Hitler on his sets”, Fox refused to apologize for her remarks – eventually driving executive producerSteven Spielbergto push for her to be replaced withRosie Huntington-Whiteley.Unfortunately, this didn’t make theTransformersfranchise any better.
James Remar - Aliens
While not the most iconic role of the series, it’s hard to imagine theAlienfranchise withoutMichael Biehnplaying Corporal Hicks inAliens. And yet theTerminatoractor wasn’t even close to the first choice for the role, to the extent that thereare photosof the character being played by a totally different person.
That’s right -The WarriorsactorJames Remarwas originally cast as the heroic Hicks. Sadly, the choice to replace him wasn’t artistic, but rather the result of Remar getting busted for drug possession – something which the actor only recently divulged.
Marcus Chong - The Matrix
Despite neither the series' creators, theWachowskis,nor the studio putting out any official reason why the character of Tank was killed off betweenThe MatrixandThe Matrix Reloaded,actorMarcus Chong’s reaction to the news might give us some insight. In short, he didnottake it well, to the point of acting like a total maniac.
According to the actor himself, Chong went on to seek petty revenge by crashing press junkets, stealing food from the production offices, and even prank calling the Wachowskis themselves. The moral? Never protest your firing by proving just how much of an avoidable pain you truly are.
Ryan Gosling - The Lovely Bones
Being an actor is one of the only jobs you can legally be fired for because of how you look. It stands to reason then that an actor wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to change their entire appearance after taking on a role, right? You certainly wouldn’t want to gain 60 pounds without checking in with the director first.
Only this is exactly whatRyan Goslingdid when cast as Jack Salmon forPeter Jackson’sThe Lovely Bones. Using his own interpretation of a grieving father, the actor literally drank melted ice cream to bring his figure up to 210 pounds. The problem? He never approved this with Jackson, who ended up replacing him withMark Wahlberg.
Julianne Moore - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
It’s always nice to see an actor move past their own ego and loudly declare “I was super fired from this movie”. This is what happened whenJulianne Mooreappeared onWatch What Happens Liveand made this scenario absolutely clear when it came to her departure fromCan You Ever Forgive Me?
So why did it happen? According to her (ex) co-starRichard E. Grant, Moore wanted to play the part while wearing a prosthetic nose and fat suit. This was apparently enough for directorNicole Holofcenerto let her go – opting to take a different (and ultimately very smart) new direction for the character and castingMelissa McCarthy.
Kevin Spacey - House Of Cards
Ideally we can live in a society where predatory behavior isnevertolerated. Unfortunately we also have this thing called “rich and powerful people”. It’s no surprise that it took so long forKevin Spaceyto be cast off, even despite hisHouse of Cardscrew repeatedly reporting his previous harassment.
Netflix killed off Spacey’s character and completely disavowed the actor, and he was even completely recast in other films. But it’s hard to imagine that the news of his actions wasactually newsto the producers who spent years supporting his career. Better suspiciously late than never, we guess?
Charlie Sheen - Two and a Half Men
It’s definitely not a good sign when the people firing you accompany their decision with a 21-page pamphlet highlighting all the ways you desperately need to seek help – including ten pages of news sources highlighting your erratic behavior. This is, without exaggeration, what the producers ofTwo and a Half Mendid toCharlie Sheen.
Written by Warner Bros. Television counsel John Spiegel, the letter explained in great detail how Sheen refused to fully participate in any rehabilitation program, forcing the company to part ways. This was apparently after Warner Bros went so far encourage rehab that they even provided a private jet to take him there.
