Top 10 Breakout Roles That Almost Weren't

Strange enough, for some actors' there most popular roles were never originally intended for them. And not only were they popular, but they basically MADE their careers.


10. Abe Sapien (Hellboy series)
Actor: Doug Jones
Originally cast: David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce did in fact voice the character in the first Hellboy. He was brought in to add a bigger name to the cast list, but Pierce denied credit citing Doug Jones as the real talent behind Abe even basing his voice patterns on Jones' real voice. Jones got a chance to voice Abe in both Hellboy 2 and DVD cartoons. He is now Guillerme Del Toro's go to monster man.


9. Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)
Actor: Christian Bale
Originally cast: Leonardo DiCaprio
Bale almost definitely got his job as Batman because of this movie. Bateman! Batman! Coincidence? In American Psycho, Bale plays a yuppie rich dude who during the day acts like your average playboy, but at night has a terrible dark persona. It is almost interchangeable except Bateman is a hero, and Bateman is a blood thirsty serial killer.


8. Vivian Ward (Pretty Woman)
Actor: Julia Roberts
Originally cast: Molly Ringwald, as well as everyone else at that time
Julia shot to fame, Molly went into obscurity.


7. Randy "The Ram" Robinson (The Wrestler)
Actor: Mickey Rourke
Originally cast: Nicholas Cage
Cage as a wrestler is just laughable. Instead we got the ultimate comeback role with Rourke welcomed with open arms (where were you before Hollywood douchebags) and has upcoming projects lined up around the corner.


6. Aragorn (Lord of the Ring series)
Actor: Viggo Mortensen
Originally cast: Stuart Townshend
Both are pretty good, but Stuart looked significantly younger, which is why he got booted. Viggo has gotten steady work in damn good flicks. He has kept low key than most big shots, but he has become a fan favorite nonetheless.


5. Indiana Jones
Actor: Harrison Ford
Originally cast: Tom Selleck
Lucas was afraid of Harrison Ford becoming his "Deniro" since Ford was in both Star Wars and American Graffiti, but thank god for Spielberg who pushed for Ford. Ford didnt just play Indy, he made Indy. Even Ford's trademark chin scar become a part of Indy's story- he got it during his first attempt with his whip.


4. Rocky Balboa
Actor: Sylvester Stallone
Orignally cast: Ryan O'Neal, among others.
Ryan Who? Yeah, that's right. Ryan was a young actor who had actually done golden gloves boxing. You can now see him on the tv series "Bones" as Brennan's father, Max. Stallone on the other hand is now one of the biggest action stars Hollywood has ever seen. I mean, come on, he wrote the damn script, he had to get the role.


3. John McLane
Actor: Bruce Willis
Originally cast: Arnold Shwartzanegger, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds, in the order.
Bruce made McLane like Ford made Indy. It was his own Jersey-bred sarcasm that added an extra likeable level to McLane and the mostly dead serious thriller Die Hard once was. Now how good Willis is? Well, I used Jersey and likeable in the same sentence, so that should give you an idea.


2. Wolverine (X-Men)
Actor: Hugh Jackman
Originally cast: Dougary Scott
Scott got stuck on post-work on Mission: Impossible 2 and Hugh stepped in. Now Hugh is easily one of Hollywood's go to guys, one of the more charismatic people in showbusiness, and seems usually appreciative of praise, fans, and fame.


1. Terminator (Terminator series)
Actor: Arnold Shwartzanegger
Originally cast: Lance Henrickson
Everyone knows about OJ Simpson's rumor, but Henrickson made it to negotiations. He ended up plays a cop, and Arnold got to move up from Kyle Reese to the Terminator creating a truly iconic character. A character to appear both on AFI's Top 100 Heroes and Villains twice, once as a hero, and once as a villain.

Top 5 Favorite Movies of All Time

5. Taxi Driver
Scorsese's look at post-war human psyche and existentialism in an American society that isn't what it once was.

















4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford's homage to classic '30s pulp fiction that helped shape the action/adventure genre as we know it. Indiana Jones will go down as one of the greatest cinema heroes of all time. The American Film Institute ranked him the best hero, second only to Atticus Finch (a tough character to beat).













3. Die Hard

Die Hard has set up a precedent for every action movie after it. It's an industry joke that most action screenplays get pitched as "Die Hard on a boat/on a plane/etc." To this day, its still one of the greatest uses of physical effects and miniatures













2. Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino's tour de force that is one of the most memorable screenplays and has spawned plenty of imitators. Dialogue has rarely been both cool and relatively natural at the same time.














1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

A simple plot of a man who enters a mental facility and becomes an inspiration to the members puts a lot of weight on the actor and Jack Nicholson performed masterfully. This is the movie that transformed Jack Nicholson, one of the greatest actors to ever come out of the industry, from a promising up and comer to a superstar. Never will anyone watch a movie and want to kill the villain as much as this one.