NOW EXPLAIN IT TO ME LIKE I'M A FOUR-YEAR OLD: From Han Solo to
How Do You Know, Splitsider reviews
twenty-five film roles for which Bill Murray was considered or which he declined. Boone? Buzz Lightyear? Charlie Babbit? Sulley? It's an interesting list, for sure.
Wow, this is actually a really interesting article. These kinds of "what if someone else had gotten the part" pieces are always kind of neat, but Bill Murray is the perfect person to do a longer "what would have been" round-up because of how varied and long his career is, how weird his way of considering parts is, and how singular a presence he has in the parts he does take on. It actually is more than just "what if" and says some interesting stuff about his career as a whole and just the ins and outs of casting in general.
ReplyDeleteFunny how early people were trying to get him started on that trajectory from comic actor, to comic actor in a drama to add a bit of quirk to the role, to straight-up versatile actor. He's sort of emblematic of that trend, and did it so much more elegantly than people like Robin Williams and Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler (much as I love some of their dramatic roles as well). And yet it could have started so much sooner!
I have to disagree that he would have been a better choice for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I think he's far too similar to Gene Wilder. Obviously that movie doesn't come close to what Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is, but it never was going to, so I think it's much better as a not-as-good, very different take on the story than it would have been as a not-as-good copy of the earlier film. Maybe there would have been a better choice than Depp, but I don't think Murray is it.
I can't even think about anyone other than John Goodman for Monsters, Inc. And Philadelphia--it's weird to think that they were going to give that part to a white guy. I know race never really comes up explicitly in that movie, but that's what's so perfect about it (one of the things). Denzel Washington was the perfect choice.
But Murray in the People vs. Larry Flynt? Bad Santa? These are movies that I can see so clearly in my mind's eye, how different they would have been, and how they probably would be among my favorites if they'd ever been made.