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“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’ “
It’s always fun – and sometimes downright frustrating – to play a game of ‘Hollywood Hypothetical’. For example, did you know that for one brief and shining moment actor River Phoenix was in contention to portray the character of Paul Maclean in Robert Redford’s 1992 film A River Runs Through It? That role eventually landed with Brad Pitt. Or how about Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future instead of Michael J. Fox? Stoltz had famously filmed a number of scenes in that star-making role before being replaced in favor of Fox. Charlie Sheen’s career might have taken a different route or three had director Oliver Stone opted to go with him as originally planned as wounded Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic instead of Top Gun star Tom Cruise; Cruise went on to score an Oscar nomination for that role while Sheen languished in oaters such as Navy Seals and Men at Work. Like I said, it’s a fun and fascinating game to play, these alternate realities where pop culture is, at least temporarily, transformed.
From our pals over on the other side of the block at The Hollywood Reporter comes the news today that yet another intriguing bit of alternate casting almost led to an entirely different moviegoing vibe.
Actor Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame has recently confirmed that he was the first choice to portray the role of suspected murderer Nick Dunne in director David Fincher’s 2014 stone cold classic Gone Girl. That part eventually landed with Ben Affleck and many regard it today as among some of Affleck’s best acting.
While appearing on an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Hamm spoke on the near-miss in his career of Gone Girl, saying that he “was down to the very end of that. It was meant to be me, but we had to film the continuing adventures of Mr. Draper.” The “Mr. Draper” reference is, of course, to his lauded performance as ad exec Don Draper in Mad Men which was filming during the production of Fincher’s film, making it an impossibility at the end of the day for Hamm to take on the Dunne role.
This is the first real confirmation from a primary and chief source of Hamm having to bow out of Gone Girl. Previous industry wags at Page Six had alluded to Hamm losing out on the part because of Mad Men guru Matthew Weiner’s resistance to adjusting the shooting schedule of his series to accommodate Fincher’s own schedule.
So chew on that little bit of alternate reality casting as the week plays out, faithful readers. What might have been!
