Recast Roles That Won An Oscar

Once an actor reaches that fateful podium where they get to give an acceptance speech for an Oscar win, every step towards that moment feels effortless. Surely it was destiny that guided these artists toward their award season triumph and all that critical respect. Of course, making movies is much more arduous than that. It's a painstaking process whether you're making a tiny indie or a massive blockbuster, which means there are plenty of hurdles for actors to go through in creating acclaimed performances. 

There are even endless obstacles in getting the right actors for roles that eventually win Oscars. Though that award season glory now makes it impossible to imagine "Lincoln" with Daniel Day-Lewis or "La La Land" without Emma Stone, many Oscar-winning performances were only made possible through recastings. These Oscar-winning turns were originally supposed to be filled by a different performer, before fate intervened and opened the door for another actor to swoop in and deliver award-caliber work. 

The circumstances behind these recastings are varied. Some actors voluntarily dropped out of projects. Others were prevented from taking on certain roles because of scheduling conflicts. Still others experienced horrific tragedies that snatched a juicy part from their hands. Whatever the reason, these recastings have become infamous in Hollywood history and paved the way for Oscar-winning performances that remain iconic to this day.

Emma Stone took home a best actress Oscar for her role as Amelia "Mia" Dolan in "La La Land." This prestigious honor put Stone in a rarified category of women who won Academy Awards for musical movie performances, an accomplishment only Julie Andrews in "Mary Poppins," Barbara Streisand in "Funny Girl," and Luise Rainer in "The Great Ziegfeld," among a handful of other ladies, could claim. Roughly a decade into her career, Stone had truly come alive as a movie star. Shockingly, though, Stone wasn't originally set to anchor "La La Land" with Ryan Gosling, despite the duo now being synonymous with this Oscar-winning film.

Instead, "La La Land" filmmaker Damien Chazelle originally intended to reunite with his "Whiplash" star Miles Teller for the musical, with Teller playing opposite Emma Watson as Mia. Chazelle and Watson have both been very open about this alternate casting, which eventually fell apart because of several factors, including Watson deciding to star in the 2017 "Beauty and the Beast" remake. Watson's commitments to that Disney film wouldn't have allowed her enough time to prepare for "La La Land," so Stone took the role instead, thus paving the way for the "Poor Things" star to win her first Oscar.

"The Brutalist" director Brady Corbet has made it no secret that he struggled tremendously to get his third directorial effort onto the big screen. After all that turmoil, though, "The Brutalist" turned into a box office success and leading man Adrien Brody secured his second-ever best actor Oscar win for playing Hungarian immigrant/architect László Tóth. His victory made Brody only one of a handful of male performers to win multiple acting Oscars, while also solidifying the actor's return to the big time in Hollywood after years of headlining features like "High School" and "InAPPropriate Comedy." However, this grand comeback for Brody almost never happened, thanks to the original cast Corbet had lined up for "The Brutalist."

Back in late 2020, the original plans to shoot "The Brutalist" in 2021 involved an entirely different principal cast, including Joel Edgerton as László Tóth instead of Brody. That would have resulted in a radically different movie on multiple fronts, especially since Edgerton's known for being a much more physically intimidating person than Brody. However, subsequent difficulties in securing financing, not to mention COVID-induced postponements, led to "The Brutalist" getting a casting shake-up. Edgerton was out and Brody stepped into the lead role. While we'll never know what an alternate version of László Tóth could have looked like in the hands of the "Warrior" star, both Oscar history and Brody's career rebound were secured with that change.

It took Steven Spielberg well over a decade to bring "Lincoln" to the big screen thanks to, among other problems, struggles to get financing in a major studio landscape hesitant to finance an adult drama. But one thing that remained consistent was Spielberg's choice to play Lincoln: Liam Neeson began talks to play the 16th president in 2005, which would have reunited him and Spielberg for the first time since 1993's "Schindler's List."

Neeson remained committed to the project for the next five years and publicly talked in interviews about all the work he was doing to prepare for the part. However, in 2010, Neeson suddenly dropped out of the project. Initially said to be due to his age (Neeson had grown older than Lincoln's age when he was assassinated), Neeson later recounted that he realized he couldn't do the role after doing a table read of the script.

With that, "Lincoln," even though it finally had financing and was gearing up for principal photography, still needed a leading man. This was where Daniel Day-Lewis came into play. The actor had been approached for the part in the early 2000s before Neeson's casting was solidified but had dismissed the offer. This time, the "My Left Foot" leading man stepped up. In late 2010, Daniel Day-Lewis officially signed on to play Steven Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln, a role that would secure him his third best actor Oscar.

Much like "Lincoln," "The Fighter," which chronicled the career of boxer Micky Ward, had a tormented production. "The Fighter" went through several directors and leading men before eventual star Mark Wahlberg became the project's biggest cheerleader. However, there was still the matter of casting Dicky Eklund, a pivotal figure in Ward's life. Matt Damon was first linked to the role, with Brad Pitt replacing him due to Damon's packed schedule at the time. This supporting turn would have been an intriguing departure for Pitt, who spent the 2000s as a leading man in films like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" or "Inglourious Basterds." 

Pitt's casting was announced in late 2007, but that was more than three years before "The Fighter" arrives in theaters. By then, Christian Bale took over the role after Pitt had to drop out to fulfill other movie commitments. Over his career, Christian Bale has played heroes and villains with a consistent commitment to drastic physical transformations and lived-in reality, which served the role of Eklund perfectly. Bale stuck around with "The Fighter" even after original helmer Darren Aronofsky left, which eventually ensured that Bale worked with director David O. Russell for the very first time.

When "Training Day" first materialized in the late 1990s, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke were not connected to the project. Instead, Samuel L. Jackson and Matt Damon were set to play their respective roles. It's not a stretch to imagine Jackson effortlessly inhabiting a morally complex loose cannon authority figure like Detective Alonzo Harris, especially after looking at some of Jackson's best and worst movies. Eventually, though, "Training Day" secured a new leading man in the form of Denzel Washington.

Washington had carved out a mighty impressive filmography throughout the '90s, including "Mo' Better Blues," "Philadelphia," and his towering performance in 1992's "Malcolm X." However, "Training Day" took him into one of his grimmest roles yet. Stretching himself like this only reinforced to critics and audiences alike that Washington's talents truly knew no bounds. 

Eventually, despite being a mainstream crime thriller, "Training Day" secured Oscar acting nods for Washington and Hawke. The former performer would eventually take home the best actor Oscar that year, making this Washington's second Oscar-winning performance. It was a tremendous win, cementing him as one of the greatest actors around — and it wouldn't have been possible if Samuel L. Jackson had remained the lead of "Training Day."

Rami Malek's time on the "Bohemian Rhapsody" set was fraught with tension, allegedly stemming from the film's original director, Bryan Singer, who was eventually fired from the movie and replaced by Dexter Fletcher. However, before Malek was even cast as late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was still plagued with problems and endless creative indecision that allegedly stemmed from differing visions of a potential Queen biopic between the talent recruited to make the film and the surviving members of the band. 

In the earliest days of this troubled production, "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen was enlisted to play Mercury. He remained attached to the project for a few years before dropping out over his desire to make something darker than the producers wanted. Ben Whishaw took over the role after Cohen, though very quickly "Bohemian Rhapsody" once again ran into severe creative turmoil. Whishaw was unquestionably enthusiastic about the part, but script difficulties ensured that he departed the production almost as soon as he signed up for it. 

It took until late 2016, when Rami Malek was cast as Mercury, to provide "Bohemian Rhapsody" with some real momentum again. This would end with Malek securing a prestigious best actor Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards, even though the road getting to that award was full of sour notes.

Casey Affleck's innately withdrawn and haunted demeanor as an actor isn't a good fit for just any role. However, it proved a perfect fit for "Manchester by the Sea" protagonist Lee Chandler, a man grappling with ceaseless waves of grief when he's suddenly tasked with taking care of his 16-year-old nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). It was a challenging role that drew universal acclaim and a best actor Oscar win for Affleck's immensely believable portrayal of a man living with guilt and pain for so many years. 

Affleck's become so identified with this part that it's staggering to remember that this Kenneth Lonergan directorial effort initially had a different leading man. When "Manchester by the Sea" was first being developed, it was meant to be a reunion between Lonergan and Matt Damon after the pair worked together on "Margaret." Though Damon was attached to the project for many years, inescapable scheduling conflicts forced him out of a movie he held near and dear to his heart. 

Damon stayed on as a producer while his "Ocean's Eleven" co-star Affleck was selected to play Lee Chandler. Damon harbored no ill will against this recasting, and sang Affleck's praises following the film's critically successful launch at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. 

When "Philadelphia" first materialized in the early 1990s, Andy Garcia was set to play the role of AIDS-stricken lawyer Andrew Beckett. With the role later filled by Tom Hanks, any moviegoer may struggle to imagine how Garcia was the first pick before Hanks. However, at the dawn of the '90s, Garcia was a freshly-minted Oscar nominee thanks to "The Godfather Part III" and had starred in the hit movie "The Untouchables" with Kevin Costner. Hanks, meanwhile, was just beginning to pick up steam beyond headlining comedies like "Dragnet." So it was understandable to imagine that he might not have the box office pull or chops to anchor a heavy drama directed by Jonathan Demme.

But Hanks got the chance to flex his most challenging acting muscles once Garcia dropped out of "Philadelphia," resulting in one of his best movies. Despite not being the first choice for Beckett, Hanks in "Philadelpha" became nothing short of a sensation. Viewers and critics hailed him as a revelation who lent emotional immediacy to his character, leading to a best actor win at the Oscars that year. This was the first of two Oscars Hanks would win in his career, as well as the second of six nominations he'd secure across his iconic body of work. 

"Shakespeare in Love" has become infamous for its Oscar victories, which included taking home the best picture prize at the 71st Academy Awards instead of Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." But long before that fateful night, "Shakespeare in Love" garnered controversy in a totally different away. An earlier version of the film from director Ed Zwick nearly went into production at Universal Pictures, yet faced constant obstacles in becoming a reality. That included problems stemming from the film's initial leading lady, Julia Roberts. 

Though she signed on to play Viola de Lesseps, Zwick claimed that Roberts began trying to shake off the production once her initial choice for a leading man, Daniel Day-Lewis, never came to fruition. Trying to find a suitable alternative for her proved fruitless. While Roberts was one of the hottest names in the 1990s, that wasn't enough to keep the original version of "Shakespeare in Love" afloat. 

Universal eventually shut down the production before it was resurrected a few years later by Miramax. Years before Gwyneth Paltrow left acting for Goop, she was the person tasked with taking over "Shakespeare in Love" from Roberts. It was a tall order for the performer, but one that eventually ensured her a best actress Oscar win. As any awards season geek knows, Paltrow's win for a role Roberts initially secured preceded a much more infamous and divisive Oscar win for "Shakespeare in Love" later that evening.

Though credited as one of its two directors, Raoul Walsh initially had an even greater role to play in the 1928 Western "In Old Arizona." Walsh was set to play the film's lead, The Cisco Kid, as well as direct the film. However, tragedy struck when Walsh was involved in a car accident that cost him one of his eyes. Irving Cummings took over as director on "Arizona," which was the first Western to make extensive use of sound. As for the lead role of The Cisco Kid, that part went to Warner Baxter. "In Old Arizona" served as Baxter's biggest leading role up to that point and would eventually secure him one of the very first best actor trophies.

At only the second Academy Awards ceremony in history, Baxter beat out the likes of Lewis Stone in "The Patriot" or Chester Morris in "Alibi" to win the best actor Oscar. The only other actor in history at that point to win this Oscar was Emil Jannings, for two different roles recognized at the first Academy Awards. It would be the only Oscar nomination Baxter would ever receive. As for Walsh, he never secured any Oscar nominations in his career (either for acting or directing), but worked steadily as a filmmaker all the way up until 1964.

Several women were attached to the lead role of Tiffany Maxwell in 2012's "Silver Linings Playbook." Most notably, Anne Hathaway first signed on to play this character opposite the movie's eventual leading man, Bradley Cooper. At this stage of her career, Hathaway taking on such a challenging role wouldn't have been a surprise, given her work in several darker movies in the late 2000s. But Hathaway left "Silver Linings Playbook" partially because of her commitments to "The Dark Knight Rises" as well as her inability to find a creative groove with director David O. Russell. With Hathaway gone, "Silver Linings Playbook" needed a new person for Maxwell, and newly minted Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence proved perfect for the part.

The first of three Lawrence/Russell collaborations, Lawrence's "Silver Linings Playbook" performance was one of the most acclaimed acting turns of 2012. Not only did the role return her to the Academy Awards with a second nomination, but she managed to win the Oscar for her lauded work. Scoring the Oscar less than a year after the arrival of the first movie in her breakout series, "The Hunger Games," solidified 2012 as a transformative year for the young movie star. And this prestigious capper to Lawrence's most important acting year would never have happened if Hathaway had stuck around in "Silver Linings Playbook."