12 Examples When Movie Companies Unceremoniously Changed Actors in Iconic Projects

Many movie franchises and TV series are produced for years. This is why there are many situations when creators need to cast new actors for lead or supporting roles. Some replacements are not even noticed by the viewers. But others cause a lot of complaints.

We at CHEERY decided to find out why certain recasts happened in famous movies. And in the bonus section, we’re going to tell you what new actress is going to be in season 3 of Bridgerton.

In The Matrix Resurrections, Morpheus became younger.

Laurence Fishburne, who portrayed Morpheus in the original trilogy, wasn’t even offered a part in the new film. Maybe, it’s because the idea was that a younger actor should play this role because the theme of resurrection was the pillar of the film.

Even though Yahya Abdul-Mateen II did a great job, the new Matrix looked quite unusual without Fishburne and lost some of its charm.

Parker Corno might have aged too much to continue his work in The Boys.

Ryan Butcher, the son of one of the main characters of The Boys, appeared at the end of season 1. But in season 2, a different actor, Cameron Crovetti, portrayed him.

The studio didn’t comment on this recast. Maybe, they just needed a more experienced actor because Cameron had already been in Big Little Lies. Or maybe, Corno turned down the part because it became quite substantial. Besides, Parker Corno had perhaps grown too much and didn’t fit the role anymore.

Daario Naharis suddenly had dark hair in season 4 of Game of Thrones.

When Ed Skrein left the show after season 3, there were rumors that he had done it because he was doing The Transporter Refueled. But Skrein claimed it wasn’t true.

He was going to portray Daario Naharis until the end. It seems that he didn’t make this choice himself, but he was forced to. Michiel Huisman got the part instead.

The role of Lavender Brown was portrayed by 3 actresses.

In the first 3 Harry Potter movies, Lavender Brown was somewhere in the background. She didn’t even have any lines. This is why the creators could just replace the actress and nobody would notice. At first, Lavender was portrayed by Kathleen Cauley, and then by Jennifer Smith.

But in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, many events revolve around Brown. Maybe, this is why Jessica Cave, a more experienced actress, was cast. She had already done several movies and series. It was probably a good idea, but many fans were quite surprised.

Sometimes, a recast can give birth to a curious theory.

In the second film of the Back to the Future trilogy, the creators had to replace the actress that portrayed Marty’s girlfriend, Jennifer Parker. Claudia Wells, who was initially cast for the role, had to stop her movie career due to family issues. This is why Elisabeth Shue was cast.

But the fans came up with their own explanation. They think that Jennifer’s appearance changed because Marty traveled to the past. He could have rewritten the history of his family.

The replacement of Joshua Dallas as Fandral brought him family happiness.

Joshua Dallas portrayed the brave Fandral in Thor. But he didn’t appear in Thor: The Dark World because he decided to work in Once Upon a Time. Prince Charming seemed to be a more interesting character for him, and he had more screen time.

Dallas didn’t regret his decision because, on the set of Once Upon a Time, he met his future wife, Jennifer Goodwin. The role of Fandral went to Zachary Levi who was disappointed with the fate of his character.

Nobody really understood why the actress that played Myrcella Baratheon was replaced.

Before season 5, Myrcella didn’t have a big role in the series. She sometimes appeared on screen, but didn’t really matter to the story. The daughter of the evil queen Cersei was played by Aimee Richardson.

The actress found out she was fired together with the rest of the world during the Comic-Con festival. During the event, season 5 was announced, and Myrcella was already going to be played by Nell Tiger Free. There was no explanation from the studio. It’s not likely that it was due to the age of the actress. Nell is 2 years younger than Aimee.

Amy’s mom looked very different in real life compared to what she looked like on a laptop screen.

The friend of Sheldon Cooper, neuroscientist Amy, didn’t have a lot of screen time at first. But the viewers really liked the girl, so she became part of the main cast. In season 4, Sheldon and Amy talk to the girl’s mom and shock her. But when the woman attends Amy’s wedding in season 11, she looked completely different.

According to the showrunners, they really liked Annie O’Donnell’s acting. But when they had a chance to work with the Oscar-winning Kathy Bates, they just couldn’t refuse this idea.

In season 7 of True Blood, James Kent was portrayed by a different actor because Grimes didn’t like the writing.

In the penultimate season of the show, a new character appeared — James Kent. The viewers like the guy straight away. He was probably the kindest and the most sensitive vampire in the series.

But in the next season, actor Luke Grimes was replaced by Nathan Parsons. According to the studio and the actor himself, the reason was that Luke wanted to leave the project. He didn’t like the storyline of his character. The studio didn’t want to change the script and decided to hire a different actor.

Rooney Mara was disappointed when she wasn’t allowed to keep playing Lisbeth Salander.

In 2011, David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was released. Even though the film wasn’t a huge box office hit, critics liked it, and Rooney Mara, who portrayed Lisbeth Salander, was even nominated for an Oscar. But Sony decided to hire a different director, Fede Álvarez to work on the next film, The Girl in the Spider’s Web.

Álvarez decided to hire a new team and cast, and the role of Lisbeth went to Claire Foy. Rooney Mara was disappointed because she hoped she would portray this character again.

The replacement of the actor that portrayed Robin Hood in Once Upon a Time was good for both Tom Ellis and Sean Maguire.

Robin Hood first appeared in the second season. At the time, the character was played by Tom Ellis. In the next season, the creators wanted to expand the part of the legendary thief. But Ellis was already busy with several British projects and couldn’t return to his role in the series.

So Sean Maguire was chosen. And soon, he was in the main cast. The recast was good for both actors. Ellis was able to appear in Lucifer, and Maguire was offered a few interesting projects after he finished working in Once Upon a Time.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was heavily criticized because Rachel Weisz left.

Rachel Weisz played librarian Evie Carnahan in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. The viewers really liked her character. But Weisz decided not to return for the 3rd film. She says she hadn’t even read the script.

At the time, she had just finished The Brothers Bloom. And a small son was waiting for Rachel at home. If Weisz had decided to appear in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, she would have had to go to China for 5 months. She wasn’t ready for that. And Maria Bello was cast, but the audience simply didn’t like her portrayal.

Bonus: Why Francesca will be portrayed by a different actress in season 3 of Bridgerton.

Francesca Bridgerton didn’t have much screen time in the first 2 seasons. The creators decided to change it and broaden her part. Ruby Stokes, who initially played Francesca, is busy with a different project that is taking most of her time.

This is why she had to drop out of Bridgerton. Hannah Dodd was cast instead. It’s not yet known when we will be able to see the new Francesca on our screens.

What recast did you notice, even though it seemed that most people didn’t?