Some actors play such iconic characters, it’s difficult for us to imagine anyone else being cast instead. But the truth is that many actors were nearly cast as other characters, including those who auditioned to play the hero, and actually ended up playing the villain! While the protagonist is a much sought-after character, some actors were deemed best at playing the antagonist instead.
Read the article and get to know the actors ho auditioned to play heroes, but ended up playing villains instead.
Tom Hiddleston
Tom Hiddleston auditioned to play Thor, but he was not destined to be the God of Thunder. But his performance was so impressive that he was cast to play another character: Loki.
“At first Tom came in for Thor. He trained. He came in. it is noted , He was ripped. And He did a tremendous job, but he wasn’t Thor,” explained producer Craig Kyle. Chris Hemsworth got to play the God of Thunder instead.
Heath Ledger
The late actor was director Christopher Nolan’s first choice to play Batman in ‘Batman Begins’ (2005), but Ledger declined the role. Christian Bale was cast as Bruce Wayne instead.
The actor eventually play Joker in Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008). Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role posthumously.
Iwan Rheon
Iwan Rheon first auditioned to play Jon Snow in ‘Game of Thrones’ (2011–2019), but instead he landed the role of the evil Ramsay Bolton.
Kit Harrington was cast as Jon Snow instead. Rheon seems to agree with the decision. “I think they made the right choice,” he said. “It would’ve been a very different Jon Snow if I’d played him,” he added.
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy auditioned to play the Gotham hero in ‘Batman Begins’ (2005) but instead landed the role of villain Scarecrow. “He wasn’t right for that part in the way that Christian was. But the performance was incredible and everybody took huge notice of it while we were shooting it and while we watched the tests. I then was able to go to the studio and ask to put him in as Crane, as Scarecrow,” said director Christopher Nolan.
“I never for a moment thought I was [Batman] material. It was obvious that Christian Bale was gonna be Batman – at that time it was clear, and he’s such a magnificent Batman and Bruce Wayne,” said Murphy.
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell was considered for playing the MCU character Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Rockwell did however manage to be cast as villain Justin Hammer in ‘Iron Man 2’ (2010). The protagonist role went to Robert Downey Jr. instead.
“He was one of the actors I was looking at for Tony Stark. There was some things he would bring to the role that would have been great. Sam is very charismatic and when I was looking at the character there was a list and he had a spot on it, which might have surprised some people. Robert surprised some people, too, though, and now he is Tony Stark, he owns that role. Sam would have come up with interesting and different things,” said director Jon Favreau.
Rachel McAdams
Rachel McAdams first auditioned for the role of Cady Heron, but was considered “too old” and unable “to play the ingenue” by director Mark Waters. She ended up being cast as Regina George, the leader of the Plastics in 2004’s ‘Mean Girls.’
Lindsay Lohan would ultimately play Cady Heron. Lohan was the director’s first choice to play the villain Regina George, because of her “aggressive, testosterone-laden energy.” But because Lohan had starred in ‘Freaky Friday’ (2003), which was a success, the studio wanted her to play the lead in ‘Mean Girls’ as well.
James Franco
James Franco auditioned to play Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy, but ended up playing villain Harry Osborn instead.
Tobey Maguire got the role instead. When asked about it, Franco said “People bring up the fact that I auditioned for Peter Parker and I tested, and it was huge test. It must have been thousands of dollars just for this test. There were cranes and sets and they kept me waiting about six weeks. And then Tobey got the role and…I mean nobody believes when I say that I think he’s perfect for the role. I think he has done a better job than I would do in that role. But after the test, after Tobey got it, I guess Sam [Raimi] and I got along well enough that he wanted me in the movie. And as far as I know he didn’t audition anybody else for Harry. He just called me up and asked me if I wanted to play that role.”
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
The actor auditioned to play the protagonist Dave Lizewski aka Kick-A** in the 2010 film, but ended up playing the antagonist Red Mist in the 2013 sequel ‘Kick-A** 2.’
“Yeah, I read for the role of Kick-A**, and [director Matthew Vaughn] hated it. He hated everything I did in the audition, but he gave me the role of Red Mist,” said Mintz-Plasse. Aaron Taylor-Johnson got the role instead.
Stephen Moyer was cast as Bill Compton instead. “Alex wasn’t quite right for Bill, but I remember that he was giant and also beautiful. So when it came time to cast Eric, I thought of him,” recalled creator Alan Ball.
Alexander Ludwig auditioned to play Peeta Mellark in ‘The Hunger Games’ (2012), but ended up playing the antagonist Cato.
Sean Bean was considered for the role of James Bond in 1995’s ‘GoldenEye.’ But it turns out, he wasn’t to play agent 007.
Instead, Bean was cast as rogue MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan. Pierce Brosnan played Bond.