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ed_lv t1_jdcn48u wrote

Bob Odenkirk was almost Michael Scott on The Office. Him and Steve Carell were the last two actors considered, and Paul Rudd almost convinced Carrell to not audition and take the job.

In season 9 we did see the alternate universe, with Odenkirk running his own office, in pretty much the same way Michael Scott did.

Looking back, we got the perfect scenario, with Carrell and Micheal Scott, and not getting The Office job enabled Odenkirk to become our favorite Saul/Jimmy/Gene

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MulciberTenebras t1_jdcqfna wrote

Now imagine the universe where Steve Carell was cast as Saul/Jimmy and Odenkirk as Michael Scott.

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Fuzzikopf t1_jdcp9vb wrote

The should have gotten him as the replacement when Steve Carell left the show, that episode in season 9 legit made me mad at the missed potential.

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Owasso_Landman t1_jdckrvo wrote

Kevin Sorbo is an MAGA, anti-vax, asshole

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dantemanjones t1_jdcmyq2 wrote

It sure is a good thing he lost out on that role so Superman wasn't played by some MAGA a-hole in that show. What's that? Oh, nevermind.

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mickeyflinn t1_jdcqlh9 wrote

And more importantly a really terrible actor.

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Reasonable-HB678 t1_jdczh2q wrote

He's part of the subset of the Hollywood MAGA crowd that were able to get by on their good looks. I include Dean Cain and Antonio Sabato Jr among them.

Also, Sorbo's Kull the Conqueror movie was going to be- at least in the mid 80's- the third Conan the Barbarian movie. In short, thanks to Sorbo's input, it became a glorified feature length episode of his Hercules series, staying well within his comfort zone.

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MrPotatoButt t1_jdgocc0 wrote

> Kevin Sorbo is an MAGA, anti-vax, asshole

You forgot evangelical zealot as well.

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mickeyflinn t1_jdcqk2l wrote

> Kevin Sorbo missed out on Fox Mulder (The X Files), Clark Kent/Superman (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), and Detective John Kelly (NYPD Blue).

And that is a good thing.

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sammm59 t1_jdclf5k wrote

Danny DeVito passed on playing George Costanza on Seinfeld.

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AreWeCowabunga t1_jdcpfc3 wrote

I'd never heard this before, but it seems like he'd be too old for the role. He's 5 years older than Michael Richards, 10 older than Seinfeld and 15 older than JLD and Jason Alexander. Richards already seems a little old compared to the rest, and George was supposed to be Jerry's old friend from growing up. I don't know, it just would have been a very different show with Danny.

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yaboycharliec t1_jdcvsfj wrote

I never liked Seinfeld and especially disliked Costanza, but I do have to admit that Jason Alexander is a genuinely talented actor. He has been superb in everything else I have seen him in.

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TheTrotters t1_jdd6j02 wrote

You can tell just by watching interviews with Jason Alexander that he’s a brilliant man. He seems to speak in fully-formed paragraphs.

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[deleted] t1_jdcm6ow wrote

Thomas Jane (who I thought was the Highlander and Raiden when I was a kid) almost was Rick in Walking Dead.

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MulciberTenebras t1_jdcqm32 wrote

That was when the show was being pitched to HBO, they passed because it was "too dark"... but that same year greenlite Game Of Thrones.

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monsieurxander t1_jddsnof wrote

Game of Thrones was in development for years before that. It was a long, difficult road getting it to air.

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Fuzzikopf t1_jdcpfeu wrote

Fucking loved him in The Expanse

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Gooberino74 t1_jdcq4gx wrote

I'll admit I can't for some reason get past the first season, although I do like the show. I've tried rewatching it twice from the beginning. I think life just gets in the way, but his character is by far my least favorite and I typically like Thomas Jane as an actor. Does his character improve throughout?

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Fuzzikopf t1_jdcu0xk wrote

> Does his character improve throughout?

Hell yeah he does, I didn't like him in the beginning either. But by the end, he was my favourite.

The first season of The Expanse is difficult for many people and even though I only needed a couple episode, I can understand why.
As someone else already said, seasons 2 & 3 are absolutely phenomenal though. Some of the best TV I've ever seen.

Season 4 is not bad either, but not as great as the previous two. Seasons 5/6 are still good compared to other shows, but overall a bit disappointing I would say.

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mickeyflinn t1_jdcqs1k wrote

> Does his character improve throughout?

Yes, everything about the Expanse gets better through the first season. Season 2 and 3 is where it peaked.

The show went to shit when it moved to Amazon (s4,5 and 6).

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tagen t1_jde82j9 wrote

Miller was my favorite character in the books, I had never seen Thomas Jane act in anything before, and I thought he did a great job!

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Delphidouche t1_jdcyey8 wrote

Michael Keaton turned down the role of Dr. Jack Shephard on LOST.

Originally the plan was to kill Jack off in The Pilot episode but the executives at ABC didn't think that was a good idea and wanted Jack to be the main character. Michael Keaton didn't want to commit to a series and the rest is history.

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SantaClaws1972 t1_jdcsm6i wrote

Ryan Reynolds was offered the role of Xander on Buffy. He turned it down because he didn’t want to get typecast. I think things turned out okay for him though.

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isaacz321 t1_jdd5wuu wrote

He did play that type of character in 2 guys and a girl

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55Branflakes t1_jdcncg9 wrote

I think Ed O'Neil (Al Bundy himself) could have been a better Walter White than that Cranston guy.

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Reasonable-HB678 t1_jdczs65 wrote

Matthew Broderick was first offered that role.

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[deleted] t1_jdgkk1s wrote

[deleted]

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MrPotatoButt t1_jdgo6al wrote

Maybe its me, but Duchovny would have been a disaster as Mr. White. Too good looking for a for a science guy, and generally played "soft spoken" characters. I definitely could see Broderick playing Walt.

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Reasonable-HB678 t1_jdh2js8 wrote

Breaking Bad (2008)

Sony and AMC were initially reluctant to cast Bryan Cranston because of his previous comedic roles. They approached John Cusack and Matthew Broderick for the role of Walter White. When they both declined, Vince Gilligan was able to cast Cranston. However, the rumor of John Cusack being offered the role of Walter has been debunked by Cusack himself in a 2020 Guardian interview, when he claimed no such offer ever came through his agents, and even asked Gilligan himself who denied making a formal offer for the role.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/trivia?item=tr1744534

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Frankfusion t1_jddrel4 wrote

He was amazing in the Dragnet reboot from 2001 or so. He showed some amazing chops as Joe Friday.

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jadedfan55 t1_jddtymf wrote

Dragnet was revived in February 2003, rechristened Dragnet LA in the fall of that year, and gone by Christmas. This was the 2nd TV crime drama where Ed O'Neill tried to shed the Al Bundy imagery. He finally did it with Modern Family, where his character wasn't as crude as Al.

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SaxifrageRussel t1_jdgo0f0 wrote

He also had a big role in John From Cincinnati, David Milch’s follow up to Deadwood. Cancelled immediately

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WilliamEmmerson t1_jdkmzsf wrote

Ed O'Neill was David Milch's original choice to play Al Swearengen on Deadwood but HBO rejected him. Then Powers Boothe was offered the role but became ill and couldn't film the pilot. Ian McShane came on late and Boothe was cast as another character.

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quangtran t1_jdddo78 wrote

The creators of Modern Family wrote the character of Phil with Ty Burrell in mind, but the studio instead offered the role to Matt Leblanc, who turned it down (hence the role finally being offered to Ty).

The creators wanted Ed O’Niel for Jay but the studio preferred Craig T Nelson. A pay dispute meant that Craig turned down the role.

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JimJordansJacket t1_jdcq4i5 wrote

Aside from the fact that Kevin Sorbo is a stupid piece of shit, right wing dickhole, he is also a terrible actor.

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bflaminio t1_jdfkajs wrote

Tom Selleck's commitment to Magnum PI prevented him from taking the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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WilliamEmmerson t1_jdkm6lm wrote

Kiefer Sutherland passed on playing Red Reddington on The Blacklist which wound up being played by James Spader.

I don't know if anyone considers Red an iconic role, but it's given James Spader 10 years of employment while Kiefer has had multiple tv shows that have failed to last. Now, after 10 season, The Blacklist is wrapping up while Kiefer's next show, Rabbit Hole, will be premiering in a couple days. This will be Kiefer's 5th attempt at launching a successful series after 24 ended.

I wonder if he would change things if he could go back in time. Or maybe The Blacklist just wasn't for him either way.

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tagen t1_jde8ajv wrote

Not quite the same, but David Caruso played the lead detective in NYPD Blue, one of the biggest shows of its time, then got replaced cuz he was just so fucking difficult to work with

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adamduke88 t1_jdgkpa7 wrote

He actually quit to pursue a less than stellar film career.

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WilliamEmmerson t1_jdkmnk5 wrote

Thomas Jane might be the unluckiest. He passed on playing Don Draper on Mad Men.

He also missed out on playing Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead because he was already doing Hung and HBO wouldn't let him do both shows at once.

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[deleted] t1_jddv2ra wrote

[deleted]

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kinda_guilty t1_jddya9j wrote

Plus we already have enough of our favourite shows being difficult to rewatch because the lead turned out to be a tosser.

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ANK2112 t1_jddxi22 wrote

I dont think Lance Reddick ever got his iconic slave role

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MrPotatoButt t1_jdgnrb4 wrote

I'm okay with that. Kevin Sorbo is a pretty mediocre actor.

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