Actors live and breathe their characters (quite literally), so it’s not surprising they sometimes have a lot of thoughts on how their stories should (or shouldn’t) unfold. Here are some movies which were changed in pretty major ways as a result of actors absolutely refusing to do certain storylines…
1.
The original The Addams Family script concluded with the reveal that Christopher Lloyd’s character was not, in fact, Uncle Fester, but a con artist. Basically everyone in the cast was upset about the plot point, it seems, with the exception of Christopher Lloyd himself. But it was a young Christina Ricci who actually convinced the director, Barry Sonnenfeld, to change the story.
“Everyone was upset except Christopher Lloyd. But the person who best articulated their concern was Christina,” Barry told Entertainment Weekly. He altered the plot so that the character turned out to actually be the real Fester, suffering from amnesia.
2.
Pitch Perfect 3 features the character of Theo, a music executive who works with Anna Kendrick’s character Beca. Originally, he was also meant to be her romantic interest, but Anna Kendrick protested. “Originally the music executive was supposed by my romantic interest but I said no to that, because I thought that would be kind of fucking problematic,” Anna told Harpers Bazaar.
“I was like, ‘Can no one else [see it]?’ Once I said it, everybody was like, ‘I guess so’… And they still wanted to have a version at the end when we kissed, and I still said no.”
3.
The original The Fast and the Furious script apparently featured a love triangle between Brian, Dom and Letty, but Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Letty, threatened to quit if they didn’t change it. “It was more of a Point Break idea,” Michelle told The Daily Beast.
“They just followed the format without thinking about the reality of it. Is it realistic for a Latin girl who’s with the alpha-est of the alpha males to cheat on him with the cute boy? I had to put my foot down. I basically cried and said, ‘I’m going to quit,’ and, ‘Don’t sue me, please — I’m sorry, but I can’t do this in front of millions of people.'” In the final movie, Letty stays loyal to Dom.
4.
Meryl Streep was virtually unknown in the film industry when she was being considered for the role of Joanna, a woman who leaves her husband and child, in Kramer vs Kramer. Still, she fought for the character to be changed before she’d agree to take the part, describing Joanna in the (deliberately anti-feminist) book that the movie was based on as “an ogre, a princess, an ass.”
Meryl fought for the character to be much more layered, and for the reasons she leaves her husband and child to be much clearer and more nuanced. She also argued that the ending, in which Joanna wins full custody of her child but relinquishes it, should be motivated by Joanna’s love for her son and not her own selfishness, as it seemingly was originally. Meryl even wrote Joanna’s iconic courtroom speech herself.
5.
In an early version of the script for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Spock and McCoy join forces with Spock’s villainous half-brother Sybok against Captain Kirk.
Actors Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelly insisted their characters would never willingly betray Kirk, and the plot was tweaked so Spock and McCoy ultimately back Kirk up.
6.
Emma Watson refused to be in a scene in This is the End that involved Channing Tatum in a gimp costume when the improvisation involved went in a direction she wasn’t prepared for.
Seth Rogen, who not only starred in This is the End alongside Emma but was also co-writer, co-director, and producer for the movie, took responsibility for Emma’s discomfort, saying, “I, for sure, should have communicated better and because I didn’t, she was put in an uncomfortable situation. She and I spoke on the night; it was overall a shitty situation and it must have been hard for her to say something. And I’m happy and impressed that she did. We agreed on her not being in the scene together.”
7.
Both Robin Williams and Sally Field reportedly pushed back against studio execs who wanted their characters, Daniel and Miranda, to get back together at the end of Mrs Doubtfire.
Robin apparently said the idea was a “fantasy” that could be harmful to kids whose parents are divorced. Instead, the movie has a more realistic version of a happy ending: Daniel and Miranda have a civil relationship and share joint custody of their kids.
8.
Steven Spielberg tried to lure Sean Connery out of retirement to reprise his role as Indiana Jones’s father Henry in the franchise’s fourth instalment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Sean said no because he thought the role was too small and the character was “not that important,” suggesting it’d be better if Henry was killed off instead — and so he was.
9.
Reese Witherspoon got the whole character of Annette changed before she would agree to do Cruel Intentions. “I remember finding Annette too demure and too much of a woman influenced by a guy’s manipulations,” she told Entertainment Weekly.
Reese spent a week working with writer and director Roger Kumble to change the dialogue and Annette’s characterization. “There’s no way the movie would have its success if it weren’t for [Reese’s] talent as a writer,” Roger said.
10.
In the original Clash of the Titans movie, there’s a mechanical owl named Bubo that is quite a significant character. Bubo was reportedly meant to be a key part in the 2010 remake, but lead actor Sam Worthington “couldn’t stand” the fake owl.
Director Louis Leterrier said Sam even threatened to destroy the owl if he had to work with it. “He’d say, ‘This is ridiculous! This is a ridiculous thing to have in the movie! You’re going to ruin my career with that owl!'” In the end, Bubo got only a short cameo in the remake.
11.
Rampage sees Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson star as a primatologist who befriends a giant albino mutant ape named George. The movie originally ended with George sacrificing himself and dying, but The Rock thought it was far too sad, threatening to quit the movie if George didn’t survive — so the ending was rewritten.
“Life brings that shit — I don’t want it in my movies,” The Rock told Rolling Stone. “My problem is I have a relationship with an audience around the world. For years I’ve built a trust with them that they’re gonna come to my movies and feel good. So every once in a while, you have to drop this card, which is: ‘You’re gonna have to find another actor. We need to figure something out, otherwise I’m not gonna do the movie.'”
12.
When Sylvester Stallone was offered the part of John Rambo in First Blood, he said he’d take the role of the Vietnam vet only if he could make some key changes to the script, including removing any of Rambo’s intentional kills and turning him into someone “who’s sick and tired of violence.”
Another major change Sly argued for was the ending, which originally had Rambo dying by suicide — a scene that was actually shot. After filming, Sylvester told director Ted Kotcheff he thought the ending was too grim, so they shot an alternate one in which Rambo lives. Test audiences unanimously hated the original ending and liked Sly’s alternate better, and that was what was ultimately released.
13.
Hattie McDaniel became the first Black actor to win an Oscar for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. During filming, she reportedly had fought with filmmakers over the character using the n-word, and encouraged other actors to also protest.
Led by Hattie, the Black actors involved in the movie met with the PR director of the studio, apparently to discuss their concerns over the film’s depiction of race. They ultimately agreed to keep their roles as they were written, on the condition they would not have to use the n-word.
14.
Isla Fisher’s unhinged portrayal of Gloria in Wedding Crashers is the most memorable part of the movie, thanks in no small part to Isla’s own decisions about the character. Isla said the filmmakers wanted her character to be naked in about five scenes, which Isla pushed back against. “My argument was, if you see a character’s breast, she’s no longer funny,” Isla said. “You see her as someone sexual rather than as someone funny.”
While Isla ultimately lost the no nudity fight, she did get a body double for all the nude scenes, and she also decided to take control of her character in other ways. “I just stopped talking to them about my performance. I amped up the reality of my character even more. I thought, to combat the fact that you’re going to see her boobs, I have to make her even more extreme for us to still get a laugh.”