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Film stars who were fired on set

Finding Nemo, V For Vendetta, Hercules.
Finding Nemo, V For Vendetta, Hercules.

Hollywood is a precarious profession, but you would hope once you’ve got the role you can relax a little bit. Not these guys, who found themselves out of a job even after shooting began.

John Lithgow – Hercules

3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN -- Season 3 -- Pictured: John Lithgow as Dr. Dick Solomon  (Photo by Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN -- Season 3 -- Pictured: John Lithgow as Dr. Dick Solomon (Photo by Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

The Disney filmmakers wanted Jack Nicholson as baddie Hades, but he asked for too much money, so Lithgow was cast instead. But being second choice had its pitfalls and despite voicing the role for nine months, he was eventually fired and replaced with James Woods.

James Remar – Aliens

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 9: The movie "The Warriors", directed by Walter Hill.  Seen here, James Remar as Ajax.  Initial theatrical release February 9, 1979.  Screen capture.Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
The movie "The Warriors", directed by Walter Hill. Seen here, James Remar as Ajax. Initial theatrical release February 9, 1979. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

Remar was originally cast as Hicks in James Cameron’s sequel, but as he said later in a Sidebar podcast, “I was fired after a couple of weeks of filming because I got busted for possession of drugs.” He was replaced by Michael Biehn, although he can be seen from behind in a couple of shots in the finished film.

Richard Gere – The Lords of Flatbush

Studio portrait of American actor Richard Gere wearing an open shirt, late 1970s. (Photo by American Stock/Getty Images)
Studio portrait of American actor Richard Gere wearing an open shirt, late 1970s. (Photo by American Stock/Getty Images)

Gere came to blows with co-star Sylvester Stallone on this 1974 Brooklyn gang drama, who demanded that the Pretty Woman star be fired. He was replaced by Perry King.

Kel O’Neill – There Will Be Blood

***EXCLUSIVE*** Director Kel O'Neill attends 20009 Los Angeles Film Festival Shorts Program 1 held at the Majestic Crest Theatre on June 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. ***Exclusive*** (Photo by Barry King/WireImage)
***EXCLUSIVE*** Director Kel O'Neill attends 20009 Los Angeles Film Festival Shorts Program 1 held at the Majestic Crest Theatre on June 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. ***Exclusive*** (Photo by Barry King/WireImage)

Going head-to-head on-screen with Daniel Day-Lewis is a daunting prospect and gossip from the set of Paul Thomas Anderson’s film was that O’Neill found it difficult to deal with the Oscar-winner’s meticulous method. Director and star deny it, but it worked out well for O’Neill (who was replaced by Paul Dano) now a filmmaker himself. “If [Anderson] hadn’t fired me from [the movie] I would probably still be an actor dreaming of making my own films some day.”

Sean Young – Dick Tracy

Sean Young standing on helicopter tarmac in a scene from the film 'Fire Birds', 1990. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images)
Sean Young standing on helicopter tarmac in a scene from the film 'Fire Birds', 1990. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images)

Young says she was fired after a week of shooting for rejecting director/star Warren Beatty’s advances, he says it was because her performance as Tess Trueheart wasn’t maternal enough. Glenne Headley got the role instead.

Lori Petty – Demolition Man

Lori Petty wearing bizarre head gear while holding a gun in a scene from the film 'Tank Girl', 1995. (Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)
Lori Petty wearing bizarre head gear while holding a gun in a scene from the film 'Tank Girl', 1995. (Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)

“It was the most uncool day in Hollywood for me,” Point Break actress Petty told The Daily Beast about her firing from the Sly sci-fier. Infamous producer Joel Silver did the canning, citing “creative differences” and Sandra Bullock got the part.

William H Macy – Finding Nemo

William H. Macy holds his two awards for outstanding lead actor in a movie and outstanding writing in a movie for his work in "Door to Door" at the 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, in Los Angeles. (AP Photos/Reed Saxon)
William H. Macy holds his two awards for outstanding lead actor in a movie and outstanding writing in a movie for his work in "Door to Door" at the 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, in Los Angeles. (AP Photos/Reed Saxon)

Macy had voiced most of his lead role as Nemo’s father when director Andrew Stanton decided that his take on the character wasn’t quite right. Albert Brooks took over and the film became one of Pixar’s biggest smashes.

Judy Garland – Valley of the Dolls

(Original Caption) New York: Judy Garland in dressing room after opening of show at the Palace, July 31st. In her current act here, Miss Garland performs with her daughter, Lorna, 14, and Joey, 12, children of her third husband, Sid Luft.
(Original Caption) New York: Judy Garland in dressing room after opening of show at the Palace, July 31st. In her current act here, Miss Garland performs with her daughter, Lorna, 14, and Joey, 12, children of her third husband, Sid Luft.

Dozens of stories abound as to why the Wizard of Oz star was let go from the camp 1960s classic, including her substance abuse and the fact one of the more outrageous characters was based on her. Meanwhile, her supporters say the director treated her badly. Susan Hayward took over.

James Purefoy – V for Vendetta

James Purefoy during HBO's "Rome" Los Angeles Premiere - Red Carpet at Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Lee Celano/WireImage)
James Purefoy during HBO's "Rome" Los Angeles Premiere - Red Carpet at Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Lee Celano/WireImage)

The English actor was replaced by Hugo Weaving on the comic book adaptation, with rumours he got frustrated with wearing V’s infamous mask, or that his voice wasn’t menacing enough. Purefoy scotched those reports, saying it was “genuinely about the way to approach that character.”

Harvey Keitel – Apocalypse Now

(GERMANY OUT) Keitel, Harvey *13.05.1939-Schauspieler, USA - Portrait- 1980 (Photo by Will/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(GERMANY OUT) Keitel, Harvey *13.05.1939-Schauspieler, USA - Portrait- 1980 (Photo by Will/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The movie’s editor Walter Murch told Yahoo in 2014, “The nature of Willard is that he is the eyes through which you watch the events…on a simply biological level, Martin Sheen has very big eyes that look at the world and Harvey Keitel has very narrow eyes.”