Characters are what the audience remembers long after watching a film, sometimes even more so than the film’s actual plot. During a time when it seems like every film is part of a franchise, there are more opportunities than ever for fans to spend time with the characters they already know and love. New stories set in new worlds are great, but audiences have shown that they often prefer the more familiar. The return of a character, however, has not always meant the return of the original actors.
Updated January 27th, 2023: If you’re curious about notorious character recasts, you’ll be happy know that this article has been updated with additional content, actors, and film roles.
Real-life events have made it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for actors to reprise their roles. Factors such as studio politics, an actor’s lack of interest in returning, or, on the more tragic end, an actor’s untimely death have prompted studios to recast characters. Recasting never required a proper franchise reboot or even an in-universe justification. When a new face arrives, fans are expected to go with the flow. Here are some of the most well-known recasting of popular movie characters.
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9 Rachel Dawes — The Dark Knight
Warner Bros.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy began with Batman Begins, where actress Katie Holmes played Rachel Dawes. Three years later, she was absent for the film’s sequel. Nolan had wanted Holmes to reprise her role, but Holmes was unfortunately unavailable. Luckily for the director, he was able to find a new Rachel Dawes in Maggie Gyllenhaal.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
It is believed that Holmes did not return for The Dark Knight because she wanted to focus on 2008’s Mad Money. While Batman Begins was well-received by both fans and critics, it has been vastly overshadowed by the success of The Dark Knight. As a result, Gyllenhaal has been the most recognized for playing the character of Rachel Dawes.
8 War Machine — Iron Man 2
Paramount Pictures
Don Cheadle has played James “Rhodey” Rhodes, the Avenger known as War Machine, in more than five Marvel films. Rhodey has also appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and has been announced to play a major role in the upcoming Secret Invasion and Armor Wars. The character was with Tony Stark since the very beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the actor wasn’t. Rhodey was originally played by Terrence Howard in 2008’s Iron Man.
Howard was the highest-paid actor on that film, but was not pleased with Marvel proposing him a pay cut on the sequel while paying Robert Downey Jr. significantly more. A decision was ultimately made to recast Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2, who has played War Machine ever since.
7 Evelyn Carnahan — The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Universal Pictures
Audiences across the world fell in love with the charming and fiery chemistry between Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in the 1999 blockbuster hit The Mummy, with their adventure seeking characters Rick O’Connell and Evelyn Carnahan teaming up to save humanity from an ancient mummy. Weisz was brilliant as the librarian-turned-treasure seeker in two installments of the thrilling trilogy, including the successful 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns. The role of Evelyn was taken over by Maria Bello for 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor when Weisz declined appearing in the final flick.
Though explanations vary as to why, ranging from script issues to scheduling conflicts, director Rob Cohen believes it was because the characters had been aged up and Rick and Evelyn would be parents to a 21-year-old Alex, a time jump Weisz allegedly felt was too far-fetched. Regardless of her true reason, the actress may have made the right call, as the third installment was the worst received by both critics and moviegoers.
6 Hulk — The Avengers
Marvel StudiosDisney
The second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk (2008), starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. But he was quickly replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers. When Ruffalo took over the role, the Hulk’s look was altered to represent his physical likeness. The actor has been so strongly associated with the Hulk that many have forgotten the character was first portrayed by a different actor in the MCU. In an interview with NPR, Norton said he felt that he had “experimented and experienced” as much as he had wanted to. Norton also revealed that he had wanted to tell a more serious Hulk story, comparable to “what Chris Nolan had done with Batman,” including being “long, dark, and serious.”
5 Emperor Palpatine — Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
20th Century Fox
Since 2004, Ian McDiarmid has appeared as Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, but McDiarmid was not always part of that movie. Palpatine was first physically played by actress Marjorie Eaton in The Empire Strikes Back’s test footage. The footage failed to impress the film’s producers, so Eaton was replaced by another actress named Elaine Baker for the film’s official release. Baker wore a mask created by her husband during her scene in the film.
With Baker’s face covered, the Emperor had another actor in Clive Revill who provided the voice for the character. In the film’s sequel, Return of the Jedi, McDiarmid took over the role, both voicing and physically portraying the character. As the new definitive Emperor, McDiarmid was edited in to all updated versions of The Empire Strikes Back.
4 Victoria — The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Summit Entertainment
When the character of Victoria was first introduced in The Twilight Saga, she was first played by Rachelle Lefevre. The actress revealed she was shocked when she found out that she had been replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard in Eclipse. Lefevre was disappointed that she was not able to finish telling her character’s story. Fans were left in disbelief that they were expected to believe Lefevre’s Victoria and Howard’s Victoria were the same Victoria.
The recasting broke some cohesion, but Summit Entertainment has claimed that they only recast the role due to Lefevre’s scheduling conflicts. Before Lefevre was cast, Howard was offered the role but believed it was too minor of a role. Howard finally accepted when Summit presented a new opportunity to join the Twilight family.
3 Grindelwald — Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Harry Potter spin-off and prequel series, Fantastic Beasts, initially cast Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald. This was a role Depp played in two films; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Depp was set to return and had even filmed a scene for the third film in the series; The Secrets of Dumbledore. Due to the negative publicity surrounding his past marriage with Amber Heard, Depp was asked to leave the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Warner Bros. brought on Mads Mikkelsen to become the new Grindelwald, continuing where Depp had left off.
2 Clarice Starling — Hannibal
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Both Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster won Academy Awards for their gripping portrayals in the 1991 psychological horror masterpiece The Silence of the Lambs, with the gifted duo portraying a cannibalistic serial killer and FBI agent caught in a tense cat-and-mouse game. Since the film earned over $270 million at the box office and swept the Oscars (winning all five of the major categories), fans were shocked when Foster failed to reprise her role in the 2001 sequel Hannibal. Hopkins returned as the titular antagonist, but the role of Clarice Starling was taken over by Julianne Moore.
Though questions circulated as to why Foster turned down appearing in the follow-up, her spokeswoman stated the actress declined due to her commitment to her directorial project Flora Plum (a project that ultimately failed to come to fruition). In a 2005 interview, Foster told Total Film, “The official reason I didn’t do Hannibal is I was doing another movie, Flora Plum… Clarice meant so much to Jonathan and me, she really did, and I know it sounds kind of strange to say, but there was no way that either of us could really trample on her.”
1 Dumbledore — Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban
Richard Harris was the first to play the iconic Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, having portrayed the character in the first two Harry Potter films. But the actor suffered from declining health despite having every intention of continuing to play the character. He was determined to return and asked the producers not to recast. Unfortunately, before Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was released, Harris passed away.
The studio decided to recast Dumbledore with Michael Gambon for the remaining films in the series, starting with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Rather than trying to emulate Harris’ performance, Gambon brought his own interpretation of Dumbledore to the Harry Potter franchise.
