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13 Stars Who Nearly Played Beloved Comedy Characters

The casting process is fickle and unpredictable.

13 Stars Who Nearly Played Beloved Comedy Characters

January 02, 2022

Welcome to ComedyNerd, Cracked's new deep-dive series on funny business. (Also, you can stay up to date with the ComedyNerd newsletter -- sign up here.)

Turns out, another famous actor very nearly ended up playing just about any big comedy role you can think of. For example ...

13

Dumb and Dumber

COMEDY NERD Nicolas Cage and Gary Oldman nearly got cast as the leads in Dumb and Dumber. They were the Farrelly brothers' first choice for the two leads, but things just didn't work out. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Animal House

COMEDY NERD We could've watched Meat Loaf as John Blutarsky in Animal House. Не was one of John Landis' backups in case John Belushi left the project. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Anchorman

COMEDY NERD John C. Reilly almost ended up playing Champ Kind on Anchorman. Не was Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's first choice, but they ended up going with David Koechner. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

COMEDY NERD Tom Hanks was almost Brad Hamilton in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. At that point, he was just a sitcom star who hadn't even started a movie career yet. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Frasier

COMEDY NERD They nearly got Lisa Kudrow (before she was in Friends) to play Roz on Frasier. But they recast her eventually, because it st working out-her performance wasn't forceful enough, apparently. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Arrested Development

COMEDY NERD They originally wanted Andy Dick to play Tobias on Arrested Development. AME EX Or, at least, that's what Dick thinks-he just knows they wanted him for a part, and he thought it was Tobias Fünke. But he couldn't say yes because he was doing another sitcom at the time. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Married... with Children

COMEDY NERD Michael Richards might have been Al Bundy on Married... with Children. The casting director thought he wasn't quite the right fit, but remembered him later for Seinfeld. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Seinfeld

COMEDY NERD At one point, Steve Buscemi could have played George on Seinfeld. H но Не auditioned for the role, as weird as that sounds-but nothing came of it, obviously. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Freaks and Geeks

COMEDY NERD Lizzy Caplan auditioned for both Lindsay and Kim on Freaks and Geeks. But she wasn't right for Lindsay and wasn't tough enough for Kim, said creator Paul Feig-but they kept her on as Sara. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Parks and Rec

COMEDY NERD Octavia Spencer auditioned for Donna Meagle on Parks and Rec. Octavia Spencer and a lot of other of my 'types' were there, said Retta about the audition - who got the part in the end. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

The Office

COMEDY NERD The first actor they wanted to play Michael Scott on The Office was Paul Giamatti. But that fell through when he said No, and they had to look for someone else. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Cheers

COMEDY NERD Carla Tortelli from Cheers nearly got played by singer Janis lan. She was actually the first choice for the role, but she turned it down, and Rhea Perlman got it instead. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Friends

COMEDY NERD Monica from Friends could actually have been played by Kristin Davis. I think I was about one of like 8,000 young ladies who read for Monica, Davis said on The Late Late Show With James Corden - but she ended up playing Charlotte on Sex and the City. CRACKED.COM — Source

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