imdb is the best

(For serious: I dressed *exactly* like a 12 year old K-Stew in college.  SC can confirm.  It’s a trip.)

I’ve spent the past 3 hours researching and fact-checking movies on IMDB.  Why did it take three hours?  Because I kept getting distracted by that damn “Trivia” tag.

Some of the interesting things I’ve learned:

• Mean Girls: LiLo was supposed to play Regina and Amanda Seyfried was supposed to play Cady.  Tina Fey and Amy Poehler coached Rajiv Surendra on how to rap for his on-screen performance in the school’s Winter Talent Show.
• Saved!: The role of Hilary Faye was originally given to ‘Anne Hathaway’, but funding fell through and Hathaway was due to start Ella Enchanted.  This lead to Hathaway being replaced by Mandy Moore.
• Twilight: Stephenie Meyer had her own personal cast before all the roles were officially casted. They including Emily Browning as Bella Swan, Henry Cavill as Edward Cullen, Charlie Hunnam as Carlisle Cullen, Mary-Louise Parker as Esme Cullen, Rachael Leigh Cook as Alice Cullen, Trent Ford as Jasper Hale, Tom Welling as Emmett Cullen and Olivia Wilde as Rosalie Hale; Shiloh Fernandez (Ben (the boyfriend) from United States of Tara) was one of the final four for Edward.
• Clueless: Paul Rudd auditioned for the roles of Murray, Christian and Elton.  Amy Heckerling (the writer) dated Bronson Pinchot.  Sarah Michelle Gellar was offered the role first but she turned it down.
• Panic Room: Nicole Kidman was originally cast in the role of Meg Altman and Hayden Panettiere was cast as her daughter, Sarah. Before filming began, Panettiere was replaced with Kristen Stewart.  David Fincher said it was because he thought Hayden was too “girlie” and immature.  Then, 18 days into filming, Kidman had to leave the film as well.  Jodie Foster was offered the role; according to Fincher, Kristen Stewart grew more than three inches during filming of this project. She was smaller than Jodie Foster when the production started and towered over her when the final shots were done.
• Jake Gyllenhaal: His godmother is Jamie Lee Curtis and godfather is Paul Newman.  Went to high school with Jason Segel.  Was one of the top contenders for Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and was set to replace Tobey Maguire in Spiderman 2 until Tobey straightened out some scheduling issues.
• Ryan Reynolds:  Offered the role of Xander in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
• Angelina Jolie: Was considered for Kelly Kapowski on Saved By The Bell.
• Jodie Foster: Born Alicia Christian Foster, her three siblings insisted on calling her “Jodie.”.  As a child, was attacked by a lion and carried briefly in its mouth while filming Disney’s Napoleon and Samantha (1972).   Got the role of Clarice Starling after Michelle Pfeiffer turned it down.  Was first choice to play the role of Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy but could not get out of her contract with Disney.  Turned down the role of “Catherine Tramell” for Basic Instinct (1992), that ultimately went to Sharon Stone.  Turned down the lead role for Adventures in Babysitting (1987) that went to Elisabeth Shue.  Turned down the role of Annie Reed in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), that went to Meg Ryan. Was considered for the role of Allison Reynolds that was played by Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club (1985).  Turned down the role that was played by Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink (1986).

I love reading about roles that actors or actresses either turned down or lost.  It’s pretty crazy to think of how different so many movies would have been.  Jodie Foster as Princess Leia???  Insanity.