The original post: /r/television by /u/RedGavin on 2025-10-15 08:12:24+00:00.
All the fuss about Kim Cattrall refussing to take part in And Just Like That is made all the more interesting if you consider that she wasn’t the first actress to be cast in the role. Lou Thornton, who guest starred on Friends, was originally cast only to be replaced by Cattrall, Darren Starr’s preferred choice.
Thornton was a complete unknown at the time and seems to have retired after 2001. It’s perhaps the biggest discrepancy between the success an actor actually enjoyed and what could have been that I can think of. Samantha Mathis was reportedly a close runner up for Mariska Hargitay’s role on Law and Order: SVU but, unlike Thornton, she was never actually cast in the role and is fairly well known in her own right.
Anyway, what other examples can you think of? Can anyone best mine?