Over the past few decades, there have been a number of characters in both TV series and movie series who have been replaced throughout filming and even though directors tried hard to make it a seamless transition, fans noticed and the movie and or TV series wasn’t the same. Sometimes actors are hired for a TV series and are unaware of the commitments that the job will entail. TV series go on for years and there are some stars who are unable to continue to be part of the series since they have their own commitments outside of their work.
Some movie sagas have had the same problem since many of the biggest films are released as stand-alone movies so that directors can see if they are popular enough for a sequel. When it comes to the sequels, many of the main stars haven’t signed contracts for the second instalments and are then unable to commit, which is where the recasting process begins.
This list looks at some of the most obvious. These are the characters who stood out throughout the movie and fans were unable to invest in the new actors. Interestingly, some of the biggest TV series and movie franchises of the past few years have been forced to recast characters, as you will see from the following list.
20 Rachel Dawes (The Dark Knight Trilogy)
Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy saw the rise of Batman throughout the early 2000s, but even though Katie Holmes portrayed Rachel Dawes in the first installment of the franchise entitled Batman Begins, she turned down the chance to reprise her role in The Dark Knight. Holmes instead opted to work with her hero Diane Keaton on Mad Money back in 2008 and has since confessed that she didn’t regret her decision.
Instead, it was Maggie Gyllenhaal who was chosen to fill the void left by Holmes and interestingly she only accepted the role after the former Dawson’s Creek star gave her blessing.
19 Laurie Forman (That ’70s Show)
Eric’s older sister Laurie Forman was originally portrayed by Lisa Robin Kelly on That ’70s Show, but the star had some personal issues, which led to producers giving her a number of chances before deciding to recast her role ahead of season six of the show.
The role was then recast and Christina Moore was introduced to the show, but many fans believed that this was a bad casting choice since Kelly had already become popular with fans of the show and weren’t prepared for the change of character.
18 Victoria (Twilight)
The Twilight Saga became one of the best-known movie series of all time, but after being seen portraying the role of Victoria in Twilight and New Moon, Rachelle Lefevre was recast ahead of Eclipse and Bryce Dallas Howard was the actress who was chosen as the replacement.
Rachelle was reportedly unhappy about the fact that she was recast based on the fact that she couldn’t commit to ten days of filming throughout the production process and was dropped from her role. Fans picked up on the change of character throughout the third film and it was a big talking point of the movie.
17 Jesus Adams Foster (The Fosters)
For two seasons of The Fosters, Jake T. Austin portrayed the role of Jesus Foster and was one of the reasons why the show had become so popular, but Austin announced at the end of season two that he wouldn’t be returning to The Fosters for season three because he wanted to explore “roles with more substantive content.”
Jesus was portrayed by Noah Centineo from season three until the show came to an end in 2018 at the end of season five. Austin is a former Disney Channel star and brought in a lot of viewers in the early seasons, so many fans found it hard to accept the change of character.
16 Evelyn Carnahan (The Mummy Saga)
Rachel Weisz became one of the best-known faces of The Mummy Saga, but after being a huge part of two movies, Weisz made the decision not to return to be part of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. The reason for her choice is unknown but it is thought that she didn’t want to spend five months away from her family filming in China.
Maria Bello was cast as Evelyn for the third movie in the franchise but it is now widely considered to be the worst film in the entire series, so it seems that Weisz may have made the right decision.
15 Reggie Mantle (Riverdale)
Ross Butler became well-known in teen drama Riverdale for his portrayal of Reggie Mantle, but when he was cast in fellow Netflix hit 13 Reasons Why he opted not to return to Riverdale for the second season and was then recast by Charles Melton. Reggie’s character was given a much bigger role in season two and many fans easily noticed the switch.
Butler was a popular member of the cast and fans of Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why noticed that the actor was part of both shows and Riverdale’s football team hasn’t been the same without Butler there to keep them in line.
14 Albus Dumbledore (The Harry Potter Saga)
Albus Dumbledore is one of the main characters in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter saga, but fans were given sad news that Richard Harris, who had portrayed Dumbledore throughout the first two movies adaptations of the popular book, was to be recast.
Harris’ family put forward Peter O’Toole to continue his work on the movie, but sadly this never came to pass and instead, it was Michael Gambon who took over the role as the powerful wizard until the end of the series.
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13 Vivian Banks (The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was one of the biggest hits of the 1990s and it was the TV show that launched Will Smith into the spotlight. Janet Hubert became knoen for her role as Vivian Banks throughout the first three seasons before it was reported that her inability to get along with Smith forced producers to recast her role.
Daphne Maxwell Reid was brought in to take her place, but Janet had already created a character that many fans had fallen in love with and it was hard to watch Maxwell Reid in her place and allowing the actress to try to step into her shoes was harsh.
12 Clarice Starling (Silence Of The Lambs)
Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Clarice Starling in the original Silence of The Lambs movie earned her an Oscar, but the actress went on to make the decision not to return for the sequel Hannibal after it was reported that she wasn’t a fan of the script.
Foster’s portrayal of the character was one of the reasons why Silence Of The Lambs became so popular and, even though Julianne Moore was a fantastic replacement for the character when Hannibal was pitched, the movie didn’t feel the same without Foster and hasn’t become anywhere near as popular as the original over the years.
11 Ivy Pepper (Gotham)
The role of the young Poison Ivy on superhero drama Gotham has already been played by three different actresses in the past four years, which has definitely affected the way that fans have reacted to the character. When Ivy first appeared she was portrayed by 14-year-old Clare Foley, but in season three it was decided that an older actress should play the role and 28-year-old Maggie Geha was chosen.
When season four made its return to TV screens recently, Ivy had been recast once again this time with Peyton List. She is widely believed to be a good choice for the role, which is about to evolve into the well-known Poison Ivy character.
10 The Oracle (The Matrix Trilogy)
Gloria Foster portrayed The Oracle throughout the first two movies of The Matrix Trilogy entitled The Matrix and The Matrix: Reloaded, but sadly before the actress could film her part in The Matrix: Revolutions back in 2003, she passed.
Instead of just deciding to recast her role, it was written into the script that there would be a physical change to the character so that Mary Alice could step into the role for the final movie and the video game. Fans had become accustomed to Foster in the role and it was hard to accept someone new after the two films were such a hit.
9 Claire Kyle (My Wife and Kids)
My Wife and Kids was a popular show in the 2000s starring Damon Wayans as the father of three kids, one of which went through a number of huge changes in season two. The role of Claire was originally played by Jazz Raycole but when her friend fell pregnant in an episode of season two, her mother objected to this part of the show and took her out of the role.
She was then replaced by Jennifer Freeman, but rather than her picking up where Raycole left as a sweet teenager, Claire became a much more self-involved and argumentative teenager, which meant that her character received an overhaul that she didn’t need.
8 James Rhodes/War Machine (Iron Man)
Fans who remember the first Iron Man movie will recall that War Machine was originally portrayed by Terrence Howard, but the actor claimed that he was pushed out of the role following the first movie by main star Robert Downey Jr.
Interestingly, War Machine has been portrayed by Don Cheadle in all the movies that have followed and allowed Iron Man and War Machine to interact with The Avengers. This was a huge change for many fans following Howard’s role in the first movie, but Cheadle has now become an integral part of The Avengers Universe and accepted for his role.
7 George/ Thermoman (My Hero)
British sitcom My Hero starred comedian Ardal O’Hanlon as George throughout the first five seasons of the show and his comedy timing and ability to make the best of a bad situation were some of the reasons why the show was a hit.
Interestingly, his character was recast for the sixth and final season of the show, even though no reason why given as to why Hanlon wasn’t able to reprise his role. Fans didn’t react well to James Dreyfus, which could be one of the reasons why the show came to an end after just six seasons and dropped in ratings in the final season.
6 Marnie Piper (Halloweentown)
Halloweentown was the go-to Disney movie at Halloween for a number of years and many fans became used to Kimberley J Brown in the main role of Marnie Piper for the first three movies but in a bizarre move, Disney decided to recast her for the fourth movie.
It was well-known star Sara Paxton who stepped into Marnie’s shoes for the fourth movie, but Brown stated that she didn’t know why she wasn’t asked to return for the fourth film since it was something that she enjoyed filming and was disappointed that Disney decided to recast someone else in her role for the final instalment.
5 Robin Hood (Once Upon A Time)
In season two of fantasy TV show Once Upon a Time, Tom Ellis originally portrayed Robin Hood, but before season three it was revealed that Ellis wouldn’t be able to continue to play the outlaw since he had a scheduling conflict with a number of other projects.
Sean Maguire then stepped in to play the caped crusader from season three until the end of the show and even though he technically played the role for longer, it was hard to adapt to the new face in a show that added so many in each season.
4 Lavender Brown (Harry Potter Saga)
Harry Potter had a number of replacements throughout their eight movies, but none more obvious than Lavender Brown. The role was portrayed by Kathleen Cauley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and by Jennifer Smith in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but the role was then recast for Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince and saw Jessie Cave step into the role until the end of the series.
Brown was originally described as a black character in JK Rowling’s books, but when she was recast in the sixth film, the book description wasn’t followed, which is why many fans reacted negatively to Jessie’s casting.
3 Becky Conner (Roseanne)
Roseanne was one of the best-loved sitcoms throughout the 1990s but when actress Lecy Goranson decided to leave the show to pursue an education, the producers decided to recast her role. Sarah Chalke stepped into her shoes but looked completely different and was unable to grasp the role the way that Lecy did.
The worst part was that when Lecy was finished with school in season 8 she was able to return to the show and producers decided to use both actresses for alternate episodes, which just led to a lot of confusion for viewers that could have been avoided if the role was just written out of the script.
2 Jennifer Parker (Back To The Future)
The Back to The Future films have become iconic over the past few decades and the franchise is easily one of the best known in the world, but many fans noticed that Claudia Wells, who was the actress behind Michael J. Fox’s girlfriend in the first movie, didn’t reprise her role for the second film.
Elizabeth Sue was cast in the role for the second instalment of the franchise after it was reported that Wells opted not to return.
1 Kaitlin Cooper (The OC)
The O.C. was one of the biggest teen dramas of the early 2000s and interestingly was the show where Shailene Woodley first got her start as Kaitlin Cooper in season one of the show. Kaitlin was later sent to boarding school and returned as a completely different character in the following season.
Willa Holland went on to make the role her own when she was given much more TV time, but if Shailene Woodley had remained in the role then her Hollywood career could have been so different.
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