Margot Robbie was recently confirmed at the lead star of a forthcoming ‘Barbie’ movie, but if you feel like you have déjà vu then don’t worry – you have heard a similar announcement before.
Back in 2016, bosses revealed that Amy Schumer would be taking on the part but a year later, the comedian was forced to pull out.
The hunt was then on for another Barbie and upon landing the part, Margot joined the league of actors who’ve taken on a role publicly given to someone else.
Here are eight stars who’ve done the same thing...
Lady Gaga – ‘A Star Is Born’
‘A Star Is Born’ was a long time in the making and way back in 2011, it was reported that Clint Eastwood would direct the remake, with Beyoncé taking on the lead female role.
But when the star fell pregnant with Blue Ivy, production was delayed and frustratingly, when Bey was ready to resume work on it, producers still hadn’t found a male lead.
In October 2012 she ditched the movie and it took nearly three years for Bradley Cooper – and subsequently, Lady Gaga – to hop on board.
How did Gaga do? Well, the Golden Globe win (for Best Original Song) and nomination (Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy) speak for themselves.
The singer and actress is also expected to garner Oscar nominations when they’re announced in late January.
Jamie Dornan – ‘50 Shades Of Grey’
The hunt for Mr Grey (and an actor willing to commit to three films…) was never going to be an easy one and things could have been entirely different if Charlie Hunnam had stuck with the role.
The ‘King Arthur’ star was officially announced as the movie’s Christian in September 2013 but just over a month later he pulled out, citing scheduling conflicts (they’ll come a lot in the coming cases too, by the way).
Cue Jamie Dornan.
How did he do? Cinematic masterpieces these films are not, but it’s impossible to picture anyone else as the troubled Mr Grey.
And while there was talk it could affect his ability to be taken seriously when it comes to other roles, Jamie’s had no problems, landing parts in plenty of big movies and TV shows, continuing to star in ‘The Fall’.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling – ‘La La Land’
Emma Watson and Miles Teller were all signed up for Damian Chazelle’s film, but both needed replacing when they pulled out for differing reasons.
Emma dropped the ‘La La Land’ when she was offered ‘Beauty And The Beast’, using the old classic “schedule conflict” reasoning while Miles wormed his way out of playing jazz pianist Sebastian, after a long period of negotiations.
Damien then went back to the drawing board and decided that the two lead characters would be struggling wannabes who have been trying to make it big for quite some time, instead of newcomers to Los Angeles. And with that decided, Emma and Ryan took up their roles.
How did they do? Oh you know, just the seven Oscar nominations came in for the film.
On the night, it were triumphant in six categories, with Emma winning Best Actress. Of course, their evening at the Academy Awards will always be remembered for another reason as it saw one of the biggest mess-ups in Oscars history.
Rami Malek – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
At times, it seemed like half of Hollywood was playing hot potato with this film, as it struggled to find a director and lead star, while numerous other roles were tossed from actor to actor.
The most notable exit was that of Sacha Baron Cohen from the role of Freddie Mercury, who left after disagreeing with the fact the surviving members of Queen wanted to create a family-friendly film instead of one that showed all aspects of Freddie’s life, including drug use.
How did he do? The ‘Mr Robot’ actor was roundly praised by critics, picking up a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the iconic frontman.
However, it seems Sacha may have been onto something when he departed the project, as many critics and fans pointed out that the film glossed over Freddie’s sexuality, while the Spectator wrote that scenes relating to his HIV diagnosis had been subject to “a callous rearrangement of the facts”.
Reese Witherspoon – ‘Legally Blonde’
Yup, really.
Barbie’s fellow famous blonde was almost played by Christina Applegate. The actress was offered the part but chose to turn the movie down as she was worried Elle Woods was too similar to another character she’d just played.
How did she do? Snaps for Reese. She just is Elle. Though we do wonder how Christina feels given the franchise’s huge success.
Sam Worthington - ‘Avatar’
Christina is far from the only star who has turned down a mega bucks role, as Matt Damon decided to say no to James Cameron’s ground-breaking film because of – Yes! You guessed it! – scheduling issues.
“It wasn’t anything against ‘Avatar’,” he said. “I talked to Cameron, I read the script, and I really wanted to do ‘Avatar’ to work with Jim Cameron, to watch him direct, because I was going to learn a lot.
“We were finishing ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, and it was a scheduling issue.”
How did he do? ‘Avatar’ won heaps of praise upon its release in 2009 but we’ll be honest, it was more about the effects than the people involved (sorry, Sam).
Elisa Donovan – ‘Clueless’
Cher’s frenemy could have been a whole lot different if Sarah Michelle Gellar had accepted the producers’ job offer. Unfortunately for her, she was all tied up with another film and Elisa stepped in, having initially auditioned for a bunch of the movie’s smaller roles.
How did she do? Producer Adam Schroeder summed things up best on the 20th anniversary of ‘Clueless’ in 2015.
Describing Elisa as “really funny [and] really beautiful”, he told Vanity Fair: “She’s got the wit and cynicism of Amber. You want her to be one of those characters you love to hate. But you don’t really hate her.”