Film production is an unforgiving job, especially for actors. While it’s true that all creators are judged on their personal attributes, performers face the added pressure of embodying the physical and emotional attributes needed to play a particular role. facing. This means that they are accepted or rejected based on their appearance and essence as human beings. This is tough on anyone, but it’s especially cruel to young actors who are in the midst of adolescence, or just on the other side of it. Plus, it can be tough on those behind the camera. Actors who are still getting used to their growing bodies may look dazzling in interviews, but once they’re on set, they’re not the right fit for the role. Just ask the incredibly talented actor Tamzin Merchant and those responsible for bringing George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones to life on HBO. They filmed the entire pilot with her in it, but some had to be scrapped because she didn’t play the important role of Daenerys Targaryen.
Just imagine. You get your first big role, and after finishing production, you watch helplessly as the producer abandons your hard work and puts another actor in your place and reshoots everything. And, naturally, they become iconic figures for their roles.
One of the most famous examples of actors being replaced during production is Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future. The rising star, who had just gained attention for his role as Rocky Dennis in The Mask, played Marty McFly for a month before director Robert Zemeckis pulled the plug and recast the lead role. Zemeckis has often spoken of the moment he fired Stoltz as one of the most painful experiences of his career, but what is rarely discussed is that Stolz’s sudden departure also caused his co-stars to lose their jobs. That’s what I lost.
That was Melora Hardin, who would become a staple cast member of NBC’s “The Office” decades later. Why did she receive Hebho too?
Big disappointment (above Michael J. Fox)
In a chat with the New York Post’s Page SixHardin talked about how she lost the role of Jennifer Parker to Claudia Wells after Michael J. Fox was hired to replace Stoltz. reason? At 17 years old, he was taller than the diminutive breakout star of “Family Ties.”
Hardin told the Post that the experience was “very, very painful. It was definitely very painful.”
Sadly, there was more to her firing than that. Hardin said Universal’s two female executives believed the taller Jennifer had “eviscerated” Marty, given that Fox’s Marty was far from a model of masculinity. This is strange. This is why he coaches his father to be more assertive, which is quite funny (aside from Crispin Glover’s aggressive and loopy acting). Hardin says, “I feel like it’s an interesting sign of the times that a female executive felt the need to protect the masculinity of the protagonist in that way.”
Hardin recovered quickly and never desired film or television work throughout his still thriving career. She told the Post that if she hadn’t overcome this early setback, she probably wouldn’t have appeared on The Office as Jan Levinson. Fans of the beloved series can thank Hollywood for its sexism in the 1980s!
