And…cut! While these words usually signify a scene wrapping, you never know what (or who) will make the final version of a film until the editing process is over. Here’s a roundup of actors who played characters that never quite made it on screen despite working on set:
3.
As if Bridesmaids wasn’t already funny enough, it might have been even better if Paul Rudd’s scene as Annie’s love interest made it to the silver screen. For anyone with the DVD version of the chick flick, he can be found in a bonus features deleted scene.
4.
While it’s no question that Maya Rudolph knows how to be funny, screening audiences didn’t love her part in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, leading to her getting canned from the final edit.
5.
Harrison Ford’s cameo as Elliott’s principal never made it in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial due to director Steven Spielberg thinking audiences would be distracted by it.
6.
Angela Bassett’s voice was featured in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but she was actually supposed to have an on-screen role that was eventually cut last minute.
7.
Natalie Portman was only 13 when she was cast as the leading lady in Romeo + Juliet. Since she was so young compared to costar Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes ended up taking the spot.
8.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry opted to remove Ellen Pompeo’s role as Naomi (aka Joel’s ex-girlfriend) due to the different perception audiences would have had of Jim Carrey’s character.
9.
Tim Roth had a funny sequence as Jay Sebring’s British butler that got axed from Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Despite not getting any screen time, Tim’s name still made it into the end credits.
10.
The world will never see Robert Pattinson bring the character of Rawdy Crawley to life since he got edited out of the period film, Vanity Fair.
11.
Jena Malone’s character Jenet Klyburn never made the initial theatrical release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but later got featured in the extended cut of the DC Comics release.
12.
Ricky Gervais confirmed he had a cameo in The Muppets, but the scenes never made it out of the cutting room. Later on, he scored a role in the sequel Muppets Most Wanted.
13.
Michelle Monaghan’s part as a half-demon named Ellie never played out in Constantine. “We had real story reasons for doing it. It was not her performance, she’s a fantastic actress, and we really liked the work that she did,” said director Francis Lawrence. “We just decided that Constantine was better alone, and feeling like he didn’t have a companion that he could, sort of, lean on and have a relationship with.”
14.
Sienna Miller got cut from Black Mass after originally being set to play Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of Whitey Bulger. Director Scott Cooper cited “narrative choices” as the reason behind her being dropped from the film.
15.
Matt Damon’s brief cameo in Ocean’s 8 got halted in the end. “There were a lot of people who were gracious to us that just for editorial and storytelling reasons didn’t make it in and some who did,” said director Gary Ross.
16.
Ashley Judd’s courtroom performance was left behind when Natural Born Killers debuted.
17.
Christopher Lee skipped the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King after learning he wouldn’t be featured in the final cut, which was wild since he was easily one of the biggest villains in the franchise.
18.
The original release of Avengers: Endgame was supposed to include a now deleted scene with Katherine Langford as the adult version of Tony and Pepper’s daughter Morgan. Joe and Anthony Russo revealed the emotional scene “felt similar” to the one where Tony gives his own eulogy.
19.
Finally, you won’t find James Marsden in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood because his role as real-life actor Burt Reynolds got the boot.
Do you wish these characters never got cut? Share who you would have loved to see on screen in the comments!