There are very few things more frustrating than discovering that one’s work and efforts have been completely in vain and useless: this is what the protagonists of this article must have felt, i.e. those interpreters who, despite having shot scenes in a film, they were not seen in the final cut that passed in theaters. This is a rather widespread phenomenon, which shouldn’t cause surprise given the frequency with which it occurs in the Hollywood industry, but which always and in any case generates a stir among the public, especially if the “victims” are very high-profile actors, such as Harrison Ford or Uma Thurman. But why does this happen? First of all, it should be remembered that during the recording phase of a film, directors very often go to record a quantity of scenes with a decidedly higher playing time than what will be the final editing and then move on to revision and selection of the best material available: therefore, the complete removal of some subplots should not come as a surprise. But beyond the issues related to the actual duration of the film and its quality, there can be many reasons behind such a choice, including problems on the set, misunderstandings and so on and so forth!
So here you are the list of 10 actors whose movie scenes were completely cut, from Kevin Spacey to Harrison Ford. Enjoy the reading!
Paul Rudd (Bridesmaids)
Let’s start our list with one of the most adored Hollywood actors of all time and who was recently elected as one of the sexiest men alive. Let’s talk about the actor Paul Ruddwho grew up on Friends and is now best known for his role on Friends and in Antman In the Marvel Cinematic Universe and which is already confirmed as an integral part of the third season of Only Murders in the Building. But let’s get to the heart of the situation: the man had in fact been chosen to play a romantic interest for the character of Kristen Wiig in the famous female comedy The Friends of the Brideonly to be completely removed from the film so as not to open a further one storyline love theme in the film. Paul Rudd, although not credited in any way in the film that went to the cinema, appears in a deleted scene of the DVD edition.
Ana de Armas (Yesterday)
But now let’s move on to a paradoxical case that set a precedent destined to be remembered. Seeing the trailer of Yesterdaydelightful comedy in which the protagonist finds himself living in a world where i Beatles never existed and become famous”inventing” their music, we had gotten to see a sequence with the beloved actress Ana de Armas. The fact is that, however, the scenes focused on the woman were canceled during editing. Here, however, what for everyone seemed to be a minor aspect, for two Americans has become an insurmountable problem. Two men, Conor Woulfe e Peter Michael Rosza, they decided to rent the film on Amazon for $ 3.99 right after seeing the presence of Ana Armas from the trailer. Having not found their favorite actress in the film, the two, feeling cheated by deceptive advertising, decided to sue Universal and be compensated with an amount. The crazy thing is that Judge Stephen Wilson denied the defense’s request to dismiss the case immediately and a trial will hold us seriously!
Kevin Spacey (All the Money in the World)
This case is also quite particular: let’s talk about what happened to Kevin Spacey in 2017, after shooting the film All the money in the worldin which he played the character of the tycoon Paul Getty. In fact, the man ended up involved in a scandal for being accused of sexual harassment by Anthony Rapp, who was only fourteen at the time of the alleged crime: for this reason the director Ridley Scott and Imperative Entertainment have decided to cancel the previews of the film and take time to think of a way to still be able to show the film. The solution was to remove all the scenes in which Kevin Spacey appeared from the film and reshoot them with a new interpreter, Christopher Plummerwho, for the role, will also be nominated for an Oscar.
Tim Roth (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Perhaps not many will know it, but among the many actors who starred in Quentin Tarantino’s monumental film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood we also find Tim Roth, an extremely talented actor as well fetish of the director already appeared in many of his films (Pulp Fiction, Hyenas ecc.). Tim Roth in fact, he shot a large number of scenes for the film that would have led his character to have a real evolutionary arc. Sequences that, however, have been cut to streamline the story and not load it with additional characters. Tim Rooth would play the English butler of Jay Sebring. Who knows what we missed!
Katherine Langford (Avengers: Endgame)
far part of Marvel Cinematic Universe it’s certainly a great opportunity for a young actor, for sure Katherine Langford (Hannah Baker in 13) must have cheered at being hired to play the teenage version of Morgan, sweet daughter of Tony Stark, in a dream scene set inside the Soul Gem and which takes up what was seen from Thanos with little Gamora in Infinity War. However, if this scene is new to you, there is a reason: it has been completely removed from the cinematic edition of the film and appears only among the extra contents of some Home Video editions. Despite a slight displeasure, Katherine Langford revealed to journalists that she was not disappointed with this choice and that she was just happy with the final result of Avengers: Endgame.
Uma Thurman (Le Belve)
Uma Thurman also saw her scenes completely cut out. The actress had indeed landed the role of Paqumother of the protagonist Octavia (played by Blake Lively) within the film Oliver Stone, The beasts, a thriller/action film centered around drug trafficking. The woman starred in the film alongside actors such as Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Taylor Kitsch. Despite Uma Thurman shot several scenes for the film, they were all promptly cut and his character is only alluded to and mentioned on the sly.
But let us now turn to the case of Harrison Ford.
Harrison Ford (E.T.- L’Extraterrestre)
Well yes, Harrison Ford should have appeared in ET – The Extraterrestrial Of Steven Spielbergbut his scenes were removed from the final cut.
Sure, that of Harrison Ford it should have been just one cameo: the man was in fact supposed to briefly play a teacher at Elliott’s school, thus doing a favor to the director friend with whom he had already filmed the year before And predatory of the lost Arka (the first chapter of the saga of Indiana Jones) and above all to his girlfriend at the time (who would later become his wife) Melissa Mathison. The scene in question was actually filmed only to be shelved by Spielberg: the man believed that the unexpected presence of Harrison Ford would distract too much the audience and would have taken away from the central focus of the story of ET
Tobey Maguire (Life of Pi)
Excluded from a film because “too famous“. This is the motivation that brought, in 2012, the director The Lee to exclude from the famous film Life of Pi, Tobey Maguire, best known for being Spider-Man aka Peter Parker in the beloved Sam Raimi trilogy and that in the film he was supposed to play Yann Martel, author of the book on which the film is based. The actor’s excessive notoriety was, in fact, at least according to the director, compromising the credibility of the whole operation, which mostly consisted of unknown or even debuting actors, and overshadowed all the remaining international cast. Tobey Maguire was at this point replaced by Rafe Spall.
Ellen Pompeo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
We are used to associating his face only and exclusively with that of Meredith Greyyet the career of Ellen Pompeo has also touched the cinema having participated in films such as Try to catch me with Leonardo DiCaprio. What many don’t know is that Ellen Pompeo also took part in that little gem that she is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or, as it is more commonly known in our country, If you leave me I delete you. During the filming of the film, the woman played Naomi, an ex-girlfriend of Joel (the character of Jim Carrey). The scene where Ellen Pompeo consoles the protagonist during a walk in the park is still available on Youtube.
Shailene Woodley (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
But now we come to talk about the second film in the Sony saga The Amazing Spiderman con Andrew Garfield which originally included the presence of actress Shailene Woodley, the new Mary Jane Watson after the interpretation of Kristen Dunst. Despite the fundamental importance of the character, Spider-Man’s historical love interest, director James Webb decided to tclose all the scenes in which the actress appeared. The motivation? Don’t interfere with the romance between Peter and Gwen (Emma Stone) and don’t distract the audience. The plan was to postpone this presence in a third film, but the project, as we well know, never saw the light. Who knows what Shailene Woodley’s Mary-Jane would have looked like!
