While many characters move from one film to another, sometimes the actor who plays the character doesn’t come along for the ride. Here are 12 movie roles recast with a different actor.
James Bond. The James Bond film franchise has been going strong since the first film, Dr. No, was released in 1962. For more than 50 years, six different actors played the iconic superspy. Sean Connery was the first, as he played 007 in six movies, then George Lazenby played him for just one movie. Roger Moore played him in seven films. Timothy Dalton took up the role, but for only two movies, before Pierce Brosnan took the role for four movies. Now Daniel Craig is playing James Bond with three movies under his belt and a fourth on its way.
The Hulk. Originally, Eric Bana played The Hulk for director Ang Lee in 2003. The film franchise was rebooted in 2008 with Edward Norton in the role. However, after creative differences Norton left Marvel and now Mark Ruffalo played Bruce Banner and The Hulk.
Jack Ryan. Four actors have played Jack Ryan over the years, starting with Alec Baldwin in 1990. Harrison Ford later took the role for two movies, before Ben Affleck played the role briefly in the early 2000s. Now Chris Pine plays Jack Ryan in the movie Shadow Recruit.
The Oracle. Gloria Foster played The Oracle in the first two Matrix movies. She died before filming on the third movie started. Mary Alice replaced her in the film, while the filmmakers wrote in that The Matrix can change one’s appearance.
Clarice Starling. Jodie Foster played the character in The Silence of the Lambs, while Julianne Moore played her in its sequel Hannibal.
Bruce Wayne. Much like James Bond, many actors have played Batman/Bruce Wayne over the years. While Adam West did play the role in the 1966 movie, Michael Keaton played the modern day Batman in 1989 for two movies. He was replaced with Val Kilmer when he didn’t want to return to do a third, and in turn, Kilmer was replaced with George Clooney for the fourth for similar reasons. Christian Bale played Batman for three movies in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, while Ben Affleck will play the Caped Crusader in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016.
George McFly. Crispin Glover played George McFly in the first Back to the Future movie, but did not return to the second or third because of a dispute with producers. He was replaced with a look-a-like named Jeffrey Weissman. Filmmakers used makeup and special camera tricks to make Jeffrey Weissman appear as if he was Crispin Glover playing George McFly. Glover sued the producers for using his likeness without permission and won the lawsuit.
Dumbledore. Richard Harris played the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first two Harry Potter movies. Sadly, he died just before filming the third movie, so he was replaced with Michael Gambon for the next six movies.
James Rhodes. It’s unclear why producers changed actors between movies, but Terrence Howard played James Rhodes in the first Iron Man movie, before he was replaced with Don Cheadle for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
Rachel Dawes. Katie Holmes played lawyer Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins. She decided to do another movie, so she was replaced with Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Dark Knight.
Emperor Palpatine. In The Empire Strikes Back, actor Elaine Baker played Emperor Palpatine as a hologram. But when the Dark Lord of the Sith made his first in-person on-screen appearance, Ian McDiarmid him in Return of the Jedi. Ian McDiarmid played him ever since, even in the Star Wars prequel, while George Lucas replaced Baker with Ian McDiarmid in the Empire Strikes Back re-release special editions.
Rusty and Audrey Griswold. Throughout the entire National Lampoon’s Vacation film series, different actors played Rusty and Audrey Griswold. Anthony Michael Hall, Jason Lively, Johnny Galeck, and Ethan Embry have all played Rusty Griswold, while Dana Barron, Dana Hill, Juliette Lewis, Marisol Nichols have all played Audrey. Ed Helms and Leslie Mann will play the siblings in the new Vacation movie later in 2015. Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo have always played Clark W. Griswold, Jr. and his wife Ellen throughout the entire film series.