Casting What-Ifs
Kevin Spacey as the president; Ally Walker for Margaret Colin's role; Jada Pinkett for Vivica Fox's role; Matthew Perry as Jimmy Wilder
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:39Read transcript
- Kevin Spacey was supposed to be the president, but Fox refused because he was not a big enough star; the part was written for a Bill Pullman type.
- Relief is expressed that Spacey is not the president in this movie.
- Ally Walker was supposed to play Margaret Colin's character; Colin jokingly told a casting assistant she was 22, it was written down, and she nearly lost the part.
- Jada Pinkett was supposed to have the Vivica Fox role but had a Nutty Professor conflict, and ended up with Will Smith anyway.
- Matthew Perry was reportedly offered Captain Jimmy Wilder and pulled out, though this could not be confirmed; a Chandler version is imagined.
- The end-of-the-world song was originally supposed to be Tears for Fears' Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
- There were fewer casting what-ifs than expected because they knew who they wanted.