Casting What-Ifs
Walter Hill directing; Keanu Reeves as Chris; Michael Madsen as Michael; Don Johnson as Michael; Ted Levine as Waingro; Voight declining Nate; the Thief star as Nate
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:08Read transcript
- The hosts say Mann shopped the script to Walter Hill in the 1980s and Hill turned it down; a Hill-Mann bank movie would have been huge news, perhaps starring Nick Nolte and Don Johnson.
- The hosts say Keanu Reeves was originally set to play Chris and lost the part when Kilmer fit it around Batman Forever; one host would totally go for Keanu.
- The hosts say Michael Madsen was originally cast as Michael and replaced by Sizemore, and Don Johnson was considered for Michael and as a backup for De Niro and Pacino.
- After rewatching every Michael scene with Don Johnson in mind, one host says no; the other thinks he could have worked, better as Nate.
- William Petersen allegedly turned down Michael, which one host doubts.
- The hosts say Ted Levine was offered Waingro and turned it down to avoid typecasting after Buffalo Bill; one host can't fathom it, the other thinks he would like that movie more.
- The hosts say Voight initially turned down Nate, saying others could do it better, until Mann insisted.
- An internet claim that the actress later in Mann's Miami Vice refused Justine unless the script was translated into Mandarin is called half-fast and fishy.
- The Thief star lamented on a 1998 Thief DVD commentary with Mann that he had no role in Heat; the hosts say he should have played Nate.
- Offered the Thief star as Nate plus Keanu as Chris, one host would rather keep Kilmer, whose unpredictable performance he loves.