Ever since Brian De Palma turned his debut novel into one of the greatest horror movies of all time, Stephen King has been one of the most frequently adapted writers in the world. His spooky tales of the macabre have formed the basis for plenty of horror classics, like The Shining and Misery, as well as plenty of non-horror classics, like acclaimed dramas The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me.
Casting an adaptation of a novel is tricky because there’s no visual reference for the characters, and people who have read the book tend to hold the characters very close to their hearts.
Robert De Niro As Jack Torrance In The Shining
Jack Nicholson was always Stanley Kubrick’s top choice for the role of Jack Torrance in The Shining, but he considered a couple of other performers in case Nicholson was unavailable or there was pushback from the studio.
Robert De Niro was one of the actors in the running for the part. However, after seeing De Niro’s turn as Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, Kubrick decided he wasn’t right for Jack and pushed for Nicholson.
Bette Midler As Annie Wilkes In Misery
Kathy Bates was a relative unknown when she was cast as Annie Wilkes in Misery, a role that ended up earning her an Oscar. But before Bates was cast, the role was offered to Bette Midler.
However, Midler turned it down because she found the script to be too violent. William Goldman’s early drafts had the novel’s original foot-severing scene in place of the slightly less gruesome “hobbling” scene found in the final cut.
Russell Crowe As Roland Deschain In The Dark Tower
An adaptation of The Dark Tower series was in development for years. J.J. Abrams originally planned to follow up Lost with a Dark Tower movie franchise. At one point, Ron Howard was signed on to direct.
When Howard was signed on, his top choice for the role of gunslinger Roland Deschain was Russell Crowe, with whom he’d worked on A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man.
Shaquille O’Neal As John Coffey In The Green Mile
Frank Darabont had a tough time finding the right actor to play wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate and Christ figure John Coffey in The Green Mile. He considered Ving Rhames and Shaquille O’Neal, but Rhames was considered too suave and, as a basketball player, O’Neal didn’t have the required emotional range to play the part.
Michael Clarke Duncan, the perfect choice for the role, ended up being cast based on a recommendation by his Armageddon co-star Bruce Willis.
Shailene Woodley As Carrie White In Carrie (2013)
When the 2013 re-adaptation of Carrie went into development, the producers’ first choice for the title role was The Fault in Our Stars’ Shailene Woodley, but she turned it down.
The shortlist was narrowed down to Emily Browning, Lily Collins, Dakota Fanning, and Chloë Grace Moretz, with the latter clinching the part. Moretz brought her all to the remake, but it paled in comparison to the masterful De Palma original.
William Hurt As Paul Sheldon In Misery
According to screenwriter William Goldman’s book Which Lie Did I Tell?, the role of Paul Sheldon in Misery was offered to just about every actor in Hollywood, but they all turned it down because the character was clearly overshadowed by Annie Wilkes.
William Hurt was the first choice for the role and after he turned it down twice, it was offered to Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Kline, Al Pacino, and Robert Redford, who all rejected it before James Caan was finally cast.
Will Poulter As Pennywise In It
With his wandering eyes and ability to switch seamlessly from hysterical laughter to unnerving silence, Bill Skarsgård ended up being the perfect choice to bring Pennywise the Dancing Clown to life in Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of It.
But he wasn’t the first choice for the part. When Cary Joji Fukunaga was signed on to direct, Will Poulter was initially cast to play Pennywise.
Michael McKean As The Narrator In Stand By Me
Richard Dreyfuss ended up being the perfect narrator in the framing narrative of Stand by Me, but according to director Rob Reiner, “Finding the narrator was tricky.”
David Dukes, Ted Bessell, and Michael McKean — with whom Reiner had worked on This is Spinal Tap — all did auditions, but Reiner didn’t think their voices sounded right for the part.
Tom Hanks As Andy Dufresne In The Shawshank Redemption
Before Tim Robbins was cast as Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, the role was offered to Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks. They all passed — Costner, because he was committed to making Waterworld, and Hanks, because he was committed to making Forrest Gump.
Hanks felt bad about turning down the part and pledged to work with Darabont on another project. He ended up starring in a different Stephen King adaptation directed by Darabont set in a prison: The Green Mile.
Anjelica Huston As Annie Wilkes In Misery
In addition to Bette Midler, the role of Annie Wilkes was offered to Anjelica Huston before Kathy Bates was chosen. Huston was interested in the project but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with The Grifters.
It’s impossible to imagine anyone besides Bates playing Annie Wilkes. The AFI ranked Annie as the 17th greatest villain in movie history on its “100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains” list.