Here's who David Boreanaz almost played in 2002's Resident Evil movie, and why it didn't happen. Before Paul W.S. Anderson signed on to direct Resident Evil, George A. Romero was the first filmmaker attached. Given that Romero essentially invented the modern zombie with Night Of The Living Dead, he felt like the natural choice. Romero even penned a relatively faithful adaptation of the first video game, which included many of the series' famous characters and creatures, but he was ultimately fired by producers.
Anderson's Resident Evil was initially conceived as a prequel to the original game, which would explain how the t-Virus leaked in the Spencer mansion. That's why he created a new cast of characters, led by Milla Jovovich's Alice - who didn't appear in the games. The film was a respectable hit, but the Resident Evil movie franchise would go from strength to strength. The Jovovich era currently stands as the most successful movie series based on a video game, and the six films have grossed over 1.2. billion worldwide.
Jovovich's Alice became the undisputed lead of the Resident Evil film franchise, though it almost didn't work out that way. While she was cast before Michelle Rodriguez - who played Umbrella commando Rain - Alice's role was later reduced during a script rewrite to make Rodriguez's character the focus. Jovovich wasn't happy about this, and Alice's part was later beefed up again. Angel star David Boreanaz was also in line for a role during pre-production and was set to play the male lead Matt Addison.
In the Resident Evil movie, Matt is an activist looking to take Umbrella down and poses as a Raccoon City police officer to gain access to the underground Hive lab. Matt is essentially the third lead behind Alice and Rain, and while David Boreanaz was heavily linked to Resident Evil, he later passed. According to Coming Attractions (via Counting Down), his filming schedule for Angel didn't allow him to accept the movie, though he was said to still be considering a smaller part.
Boreanaz didn't mention what role that was, though it might have been "One," the leader of the commando unit who is infamously diced during the laser hallway scene. Had he appeared, David Boreanaz would have been a notable name in the original Resident Evil, and "One" is set up to be a major character, so this death may have been even more shocking. Colin Salmon ultimately played "One," while actor Eric Mabius played Matt. What's interesting to note about Matt is the character is infected in Resident Evil's finale and begins transforming into the Nemesis from the video game series, so had Boreanaz accepted the role, he may have also played the monster in Resident Evil: Apocalypse.