Actor Sean Bean's role in the 2006 psychological horror movie Silent Hill was originally much smaller. The film was directed by Christophe Gans and written by Gans, Roger Avary, and Nicolas Boukhrief. It's an adaptation of Konami's legendary 1999 video game of the same name. The story centers on the character Rose Da Silva; she takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to a West Virginia town named Silent Hill after Sharon cries for it while sleepwalking.
When they arrive in Silent Hill—the aesthetic of which Avary based on the actual town of Centralia, Pennsylvania—Rose gets into a car accident and awakens to find that Sharon has vanished. The movie follows Rose as she searches tirelessly for her daughter, all the while fighting against a terrifying local cult and learning about Sharon's deep and mysterious connection to the town.
Development of Silent Hill took years; Gans attempted to gain the film rights for five years, and started writing the script with Avary in 2004. They worked hard to make sure the movie stayed loyal to the story and the style of the games. Overall, the movie received mixed reviews, though critics did praise the visuals, set designs, and the overall ambiance. Still, it came under fire for its dialogue, plot, and run-time. Nevertheless, a sequel—Silent Hill: Revelation—was released six years later. A labor of love, Silent Hill had a strenuous casting process and landed actor Sean Bean for a relatively small role, at first, despite his pedigree; here's why it changed.
Why Sean Bean's Role In Silent Hill Changed
Gans wanted to make sure the actors' portrayals perfectly matched the characters in the beloved video games, as the movie was likely to be heavily scrutinized by fans. Radha Mitchell was selected to play the role of Rose, with Jodelle Ferland portraying Sharon. As for the supporting characters: Laurie Holden was cast as Cybil Bennett and Deborah Kara Unger was cast as Dahlia Gillespie, while Alice Krige played Christabella and Kim Coates played Officer Thomas Gucci. A-lister Sean Bean was selected to play Christopher.
Originally, Bean's role was immensely small. Christopher is Rose's husband and Sharon's adopted father. In the original script, he appeared only briefly at the beginning and the end of the movie; he was mostly there to oppose Rose's decision to go looking for answers in Silent Hill. When the studio read the script, they told Gans that the lack of a male presence in the story was unacceptable. Aside from the terrifying Pyramid Head (Robert Campanella) and the cult member Adam (Christopher Britton), Christopher was the only male character in the movie. So, Avary had to expand Christopher's part in the story, which meant editing the subplot to expand the role. Thus, the final version of the story sees Christopher head to Silent Hill himself to find his wife and daughter—though his attempt is, ultimately, futile.
It was interesting that Bean's character originally had such a small role in the movie. By 2006, Bean was a major actor, having appeared in all three of The Lord of the Rings movies in addition to other big-name movies like National Treasure, Troy, Flightplan, and The Island. Bean's celebrity certainly drew more crowds to see the movie in theaters, and increasing his role did bring some extra meat to the story. Still, whether or not having a heavier male presence in Silent Hill was really necessary is debatable. In the end, the movie is a story about a mother discovering who her daughter is and accepting her despite her dark origins.