Casting What-Ifs

Alternate casting possibilities.

Casting What-Ifs has run in 392 episodes. The most recent 40 are listed below — open any episode at its timestamp to hear the segment.

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‘Apollo 13’Amanda Dobbins

Proposed Julianne Moore (acknowledging she may be a bit young) for Marilyn Lovell over Kathleen Quinlan, imagining her delivering the 'take it up with my husband' line

‘Apollo 13’Bill Simmons

Suggested Tom Cruise as Kevin Bacon's Jack Swigert ('60s cad' type, could sell the beer-bottle/cocktail-flipping monologue) but wondered if Cruise could sell Swigert's crisis of confidence; also suggested Denzel's coked-up/no-sleep Flight character as an alternate take on the Jack Swigert role, played for comedic effect

‘Apollo 13’Rob Mahoney

Proposed swapping Ed Harris for Gene Hackman as Gene Kranz, questioning if Harris's shadowy/mysterious energy fits the role

‘Speed’Bill Simmons

Runs the what-ifs: Jeff Speakman originally attached as Jack at Paramount; Stephen Baldwin and Richard Grieco up for Jack (Grieco turned it down off 21 Jump Street and calls it his biggest regret); Halle Berry turned down Annie ('stupidly said no' but the bus never left the parking lot in the script she read); the Ellen DeGeneres comic-relief version is an urban legend; Craig T. Nelson was offered the Joe Morton role but was filming Coach; Ed Harris was going to play Harry back when the character was evil; directors McTiernan, Renny Harlin, and Tarantino (finishing Pulp Fiction) all said no; Michael Bay wanted to direct and was rejected.

‘Speed’Chris Ryan

Noted the casting (Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves) seemed like a low-confidence, non-star-driven choice at the time ('I guess we'll try Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves like nobody knows who she is'), but didn't propose an alternate actor.

‘Speed’Chris Ryan

Engaged with the what-ifs without a pick of his own: recalled the original script had the bus driving around Dodger Stadium and crashing into the Hollywood sign, sorted the Last Action Hero / Die Hard with a Vengeance timeline for the McTiernan what-if, and joked it's best Michael Bay didn't get it because LA wouldn't still exist.

‘Speed’Sean Fennessey

Discussed that the director Jan de Bont could have 'just not been him' and it could have been any number of other filmmakers, but didn't name a specific alternate.

‘Speed’Sean Fennessey

On the director what-if: as the world's number one Last Action Hero fan, he thinks putting McTiernan in the chair takes Speed from a 10 out of 10 to a 10.5 out of 10; notes McTiernan has regrets and that 13th Warrior-era flops capped his career.

‘About Last Night’Bill Simmons

The role of Bernie was always intended to be John Belushi (who originated the role in the stage play 'Sexual Perversity in Chicago'); after Belushi died, William Macy played it in the play for a while before Jim Belushi took the movie role.

‘The Italian Job’Bill Simmons

Mark Wahlberg dropped out of SWAT to do this movie (Colin Farrell got that role instead), and Giovanni Ribisi was supposed to play the Seth Green part but couldn't do it.

‘The Italian Job’Van Lathan

Questions whether SWAT with Wahlberg would have been better, says he likes SWAT as is.

‘The Karate Kid Part II’Bill Simmons

Notes Elizabeth Shue was upset about being written out of Karate Kid 2 (she went to study at Harvard and wasn't pleased with the USI football excuse); also notes Bill Conti chose to score Karate Kid III instead of Rocky IV, and Peter Cetera's 'Glory of Love' (written for Rocky IV) was rejected by Stallone in favor of 'Hearts on Fire.' Also praises Clarence Gilyard's small role as 'Sato.'

Episode	Host	Answer
‘Apollo 13’	Amanda Dobbins	Proposed Julianne Moore (acknowledging she may be a bit young) for Marilyn Lovell over Kathleen Quinlan, imagining her delivering the 'take it up with my husband' line
‘Apollo 13’	Bill Simmons	Suggested Tom Cruise as Kevin Bacon's Jack Swigert ('60s cad' type, could sell the beer-bottle/cocktail-flipping monologue) but wondered if Cruise could sell Swigert's crisis of confidence; also suggested Denzel's coked-up/no-sleep Flight character as an alternate take on the Jack Swigert role, played for comedic effect
‘Apollo 13’	Rob Mahoney	Proposed swapping Ed Harris for Gene Hackman as Gene Kranz, questioning if Harris's shadowy/mysterious energy fits the role
‘Speed’	Bill Simmons	Runs the what-ifs: Jeff Speakman originally attached as Jack at Paramount; Stephen Baldwin and Richard Grieco up for Jack (Grieco turned it down off 21 Jump Street and calls it his biggest regret); Halle Berry turned down Annie ('stupidly said no' but the bus never left the parking lot in the script she read); the Ellen DeGeneres comic-relief version is an urban legend; Craig T. Nelson was offered the Joe Morton role but was filming Coach; Ed Harris was going to play Harry back when the character was evil; directors McTiernan, Renny Harlin, and Tarantino (finishing Pulp Fiction) all said no; Michael Bay wanted to direct and was rejected.
‘Speed’	Chris Ryan	Noted the casting (Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves) seemed like a low-confidence, non-star-driven choice at the time ('I guess we'll try Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves like nobody knows who she is'), but didn't propose an alternate actor.
‘Speed’	Chris Ryan	Engaged with the what-ifs without a pick of his own: recalled the original script had the bus driving around Dodger Stadium and crashing into the Hollywood sign, sorted the Last Action Hero / Die Hard with a Vengeance timeline for the McTiernan what-if, and joked it's best Michael Bay didn't get it because LA wouldn't still exist.
‘Speed’	Sean Fennessey	Discussed that the director Jan de Bont could have 'just not been him' and it could have been any number of other filmmakers, but didn't name a specific alternate.
‘Speed’	Sean Fennessey	On the director what-if: as the world's number one Last Action Hero fan, he thinks putting McTiernan in the chair takes Speed from a 10 out of 10 to a 10.5 out of 10; notes McTiernan has regrets and that 13th Warrior-era flops capped his career.
‘About Last Night’	Bill Simmons	The role of Bernie was always intended to be John Belushi (who originated the role in the stage play 'Sexual Perversity in Chicago'); after Belushi died, William Macy played it in the play for a while before Jim Belushi took the movie role.
‘The Italian Job’	Bill Simmons	Mark Wahlberg dropped out of SWAT to do this movie (Colin Farrell got that role instead), and Giovanni Ribisi was supposed to play the Seth Green part but couldn't do it.
‘The Italian Job’	Van Lathan	Questions whether SWAT with Wahlberg would have been better, says he likes SWAT as is.
‘The Karate Kid Part II’	Bill Simmons	Notes Elizabeth Shue was upset about being written out of Karate Kid 2 (she went to study at Harvard and wasn't pleased with the USI football excuse); also notes Bill Conti chose to score Karate Kid III instead of Rocky IV, and Peter Cetera's 'Glory of Love' (written for Rocky IV) was rejected by Stallone in favor of 'Hearts on Fire.' Also praises Clarence Gilyard's small role as 'Sato.'