Casting What-Ifs

Alternate casting possibilities.

Casting What-Ifs has run in 359 episodes. The most recent 40 are listed below — open any episode at its timestamp to hear the segment.

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Episode	Host	Answer
‘L.A. Confidential’	Bill Simmons	Matthew McConaughey — McConaughey was considered but would have been a bad move for the role, prefers the actual casting
‘L.A. Confidential’	Chris Ryan	Matthew McConaughey — Agrees McConaughey would have been bad, too similar to his Time to Kill character
‘The Nice Guys’	Bill Simmons	Keith David — Says there are no casting what-ifs because the movie just came out, mentions Keith David as 'best that guy' and Bo Knapp as Blueface
‘The Nice Guys’	Chris Ryan	Lois Smith — Lois Smith as the old lady with the Coke bottle glasses
‘The Nice Guys’	Rob Mahoney	Beau Knapp — Bo Knapp doing Sacha Baron Cohen energy as Blueface
‘To Live and Die in L.A.’	Bill Simmons	John Malkovich — John Malkovich for the Pankow part, with additional suggestions of Stanley Tucci, Will Patton, and Michael Biehn
‘To Live and Die in L.A.’	Chris Ryan	John Malkovich — Supports John Malkovich as a good recasting choice for the Pankow role
‘To Live and Die in L.A.’	Sean Fennessey	Kelsey Grammer — Kelsey Grammer and Bill Paxton as alternative casting suggestions for the Pankow role
‘Fargo’	Bill Simmons	Bill Pullman — Bill Pullman was supposed to be Jerry Lundegaard but had to back out due to scheduling conflict, then they considered Richard Jenkins before giving it to William H. Macy
‘Fargo’	Chris Ryan	Bill Pullman — Agreed that Bill Pullman would have been wrong for Jerry - too handsome and dashing for the role
‘Fargo’	Kyle Brandt	Larry Brandon — Larry Brandon Burke as Stan Grossman (That Guy category)
‘Sicario’	Bill Simmons	Josh Brolin — Josh Brolin turned down the film after doing Everest, but Roger Deakins convinced him to join. For Emily Blunt alternatives, couldn't find better options than Anne Hathaway or Amy Adams. Kate Winslet from 2005 time-machined forward would be perfect.