James Marsden Almost Played Burt Reynolds In ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’
Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodhas a huge cast. As the film entered production, we reached a point where daily casting news would add yet another name to an ever-growing list. One of those names wasJames Marsden– but Marsden didn’t make it into the final film. So who was Marsden going to play in Tarantino’s latest? Surprisingly, he was set to playBurt Reynolds– an actor who wasalsocast inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodbut died before shooting his scenes.
Colliderhas the scoop on who James Marsden was cast to play inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood: Burt Reynolds. There’s no info on what context we would’ve seen Marsden’s Reynolds appear in, but there are plenty of options. The film is set in Hollywood in 1969, and there are several scenes set on backlots or swinging Hollywood parties where actors roam wild. And of course, there are plenty of other celebrities of the era portrayed in the film:Margot Robbieas Sharon Tate,Mike Mohas Bruce Lee,Damian Lewisas Steve McQueen, and more. It would’ve been appropriate for Burt Reynolds to pop-up somewhere.
And then there’s the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Rick Dalton, is famous for playing a TV cowboy in the 1950s – something Reynolds also did, onGunsmoke. It makes sense that given their similar careers, Rick Dalton and Burt Reynolds would’ve crossed paths at some point. An interesting addendum to this info is the fact that therealBurt Reynolds almost appeared inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, too. Reynolds was originally cast as George Spahn, the owner of the Spahn Movie Ranch, where Charles Manson and his “family” lived for a period of time. However, Reynolds died before his filming began, and he was replaced by Bruce Dern.
It’s not clear if Marsden ever shot his scenes, or if Tarantino ended up cutting them completely before filming began. In any case, Marsden gets a “special thanks” mention in the credits. Marsden isn’t the only actor who didn’t make it into the theatrical cut: Tim Roth and Danny Strong were also both announced as part of the cast, but don’t appear in the final film.
