Four Actors and a Director Who Passed on ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’

It's commonplace for a film's cast to cycle through different incarnations in what can be a painfully long pre-production process. Tom Selleck was once set to play Indiana Jones. Will Smith almost played Neo in "The Matrix." And as Tom Hanks will tell you, there were 10 other actors the studio wanted before him to fall head-over-fin for a mermaid in "Splash."

The breakout indie hit "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which celebrates 20 years since opening in the U.S. (and going on to become the highest grossing British film ever in America at the time) on Sunday, had its own variations on fated couple Charles and Carrie.

Ultimately, of course, it would be Hugh Grant (laying the foundation to become Mr. Rom-Com) and Andie MacDowell (who, a year after "Groundhog Day," was having herself a nice run in love fests) who would don all that formalwear.

But all those weddings and that funeral would've looked considerably different had the cards fallen differently. Here are four actors and a director who passed on the occasion, and some renderings of what this movie would've looked like if they hadn't.

1. Alan Rickman
The "Harry Potter" star was reportedly the filmmakers' first choice to play Charles, which begs a few questions: Would he have played him so bumbling? Would it have changed the whole dynamic, in regard to the main characters' ages (Rickman is 14 years Hugh's senior)? And would Carrie even been able to handle the raw sex appeal of the man that would be called Snape? (Or at least, the raw sex appeal Rickman's devout fans insist the man possesses.)

A year later, Rickman starred in "Four Weddings" director Mike Newell's next film, "An Awfully Big Adventure," alongside Grant. The movie bombed, but it all worked out just fine for Rickman. Among his many hits in the years that followed: "Love Actually," written and directed by "Four Weddings" scribe Richard Curtis.

2. Marisa Tomei
The "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner turned down the role of Carrie, but not for the happiest of reasons: " My grandfather was sick at the time, and I didn't want to leave. I'm sure it would have been fine with him. But I felt like I didn't want to go anywhere," Tomei told USA Today. "I guess I erred more on the side of being there for that. What I know now is that opportunities, they knock when they knock." Tomei has since said it's her one regret.

Like Rickman, though, her career hardly suffered without it: She's received two additional Academy Award nominations since the turn of the century, with Best Supporting Actress nods for "In the Bedroom" (2001) and "The Wrestler" (2008).

3. Melanie Griffith
Would Carrie have been a redhead? Guess we'll never know since the Oscar-nominated "Working Girl" star also reportedly turned down the role. Griffith, unfortunately, was no stranger to passing on what would eventually be iconic roles. Some of those included Sarah Connor in "The Terminator," Thelma in "Thelma and Louise," the young prostitute Iris in "Taxi Driver," and Lynn Bracken in "L.A. Confidential" (the part that would win Kim Basinger an Oscar).

You have to wonder what sort of learn-from-my-mistakes career advice Griffith gave daughter Dakota Johnson when she was offered the lead role in next year's much ballyhooed "Fifty Shades of Grey."

4. Brooke Shields
The actress who became a household name after some "coming of age" on "The Blue Lagoon" (yes, another role Melanie Griffith passed on) also apparently said "thanks but no thanks" to the prospect of playing Carrie.

At the time it might have seemed like a stretch to see the model try her hand at comedy. Of course two years later she'd have her own sitcom, "Suddenly Susan," which ran from 1996 until it was suddenly cancelled in 2000.

5. Mel Smith
Smith, the British sketch comedy star who passed away in 2013, directed screenwriter Richard Curtis's first project, "The Tall Guy," which featured Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson in her movie debut.

He was offered the gig of helming "Four Weddings" as a follow-up, but despite his close friendship with Curtis, passed on the opportunity. Instead he directed "Radioland Murders," which, with a story by Jedi Master George Lucas, looked promising, but fizzled at the box office upon its Oct. 1994 release.

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