Everyone likes a good alternate casting story. Imagine “The Lord of the Rings” with Jake Gyllenhaal as Frodo, or Will Smith as Neo in “The Matrix.” Well, can you imagine Robert Pattinson as the tough action movie star Lucas Lee in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World“? Turns out, he almost had to fight Michael Cera in that movie.
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“Scott Pilgrim” is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, and it’s about time we celebrate the incredible casting of that movie (which includes several future superheroes and other genre stars). Thankfully, Vanity Fair already went ahead and talked to director Edgar Wright about how the film assembled its all-star cast, and who almost made the cut.
One of the people who nearly made the cut was Robert Pattinson (right in the eve of the release of “Twilight“), who auditioned in mid-2008 for the role of the evil ex-boyfriend, Lucas Lee. “I remember it vividly,” Wright recalled. “He did a much more intense read of it as well. Obviously, Robert is an incredible actor and someone who I’d love to work with now. But it was a very different take from what Chris did.”
Casting director Allison Jones didn’t pass the chance to ask about the other project Pattison was working on. “I remember we were asking him about ‘Twilight’, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know. I just saw it. It’s okay, I guess. I don’t know,'” said Jones. “He was really good at an American accent.”
Other actors that auditioned for the film include a pre-Marvel Sebastian Stan, who Edgar Wright liked for the role of Lucas Lee but had already tapped Chris Evans for that role. Meanwhile, we nearly got Betty Gilpin or a rare comedic appearance by Rooney Mara, who auditioned for the role of Kim Pine, the drummer in Scott Pilgrim’s band, a role that ultimately went to Alison Pill.