After making big waves on the festival circuit and early awards season, it’s finally time that the general movie-going public is introduced to the insanity that is “Uncut Gems.” The latest film from the Safdie Brothers is easily one of the Best Films of 2019 (we said so, thus a fact) and features performances from veterans and newcomers like Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Lakeith Stanfield, and Idina Menzel that really can’t be overstated. But what if we were dashed away to an alternate reality where the Safdies were forced to go with other actors? What would that look like?
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Well, in a new interview with UPROXX, the Safdie Brothers detail what actors were almost cast in “Uncut Gems.” And judging by this list, it appears that “Bizzaro Gems” (the name the directors give the version of the cast that was present during a table read) would have been a very different animal.
When asked about what led to Jonah Hill’s departure from the cast (he was slated to play the Howard Ratner role that Sandler has already made iconic), Josh Safdie explained some other “almosts” that could have been in the film.
“So what happened was is that we did a table read with Sacha Baron Cohen,” said the co-director. “Actually right at the time when Marty attached himself, we did a table read. It was like the ‘Bizarro Jerry’ episode of ‘Seinfeld.’ It was ‘Bizarro Gems.’ It was Sacha Baron Cohen. Riley Keough who was playing the Julia [Fox] character. Asad Berg who was playing The Weeknd’s role. Amare Stoudemire was playing Kevin Garnett’s role. Isla Fisher played the Dinah [Idina Menzel’s role] part. Jerry Ferrara was in it. John David Washington was playing Lakeith’s [Stanfield] part. Tom Sizemore was doing the [Eric] Bogosian part. It was like a really weird reading.”
That’s one hell of a cast. And while that would have made for one interesting film, it’s really difficult to imagine anyone else in the roles that we see on the screen. But hey, I would pay to see “Bizzaro Gems.”
Going more into detail about why Hill didn’t work out, apparently, the actor wanted to work with the Safdies, especially after Martin Scorsese found himself attached as an executive producer on “Uncut Gems.” However, Hill’s age didn’t fit well with the story the Safdies wanted to tell, so ultimately, it didn’t work out.
“So we had a really hard time. We aged the kids really young. The whole thing,” said Benny Safdie. “I mean, it’s not that it’s unrealistic that people can be 34 and have eight-year-old children. It’s also the way that you would attach to the character is very different. If Howard’s younger, the lovability aspect is a little bit different.”
“The patriarchal quality disappeared a little bit,” Josh Safdie added. “So we had a hard time. And he, for timing reasons, got very involved in his own film, ‘Mid90s.’ And because he did that he also kind of had to do ‘Maniac.’ It was like a two-thing. The two together. So then he became unavailable. So it was fate again.”
“Uncut Gems” arrives in theaters on December 13.