10 Movie Characters Totally Changed During Production
2. Evelyn Salt - Salt
The Character
Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), an extremely skilled CIA operative with a knack for disguises and, well, kicking ass.
What Changed?
Salt was originally conceived as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise, with the protagonist being named Edwin A. Salt, until Cruise bailed for fearing the character was too similar to his Mission: Impossible mainstay Ethan Hunt.
Columbia exec Amy Pascal suggested the possibility of a gender-swap for the character and offering it to Angelina Jolie, who accepted on the strength of the original script.
Brian Helgeland was then brought in to re-shape the screenplay, which included renaming the protagonist to Evelyn and tightening up her third act characterisation per Jolie's request.
The end result is pretty seamless despite substantial changes to the original script and character that were offered to Cruise, even if the screenplay is absolutely the worst thing about the film.
Despite turning in solid critical and commercial results, however, Salt never birthed the expected sequel.