20 Wild Horror Movie Casting Choices We Almost Got

8. Bette Midler - Annie Wilkes (Misery)

In the annals of truly GOATed horror movie performances, Kathy Bates' turn in Misery as Annie Wilkes - aka the world's most toxic fan years before Twitter was a thing - reigns supreme.

Yet Rob Reiner sought out several other, more high-profile actresses for Annie first, including Anjelica Huston and, somewhat more surprisingly, Bette Midler.

As of 1990, Midler's filmography consisted almost exclusively of comedies, dramas, and musicals, and so a psychological horror-thriller would've been a huge leap for her.

Midler ended up turning the role down, and like many other actors considered for the two leads it largely came down to the amount of violence involved.

And so, Reiner ended up casting Bates, who at the time was a more obscure stage actress with few screen credits to her name. 

But she cooked up an absolute storm in the role, enough that even the at-the-time horror-averse Academy couldn't ignore her work, eventually rewarding her with a Best Actress Oscar.