10 Actors Who Got Fired From Roles Of A Life Time
4. James Remar - Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Aliens)
How do you try and top a genre changing, cinematic masterpiece like Ridley Scott's Alien (1979)? Short answer: you don't. When James Cameron picked up the Alien franchise in the mid 1980s, he made the incredibly wise decision to take his movie in a completely different direction.
The horror generated by the claustrophobic, heart-thumping, game of cat and mouse portrayed in the first movie was never going to be replicated. Instead Cameron made a sci fi action movie, pumped full of mean Marines, pulse rifles, and hordes of Xenomorphs.
This time Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) had a gruff bunch of grunts at her back, to stomp some bug ass. Well, sort of, the Marines pretty much get their assess kicked, leaving Corporeal Hicks (Michael Biehn), to rally the survivors. But his role was originally given to James Remar, who can still be spotted from behind in several shots.
Remar joined the rest of crew for several months of training before the shoot, bonding with his fellow Marines, and even customising his character's armour (that red heart on Hick's chest plate was a left over from Remar's involvement). But not long into the shoot Remar was given the boot, citing 'family obligations' for his departure. Later Remar revealed the whole story, admitting he was kicked out for having a drug problem.