10 Actors Who Lost Roles For Insane Reasons
6. Melora Hardin Was An Inch Taller Than Michael J. Fox - Back to the Future
In Back to the Future, the role of Marty McFly's girlfriend Jennifer was originally set to be played by Melora Hardin, best known today for playing Jan Levinson on The Office.
However, Hardin was replaced before she could shoot any scenes due to a majorly unexpected set of circumstances.
Five weeks into shooting, it was decided that original Marty actor Eric Stoltz was the wrong choice for the character, and so he was recast with original choice Michael J. Fox, requiring most of his scenes to be entirely reshot.
This unfortunately had a knock-on effect to Hardin's involvement, due to Hardin being an inch taller than Fox.
A poll was taken of female crew members, most of whom felt that Marty shouldn't be shorter than his girlfriend, which was described as "emasculating," and so Hardin was replaced with Claudia Wells, who was just an inch shorter and therefore equal to Fox's height.
To lose out on a major role in a huge movie franchise because of an inch of height is... absurd at best and, considering the context, grossly sexist at worst.