8. Hugo Weaving - V (V For Vendetta)
Hugo Weaving is probably best known for playing bad guys in films by the Wachowskis, and as frowny-elf dad Elrond in
The Lord of the Rings. He also plays V in the movie adaptation of iconic graphic novel
V For Vendetta, because that movie was paid for by the Wachowskis, too, so why not? Originally, though, Hugo had no part in this thing: it was actor James Purefoy who bagged the iconic role as the movie's masked hero, though he became uncomfortable with the fact that he was, uh, playing a masked hero, and decided to bail. Hugo Weaving, an actor who apparently has no problem with covering his face for the entire length of a movie, was cast as Purefoy's replacement six weeks into shooting
V For Vendetta. Maybe he wanted to hang out with Natalie Portman. That was probably it, wasn't it? Hugo, you old dog, you. Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of the Purefoy footage remains in the flick to this day, because there was no need to reshoot it. I mean, there's a mask covering his face. Weaving simply recorded some dialogue separately and it was overdubbed. Magic!