7. Eddie Murphy - Axel Foley (Beverly Hills Cop)
What? It can't be, can it? Eddie Murphy's most iconic franchise wasn't even supposed to star him? Well, which other, witty African American actor was it supposed to star, then? Sylvester Stallone, you say? What... the... ? Yeah, it's kind of bizarre to learn that
Beverly Hills Cop, a series that seems to perfectly primed for the comic sensibilities of Eddie Murphy (he later went on to voice a donkey in a series of animated movies), wasn't even meant for him. The weird part is that Stallone was supposed to take centre stage. If you've ever cut out two pictures of these two from a magazine and put them next to one another, you'll have realised that they are nothing alike. Physical appearances aside, they both talk at completely different speeds, too. Weirder still,
Beverly Hills Cop was originally supposed to be a movie like
Cobra, which is the movie that Stallone made when
Beverly Hills Cop was transformed into more of a comedy vehicle. Murphy stepped in at this point, and an iconic character was born.