2. Michael Keaton - The Purple Rose Of Cairo
Like many directors, Woody Allen admired the talents of Michael Keaton -- an actor who brought a manic, unpredictable intelligence to both comedic (Beetlejuice) and dramatic (Clean and Sober) roles -- and wanted to work with him. In 1985, Keaton was an up and coming comic star (he'd burst on the scene with the one-two punch of Night Shift and Mr. Mom), but he was so eager to work with the legendary writer/director that he agreed to take a pay cut to star in The Purple Rose of Cairo, as the movie hero who suddenly, startlingly steps out of the theater screen to romance Mia Farrow's depression era movie fan. It was a wonderful part, and Keaton was a wonderful actor. Unfortunately, he turned out not to be quite the right actor for the part; after ten days of shooting,
Allen felt that Keaton seemed too "contemporary" to be playing a '30s lead, and replaced him with Jeff Daniels. The two apparently parted on good terms, and Allen has expressed a desire to work with Keaton sometime in the future. Hopefully Keaton doesn't feel too badly, though, because after all, we're talking about the same director who replaced...