6. Stuart Townsend - The Lord Of The Rings
Seeing as Viggo Mortenson has almost become the poster boy for modern fantasy action heroes as "lost king" Aragorn -- the stubble, the fiery eyes, the strong jaw, the brawler's facility in battle -- it's hard to imagine director Peter Jackson having ever considered anyone else; but up until the day before shooting began, Aragorn was supposed to have been played by Irish actor Stuart Townsend. Jackson and his fellow filmmakers ultimately felt that they had "cast the role too young", and wanted an actor with who looked a bit more mature; Mortenson, without having ever tested for the part, was flown out to New Zealand and was shooting the sword fight at Weathertop on his first day, becoming more or less instantly iconic in the role. Townsend, for his part, was understandably a bit grumpy about the whole experience,
telling Entertainment Weekly that "it was a weird introduction to big-budgeted projects...I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different."