10 Famous Movies That Would Have Been Better Off With Their First Choice Actors

3. Chevy Chase As Lester Burnham - American Beauty

Kevin Spacey won an Oscar for this performance, so obviously I'm the only person who thought the original choice would've been even better: Chevy Chase. Yeah, you read that right. In all honesty, you can see why they went for him. He was known for being a family-friendly actor, who always played a father or a father figure, and this was a great opportunity to completely subvert audience expectations by having him play a bit of a creepy pervert. While Spacey is brilliant in the role, and fully deserves his Oscar, just think how much more shocking his actions would be if it had been Clark Griswold doing them instead. It's a bit like seeing John Lithgow, the funny alien dad from 3rd Rock from the Sun, as a complete raging psychopath in Cliffhanger or Dexter. It's so traumatising and it works. Unfortunately, Chase didn't want to harm his family-friendly image, and turned down the role. He's said this is his biggest regret, and I've got to agree with him.