10 Horror Movie Characters Who Were Perfectly Cast (The Second Time)
3. Trillian St. James - Famke Janssen (Deep Rising)
The Original
The femme fatale in cult classic creature feature Deep Rising is Trillian St. James, a thief who is imprisoned onboard a luxury cruise liner as all hell breaks loose when a sea monster attacks the ship.
And originally, Trillian was set to be played by Claire Forlani, who got as far as spending three days on the film's set before quitting the project, allegedly due to creative differences with director Stephen Sommers.
Second Time's The Charm
Forlani was replaced, however, with Famke Janssen, who proves such a perfect fit for the anti-hero character that it's baffling to consider she wasn't the first choice all along.
Janssen channels much of the sexy, mischievous energy that made her GoldenEye villain Xenia Onatopp such a delight three years prior, even though Trillian is ultimately far more of a likeable, begrudgingly heroic character.
No disrespect to Claire Forlani, a fine actress, but given that she's spent most of her career playing more clean and reputable characters, it's tough to imagine her bringing the same hard-boiled, sarcastic, sultry quality to the part.
Basically everything worked out for the best, as Janssen was the film's easy MVP.