10 Iconic Movie Roles Almost Played By Totally Different Actors
8. Ennis Del Mar - Ben Affleck
Few films of the 21st century have made as big an impact as Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. The story of a pair of in-love cowboys absconding into the hills for months where they could be free from society's judgement became a landmark for queer cinema in the early 2000s, underpinned by deft and well-studied performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger.
It might be hard to imagine this all being the case if the film had been led by Ben Affleck. And yet...
Back when Brokeback Mountain was going to be directed by Gus Van Sant, the experimental auteur had Affleck pegged for the part of Ennis Del Mar - the role that eventually went to Heath Ledger and all but made the late actor's career. And because the duo can never go unseparated for too long, Van Sant wanted Matt Damon to play opposite him in Jake Gyllenhaal's Jack Twist role, taking the Greater Boston boys' on-screen partnership onto a hitherto unexplored plane.
Thankfully, for cinema as a whole, when Van Sant dropped out, Affleck and Damon went with him, leaving the floor open for Ang Lee to sweep in with two of the finest actors in the business and make history.