10 Iconic Movie Roles Almost Played By Totally Different Actors
7. Patrick Bateman - Leonardo DiCaprio
No matter what the original novel's author Bret Easton Ellis says, Mary Harron directed American Psycho to perfection, and Christian Bale is the definitive Patrick Bateman - his performance perfectly capturing the absurdity, banality and inherent comedy of the yuppie lifestyle.
Who, then, would have been the worst person to play Bateman? Surely Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio, whose blonde hair, blue eyes and baby face were, in the late-'90s, the subject matter of teenage girls' dreams the world over. A horror icon, he is not.
But the studio wanted what the studio wanted, DiCaprio was cast, and Harron's disagreement with this move got her kicked off the project. Hot-headed Oliver Stone stepped in to replace her, but a tumultuous pre-production process with significant creative differences springing up between Stone and DiCaprio (who was known for using his industry clout to try and manipulate projects as he saw fit) meant the whole thing broke down before it had really got going.
Once the project had all but blown up in their faces, Harron and Bale returned, ever the underdogs, and we got American Psycho as it was always meant to be.