10 Iconic Movie Villains (Almost Played By Someone Else)

25 years before they were on opposing sides in the lacklustre Expendables 2, we came very close to seeing a proper face off between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme in their prime thanks to one of Arnie's best movies.

JCVD, then better known as a karate and kickboxing champion than an action movie star, was the original choice to play the titular antagonist in Predator, a rare villain that is more than a match for Schwarzenegger.

The idea was to pair the uber-beefy bodybuilder physique of Arnie and co-stars Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura against an alien that had a different kind of phyiscality and fighting style: a fast, lithe, agile martial artist.

At the end of the day, though, the Muscles From Brussels just didn't have the, well, muscles to look sufficiently intimidating against Arnie's testosterone crew. After filming some early scenes with Van Damme, director John McTiernan decided he needed someone bigger in the suit.

This wasn't the only issue, though. Van Damme was annoyed at his first major movie involving him being entirely covered by an alien costume, not to mention the original Predator suit being hot, uncomfortable, and far too cumbersome to show off the agile martial arts moves McTiernan had originally envisioned.

The part was recast with Harry And The Henderson's loveable seven foot bigfoot Kevin Peter Hall, the costume completely redesigned to the familiar dreadlocked assassin, and a true alien icon was born.