10 Recent Movie Roles Almost Played By Other Actors

It's rather fitting that Ricky Stanicky feels like a comedy ripped out of a whole different area, given that it was in development for the better part of 15 years before finally coming to fruition, with John Cena playing the wild central character.

But in the early 2010s, the likes of James Franco and Joaquin Phoenix flirted with playing the part, before Jim Carrey finally committed to it in 2013. However, development stalled for many years, and by the time it was resurrected in 2022, Carrey had long since moved on. Still, it's certainly easy to see how such a role would be fine-tuned to Carrey's mug-happy talents. 

"Ricky" is a fake persona invented by a group of friends to serve as a scapegoat for all their mischief, but when they finally need a physical presence for the man, they hire an actor, Rod, to portray him. It's a hilariously deranged premise and one which Carrey would've likely had an absolute feast with, if his utterly bonkers recent dual-performance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is any indication.

Then again, John Cena went so hard with his performance - so much harder than he ever needed to, really - that it's no big deal that Jim Carrey didn't get the chance.