10 Roles Written For Actors That Didn't Play Them

Let's face it, American Beauty has not aged terribly well. in 1999, Alan Ball's script was seen as a biting satire of U.S. suburbia. It demands you empathize with those that unwillingly contribute to it while simultaneously condemning it. But it's curious to anyone who grew up in such an environment that this came as a shock to anyone in the general public. And, 20 years on, it's at best looked back on with naive nostalgia.

At worst, given the allegations against Kevin Spacey and Ball's less literal attacks on racism and bigotry being played out, it's a lightweight Oscar Winner.

That would have been different if they got the lead they wanted: a man who engendered the boomer generation and could believably play a sympathetic, funny jerk who rebels against a 9 to 5 office job. Hell, he rebelled against his own fame in the 70s. They wanted Chevy Chase.

By all accounts, Chase is difficult to work with, to put it politely. But his dry wit, habit fo improvisation and general reputation would have molded over Lester Burnham's burn-out absentee father in a very different way then Spacey's. Ultimately, Chase rejected the offer, leaving us a middling-to-decent satire and some nonsense about bags blowing in the wind.