10 Times Actors Were Edited Out Of Movies
1. Mickey Rourke - The Thin Red Line
Several actors were cut from Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, including Lukas Haas and Bill Pullman, as well as a voiceover track recorded by Billy Bob Thornton. However - unlike Mr. & Mrs. Smith, where both pairs of cut actors played the same significant roles - Mickey Rourke is the only one who had a notable part in the film, one that was so good that the actor once called it his "best work", in a 2005 interview.
It's not entirely clear why Rourke was cut, but the actor believes it was for personal reasons, and not to serve the story, as he stated in that same interview:
"There were political reasons why I was out of the movie. That really upset me. I'd gone through a really bad time and Terry knew about it so he incorporated it into the character. It really worked. But just because of the temperature of me and the industry, my scenes were cut."
Malick is an experimental filmmaker, who makes odd, thoughtful, often provocative movies. Whether this was a personal move against Rourke or not, it's often expected for Malick to discover what the film actually is during the edit, meaning that he ends up with something completely different to what he originally planned.
He's cut major stars like Rachel Weisz, Jessica Chastain, Michael Sheen and Amanda Peet from his movies too, so at least Rourke is in good company.
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Which of these cut parts do you wish were in the final cut? Let us know in the comments section!