20 Things You Didn't Know About Fight Club
16. None Of The Main Cast Were The First Choice
The cast were so perfect on this movie, it’s still baffling that anyone else could possibly have been considered.
Yet before going for Pitt, the film’s producers had first considered Russell Crowe for the part of Tyler Durden. Not a terrible choice, but they admitted afterwards that Pitt had been the perfect match for the role.
The part of Jack, on the other hand, had both Matt Damon and Sean Penn in consideration before Fincher decided on Norton, primarily because of his performance as the lawyer in The People Vs. Larry Flynt.
It was Marla who caused the most deliberation - both Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar were initially offered the role. Witherspoon said no as she thought it was too dark, while Fincher said he thought she was too young; so was Gellar, who was also tied down to Buffy The Vampire Slayer and couldn’t sign up to the long shooting schedule the part required.
Courtney Love and Winona Ryder were also considered - Love was actually seeing Norton at the time, and many thought that this made her a sure thing, but Fincher felt exactly the opposite. Fincher’s preferred choice for the role was actually Janeane Garofalo, but word is that the script made her uncomfortable, and she passed.
Fincher also met with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, at that time still on Seinfeld, but came away from their meeting convinced she had no idea who he was, despite having Se7en and The Game on his resume by then.