1. Bruce Willis Nearly Wasn't Cast As John McClane
Bruce Willis almost saved himself a whole lot of trouble (and the partial loss of hearing on one ear) when casting began for Die Hard's John McClane in the late 1980's. The role of the tough guy New York Detective was first offered to Arnold Schwarzenegger, then Sylvester Stallone, then Burt Reynolds... then Richard Gere... then Harrison Ford and finally to Mel Gibson before it was offered to the comparatively unknown Bruce Willis, who ended up being the
seventh choice for the role. John McTiernan was originally going to make Commando 2, but Arnold Schwarzenegger turned the role offer down. Commando 2 was then transformed into the seminal Die Hard; Schwarzenegger was the first actor offered the title role, but he again declined. It is difficult to imagine Richard Gere and Harrison Ford portraying McClane, but Arnie might have been a decent choice. Overall, however, we're all quite glad it went to Bruce in hindsight.
You can find a multitude of interesting facts about the Die Hard series here and all thanks goes to IMDb for providing me with the material for this article.