10 More Best Actor Replacements In Movies
1. Aaron Pierre - Rebel Ridge
The production of Jeremy Saulnier's latest thriller Rebel Ridge was basically a nightmare scenario for any filmmaker, given that original star John Boyega abruptly left the shoot a few weeks into principal photography for unspecified reasons.
This left Saulnier scrambling to replace him, and ultimately he landed on rising British actor Aaron Pierre. After a 10-month production pause, Rebel Ridge resumed shooting and was seemingly completed without further incident.
And watching the final film, a gut-wrenching thriller in which Pierre's protagonist is an ex-Marine facing off against the corrupt authorities of a small town, it's quite tough to picture Boyega playing the part nearly this well.
Pierre's imposing stature and overall physicality make him immediately believable as a former soldier capable of taking the local cops to task, whereas Boyega would've brought a much scrappier energy to the table.
It isn't easy to picture Boyega performing the action beats so effectively, nor bringing the quiet intensity that Pierre did.
Regardless of what actually caused Boyega to quit the film, Pierre was a perfect replacement who probably should've just been cast in the first place.