20 Wild Horror Movie Casting Choices We Almost Got

Zach Cregger's Barbarian pulls off a sharp perspective shift in its second act when it suddenly leaps to a new quasi-protagonist, AJ - the deeply sketchy actor and landlord played by Justin Long.

Long is so perfect in the role that it's easy to assume he was Cregger's first choice, but that actually wasn't the case.

Cregger initially offered the role to Zac Efron, as he saw AJ as a "beefcake kind of himbo," but ultimately Efron turned the part down, in turn causing Cregger to realise that he'd been thinking about the character all wrong.

Cregger decided that he needed a "Tom Hanks kind of a guy" to play the part instead and landed on Justin Long, feeling that his likeable, disarming presence would make the vile truths of his character that much more impactful.

And he was absolutely right. AJ would've been a very different character as portrayed by Efron, and Long just feels like he was the right pick the entire time.