10 Actors Who Were Recast After The Pilot Episode
6. Miranda Otto - Virginia Pittman/Theresa Cullen (Westworld)
In 2016, Jonathan Nolan's Westworld took a slightly hammy '70s cult favourite about a theme park full of lifelike androids and brought it up to date, with an undergraduate semester's-worth of philosophy, and all the jaw-dropping effects that modern practical and digital technology have to offer.
So, like the hiring of Sean Bean for Game Of Thrones or David Wenham for Iron Fist, it made sense to cash in on a solid slab of acting talent with some A-list sci-fi/fantasy genre cred, hiring Miranda Otto, who cemented her place in the canon as Eowyn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
Otto shot the pilot as Virginia Pittman, the head of quality assurance for the park, before exiting the project, ostensibly to focus on her equally demanding role in Homeland. And, once Otto had been replaced by Sidse Babett Knudsen, the role of Virginia Pittman was redefined with the new actress in mind, and christened with a brand new name: Theresa Cullen.