10 Actors Who Were Recast After The Pilot Episode

Lou Ferrigno is to The Incredible Hulk what Bill Shatner is to Star Trek and spoken word pop covers, so it may come as a shock that the studio almost went with a whole other leading man for this iconic late'70s show.

Richard Kiel - Jaws, of Moore-era Bond fame - went in for the role of TV's Hulk in the year between The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, presumably cashing in on his 'big man' credentials.

Shooting got as far as the pilot before producers realised that the part needed more than just height: Hulk needed bulk and, for all of his 7 feet (and change), Kiel was just a bit too much of a slim jim to do the green giant justice.

And, as this was way before CGI entered the mainstream and they could MoCap Mark Ruffalo's performance and magic his mug into the features of Doc Green's face, there was little hope for Kiel's future in the role.

Thus, Kiel was replaced and the pilot was reshot with Ferrigno, a bodybuilder whose muscles looked positively inflated. Nonetheless, one small scene of the original performance still remains in the final cut (pictured).