Casting is an arduous process to ensure the right actor gets the right role, but sometimes, things don’t work out. The chemistry is off with the rest of the cast, the studio needs a bigger name, the director decided the character should have a shaved head but a bald cap killed his parents, etc. Sometimes, however, the reason is truly ridiculous.

[subtitle]5Mark Wahlberg Decided Donnie Darko Should Have a Lisp [/subtitle]

Wahlberg was initially cast as the lead in 2001’s Donnie Darko, but once director Richard Kelly found out his vision for the character included a pronounced lisp, he was out. It’s probably just as well, as Wahlberg was already straining credulity as a teenager in Boogie Nights four years earlier and Jake Gyllenhaal hadn’t yet become Taylor Swift’s most hated ex.

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Wahlberg later benefited from another actor-director misalignment.