Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

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Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

Posted: 3/14/25 at 10:11pm

Thinking about Cynthia Erivo and Mike Faist, who were (by some accounts) in talks for the respective film adaptations of COLOR PURPLE and DEAR EVAN HANSEN. Instead, they ended up doing other projects: WICKED and WEST SIDE STORY.

Faist’s career skyrockets after WSS in a way that it definitely wouldn’t have even if he was the best part of an awful DEH movie. WSS didn't make a ton of money but it was Spielberg and an Oscar player. There would be no straight line to CHALLENGERS from DEAR EVAN HANSEN.

Erivo might have received an Oscar nom for playing Celie on screen, but that movie isn’t great and it still wouldn’t have made money at the box office. Instead she got to be in a generational hit, WICKED, which is going to be a transformational career moment for her.

I don't really view Julie Andrews in this category: her career probably still ends up great if she does FAIR LADY over POPPINS. But who knows...

Who else?

Updated On: 3/14/25 at 10:11 PM

Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

Posted: 3/14/25 at 10:37pm

I don't know if Faist's case really applies, although he has been a bright light indeed in Pinball and Challengers. West Side Story was filmed in the summer of 2019. It was supposed to be released in 2020 but was put on hold for a year by Covid. He could probably have filmed Dear Evan Hansen if Chbosky had wanted him.

Updated On: 3/14/25 at 10:37 PM

Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

Posted: 3/15/25 at 1:23am

The Other One said: "I don't know if Faist's case really applies, although he has been a bright light indeed in Pinball and Challengers. West Side Story was filmed in the summer of 2019. It was supposed to be released in 2020 but was put on hold for a year by Covid. He could probably have filmed Dear Evan Hansen if Chbosky had wanted him."

Supposedly he was offered the movie and turned it down

Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

Posted: 3/15/25 at 8:04am

Isn't this just "the road not taken"? I'm not sure it's at all possible to determine the what if in an alternate path.

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

Posted: 3/15/25 at 8:40am

The Ben Platt you’ll never be….who remembers him?

Situations where a stage actor doesn’t reprise a role on screen and it works out better for their career

Posted: 3/15/25 at 11:00am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Erivo might have received an Oscar nom for playing Celie on screen, but that movie isn’t great and it still wouldn’t have made money at the box office. Instead she got to be in a generational hit, WICKED, which is going to be a transformational career moment for her."

On a recent episode of the And the Runner-Up Is podcast (where host Kevin Jacobsen covered the 2023 Best Actress Oscar race), I submitted this question on Twitter that was asked on the show: "Had Cynthia Erivo starred in The Color Purple instead of Fantasia Barrino, how do you think she could’ve fared in this race? Especially given her unique EGOT narrative that likely would’ve been pushed."

Guest Joyce Eng thinks she wouldn't have gotten nominated mainly because of how the movie itself underperformed all season long. She also thought it would've fared better had Warner Brothers started rolling it out in select cities before going wide. Although Kevin thinks she would've been more on the bubble to sneak in given that she was already a previous nominee at that point.

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