Paramount
In order for a movie to achieve cult status, everything needs to go right — or rather, wrong — in a particular way. Take The Ringer‘s list of the Top 50 Best Cult Movies of all time: at #1 is The Big Lebowski, a legitimately excellent movie by any standards. But just 13 places below it sits The Room, the infamously disastrous Tommy Wiseau directed-and-starring fever dream. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, both The Big Lebowski and The Room maintain cult classic status nonetheless. Zoolander, which exists on the border of cult classic and mainstream hit, would’ve likely been neither of those things had some of the original casting choices happened as planned.
In a recent profile in Esquire celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson-starring gonzo comedy, Stiller, who directed the film, revealed that a young Jake Gyllenhaal was almost cast as Hansel (Donnie Darko actually wasn’t released until after Zoolander, which goes to show just how young Gyllenhaal was at the time), while Andy Dick — yes, Andy Dick — almost starred as Mugatu instead of the scene-stealing Will Ferrell.
It’s nearly impossible to picture any of these roles in the hands of other actors, now, but many had other names attached at one point. Wilson was always Stiller’s first choice for who he wanted to play Hansel, but when it looked like he wouldn’t be available to shoot, they were forced to hold auditions. “The only one that I remember clearly was a young Jake Gyllenhaal doing this wide-eyed version of Hansel that was really funny,” recalls Stiller.
He adds another revelation: “Andy Dick was supposed to play Mugatu,” but the comedian wasn’t available because he was working on a sitcom. “Now it’s impossible for me to picture anybody but Will doing it,” says Stiller. [via Esquire]
Zoolander was certainly a career-changing moment for Ferrell, who had yet to land a breakout role outside of Saturday Night Live. After Zoolander, though, there was no turning back, as he’d then go on to star in Old School, Elf, and Anchorman in the next few years. Thank the Hollywood Gods for whatever likely awful sitcom Andy Dick was starring in at the time, huh?
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