I saw There Will be Blood tonight starring my favorite modern actor and acting God, Daniel Day-Lewis, and it made me think how I bet he could play any part and totally excel at it, so talented is he.  He doesn’t do many films, which sucks, but whenever he does he’s just amazing.

So this got me thinking about Viv, Larry and the roles they may have been offered but had turned down, and which parts I think they would have been great in.

I know Vivien was offered the role of Alicia Huberman in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, Notorious (my favorite Hitchcock film), back in 1939.  According to Criterion, she had been interested, but by the time the film was made in 1944, Vivien was back in England and the role went to Ingrid Bergman.  I think Ingrid was fantastic, but I would have loved to see Viv in a role like that, especially opposite someone like Cary Grant.  I always thought she and Cary would have been amusing together.

I also think she would have done very well as Cathy in Wuthering Heights.  Merle Oberon did alright, but she wasn’t as dynamic an actress as Vivien was.  Vivien really, I think would have done well in any Victorian part, you know, anything by Jane Austen, the Brontes, any sort of period piece.  She really had the look for it and the delicacy and the charm.  She would have made a great Lizzie Benett in Pride and Prejudice, any version.  I really would have loved to see her do some more comedy, especially after she came to Hollywood because the British pre-war productions she was in really weren’t that good quality.

As for Larry, I know he was offered the role as Don Corleone in Francis Ford Copolla’s The Godfather and he turned it down.  As much as I think Marlon Brando was great in that role I would have been interested to see how Larry played it.  I wish he would have done more modern films when he was younger.  He wore a suit well, and I loved him in Rebecca, I thought he was fabulous.

What roles–classic or modern– do you think they would have excelled at, or maybe played better than the original actors?   I’d love to hear your opinions!