Check out the trailer for political comedy Our Brand is Crisis, in which Sandra Bullock stars in a role originally meant for George Clooney.
It’s not often that an actress replaces an actor for a key role, but such was the case for Our Brand is Crisis, a dramatization of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada’s campaign for president of Bolivia in 2002.
George Clooney was originally tapped to produce and star in the movie, but when Sandra Bullock expressed interest in the project, she was given the role of Jane Bodine (originally a male character).
Bullock explained to Entertainment Weekly how the switch came about, saying, “About two and a half years ago I put out feelers saying, ‘I’m not reading anything I’m excited about. Are there any male roles out there that [the filmmakers] don’t mind switching to female?'”
Unsurprisingly, Clooney was willing to pass along the role to his Gravity co-star (we guess he just… drifted away from the project). If the trailer is anything to go by, this was a great choice creatively:
Although it doesn’t happen often, actresses have replaced actors in movies before. Angelina Jolie’s Salt role was originally meant for Tom Cruise, while the makers of Sicario resisted producers’ efforts to change Emily Blunt’s hard-edged character to a man.
Our Brand is Crisis is based on the 2005 documentary of the same name. David Gordon Green directs, with Billy Bob Thornton playing Sandra Bullock’s rival. Anthony Mackie, Zoe Kazan and Ann Dowd also star.
The movie hits cinemas on October 30, 2015.
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