Anthony Michael Hall was the first choice to play the lead role of Private Joker in “Full Metal Jacket.” Hall spent eight months preparing for the role but could not reach an agreement with Stanley Kubrick regarding monetary compensation, and was replaced by Matthew Modine.
Several actors had their roles shrunk or completely cut out of the film “The Thin Red Line” in post-production. Adrian Brody went from the lead to only two lines of dialog, 3 hours of narration by Billy Bob Thornton was never used, and Mickey Rourke can only be found in the DVD extras.
