What do film/tv studios do if an actor that is integral, dies?

Deleted member 437 · Dec 7, 2017

So I always wondered what would happen if an actor died that was pivotal to a movie series or tv show.

I'm not talking about a movie thats a one-off or show.

For example, Game of Thrones. Now I'm not going to name an specific actor because that is bad luck and bad taste, but lets say one of the major characters died from that show in real life. Like, a character that is clearly integral to the next season that hasn't begun shooting.

What would happen exactly?

Obviously film and tv studios have an emergency plan for such an event, right? Does anyone know the standard procedure for such things?

In my Game of Thrones example, what would they do? Recast the person I'm guessing, 8 seasons in? Write the person out somehow? (although if they were integral I'm assuming this would be impossible). Cancel the show?

Has this ever happened before? Maybe Paul Walker, but he already shot lots of his scenes, and it was pretty easy to write him out of the next movie.

litebrite · Dec 7, 2017

Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies was replaced when the actor died and a lot of people didn' t even notice

Darknight · Dec 7, 2017

They cancelled Training Day when Bill Paxton passed away.

Deleted member 437 · Dec 7, 2017

litebrite said:
Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies was replaced when the actor died and a lot of people didn' t even notice

Haven't watched most of those movies. Let's say a major actor died in movie 6. What would they do?

Darknight said:
They cancelled Training Day when Bill Paxton passed away.

That was like a brand new show though, right?

LewieP · Dec 7, 2017

There are running series that is just built in that they recast every so often, Doctor Who, James Bond.

They changed The oracle in the matrix sequels for this reason, they just said she'd had to take on a new form, which didn't break the story.

The dark knight rises would have presumably featured the joker if the actor was still alive.

Of course these days with blue screen and CGI, you can do what the fast and furious movies did and piece together a posthumous riding off into the sunset scene.

Avis · Dec 7, 2017

If that person is extremely integral, consider cancelling. Though this is rare, and usually only done if the show was losing viewers anyways.

Otherwise, replacement actor/off screen death.

And in some cases, CG.

uncelestial · Dec 7, 2017

Seems like Game of Thrones is the least of your worries given that they kill main characters on the reg.

I've seen the characters just ghosted -- as with Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz when Phil Hartman was murdered. I've seen their death get written into the show -- as with Ms. Krabappel when Marcia Wallace died, and Lyvia Soprano when Nancy Marchand died (which required the use of awkward CG to pull off). Depends on the show and the character, really.

If, say, Kramer had died in 1996, I bet the show would've gone on. It's a comedy. Unless it's *the principal character* -- like, Cranston dying during Breaking Bad -- I would wager most shows that were making money would try to find a way.

PreeminentDB · Dec 7, 2017

John Ritter died during the 2nd season of 8 Simple Rules. He was the main character. They wrote in that he died, and added Jim Garner as his dad, and David Spade as Ritter's nephew.The show went on for another year, and was canceled after the third season.

Bronx-Man · Dec 7, 2017

This made me think of when of Guardians Vol. 2 teased that the next movie has the Guardians 3000 playing a big part and I was in the theater thinking "What if Sylvester Stallone dies?"

grang · Dec 7, 2017

I think the biggest most recent one is 8 Simple Rules, when John Ritter passed.

Here's a video of the episode if you want to see how they handled it (sorry for the quality, it's the only one I could find): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QefbqSn5Hc

Col Willie Sharp said:
John Ritter died during the 2nd season of 8 Simple Rules. He was the main character. They wrote in that he died, and added Jim Garner as his dad, and David Spade as Ritter's nephew.The show went on for another year, and was canceled after the third season.

Beaten to the punch!

Auros01 · Dec 7, 2017

Edit Again: Two people actually beat me to it in mentioning John Ritter.

GotMineGood · Dec 7, 2017

All depends on what the studio, writer, and producers want to do. Each scenario is different. If it happens on GoT, I'll let you know.

litebrite · Dec 7, 2017

Didn't the main actor in Spartacus die in between seasons? If I'm not mistaken, I think they fixed the show by making the rest of the seasons prequels.

Anoregon · Dec 7, 2017

I'd be a bit surprised if Trailer Park Boys continues past the most recently filmed season, with John Dunsworth being dead. I know it can continue without him, but it wouldn't feel right without Lahey.

G_Shumi · Dec 7, 2017

Back in 2002, ABC had a family sitcom waiting called 8 Simple Rules, starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal. They played the main characters, the parents of the family. But in 2004, John Ritter died and the cast and crew of the show didn't know what to do. After a month hiatus of the second season, the show came back on air and acknowledged Ritter's death by killing off the character too. The few episodes that aired after Ritter's death were mourning the character and actor. Then Katey Sagal took on the lead role by herself as a single mother and also had the help of a couple of new characters from the family.

That was done pretty well but the show obviously was never the same after Ritter passed away. ABC decided to renew the show for a third season and it didn't do so well so it ended up being the last one. Many people have said that ABC should've cancelled the show after season 2.

Overall, it's a very messy situation and if the show is good enough without the main character, then it will continue. Otherwise it'll just get cancelled.

EDIT: Geez. Beaten twice over.

Chaos Legion · Dec 7, 2017

Paul Walker died. They used his brothers and CGI inserted his face on them to finish shooting.

okay · Dec 7, 2017

Replace him with Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell and add in a shapeshifting plotline.. or something

Whitemex · Dec 7, 2017

Hire David Spade...

It depends I guess on the show. Some continue while others shut down

Manu · Dec 7, 2017

litebrite said:
Didn't the main actor in Spartacus die in between seasons? If I'm not mistaken, I think they fixed the show by making the rest of the seasons prequels.

Only the second season was a prequel. The role was recast for season three (which was actually season 2) up until the end of the series.

xxracerxx · Dec 7, 2017

Look at Spartacus the show. When Andy Whitfield died, they recast him and kept the show going. The new guy wasn't anything great but he was filling massive shoes left behind.

LakeEarth · Dec 7, 2017

It's pretty much 3 choices. Re-cast the character, re-write the script and/or kill off the character, or if they were crucial to the product's success, cancel.

litebrite · Dec 7, 2017

Manu said:
Only the second season was a prequel. The role was recast for season three (which was actually season 2) up until the end of the series.

Thank you. I knew it was something like that.

Violence Jack · Dec 7, 2017

When Phillip Seymour Hoffman died before the filming of Mockingjay part 2 was completed, they just used alternate shots to not show his face or just CGed his face on the body of a double.

Same thing in Gladiator when Oliver Reed died of a heart attack while filming.

Then you have horrible examples like this with Bruce Lee in Game of Death or Peter Sellers in Trail of the Pink Panther where archived footage or deleted scenes footage from another movie are spliced together to make a film years after the actor died.

NealMcCauley · Dec 7, 2017

Try their damnedest to work around it like Oliver Reed/Gladiator and Paul Walker.

Off the top of my head one of the only times a movie was cancelled due to a death was Marilyn Monroe and Something's Got to Give.

NameUser · Dec 7, 2017

In the current shows that I watch, they'd pretty much have to be canceled if the main actor died. I couldn't imagine Mr. Robot without Rami Malek, or Arrow without Stephen Amell.

I mean, they could recast Amell by coming up with some dumb other world excuse, or hand over the show to John by making him the new Green Arrow for real, but it wouldn't be the same.

HStallion · Dec 7, 2017

If it's Bruce Lee just use cardboard cut outs

boxter432 · Dec 7, 2017

uncelestial said:
Seems like Game of Thrones is the least of your worries given that they kill main characters on the reg.

I've seen the characters just ghosted -- as with Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz when Phil Hartman was murdered. I've seen their death get written into the show -- as with Ms. Krabappel when Marcia Wallace died, and Lyvia Soprano when Nancy Marchand died (which required the use of awkward CG to pull off). Depends on the show and the character, really.

If, say, Kramer had died in 1996, I bet the show would've gone on. It's a comedy. Unless it's *the principal character* -- like, Cranston dying during Breaking Bad -- I would wager most shows that were making money would try to find a way.

speaking of Hartman, they wrote in his death in Newsradio, to start off season 5. it was tough to watch.
wiki: "The cast could barely get through reading the script due to the death of Phil Hartman. They broke down in tears several times while filming the episode."

Whitemex · Dec 7, 2017

The Crow

Brandon Lee was killed while filming the movie. They decided to finish the movie with his stunt double (if I remember) filling in

Ghos · Dec 7, 2017

litebrite said:
Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies was replaced when the actor died and a lot of people didn' t even notice

Dumbledore's a generic wizard covered head to toe. Replacing him is like replacing Santa.

Deleted member 437 · Dec 7, 2017

Violence Jack said:
When Phillip Seymour Hoffman died before the filming of Mockingjay part 2 was completed, they just used alternate shots to not show his face or just CGed his face on the body of a double.

Same thing in Gladiator when Oliver Reed died of a heart attack while filming.

But sometimes it can go wrong like with

Then you have horrible examples like this with Bruce Lee in Game of Death or Peter Sellers in Trail of the Pink Panther where archived footage or deleted scenes footage from another movie are spliced together to make a film years after the actor died.

Bahahahahaha

Violence Jack · Dec 7, 2017

NameUser said:
In the current shows that I watch, they'd pretty much have to be canceled if the main actor died. I couldn't imagine Mr. Robot without Rami Malek, or Arrow without Stephen Amell.

I mean, they could recast Amell by coming up with some dumb other world excuse, or hand over the show to John by making him the new Green Arrow for real, but it wouldn't be the same.

With the number of alternate earths there are in the Arrowverse, recasting the role would be pretty easy.

mrmoose · Dec 7, 2017

While he wasn't necessarily integral, GoT had no problems recasting guys like the Mountain and Dario... 8 seasons in it might be tough but I'd think they'd do it and people would understand.

But yeah, the Hunger Games trilogy was a good example where Hoffman's character was integral to the plot and it was an adaptation so they couldn't change much, and luckily they were able to hack it together with existing footage. Same, I'm sure, with Leia in the new Star Wars.

Although there's still debate over whether they changed it because of this, Mark Hamill was in a car accident where his facial structure was altered, and they had him mauled by a Wampa early on in Empire.

Deleted member 437 · Dec 7, 2017

Lets say, and shit I hate doing this, but lets say the actress playing Danaerys died today or something.

Like, what would HBO do? Clearly she is important to the series and the last season.

I guess recast? It would be jarring to say the least.

xxracerxx · Dec 7, 2017

Mikey Jr. said:
Lets say, and shit I hate doing this, but lets say the actress playing Danaerys died today or something.

Like, what would HBO do? Clearly she is important to the series and the last season.

I guess recast? It would be jarring to say the least.

I mean sure it would be jarring, but people would get over it.

lenovox1 · Dec 7, 2017

Mikey Jr. said:
Lets say, and shit I hate doing this, but lets say the actress playing Danaerys died today or something.

Like, what would HBO do? Clearly she is important to the series and the last season.

I guess recast? It would be jarring to say the least.

Where is series based on a book that has definitive way that it's going to end? They would recast. Like they did with Harry Potter.

Cronen · Dec 7, 2017

Was gonna mention 8 Simple Rules but can see I've been beaten to the punch!

mrmoose · Dec 7, 2017

I mean they recast tv shows and movies a bunch, mainly because of contract disputes. Aunt Viv in Fresh Prince, Becky in Roseanne, Ann/Egg in Arrested Development (which will also have to do another recasting or exclusion because of Tambor), Rhodey in Iron Man, heck, Katie Holmes to Gyllenhall in the Batman films. Besides Ann, none of these were minor characters.

PreeminentDB · Dec 7, 2017

uncelestial said:
Seems like Game of Thrones is the least of your worries given that they kill main characters on the reg.

I've seen the characters just ghosted -- as with Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz when Phil Hartman was murdered. I've seen their death get written into the show -- as with Ms. Krabappel when Marcia Wallace died, and Lyvia Soprano when Nancy Marchand died (which required the use of awkward CG to pull off). Depends on the show and the character, really.

If, say, Kramer had died in 1996, I bet the show would've gone on. It's a comedy. Unless it's *the principal character* -- like, Cranston dying during Breaking Bad -- I would wager most shows that were making money would try to find a way.

20 year older example, but Jack Soo died during the run of Barney Miller. He was main cast, and important, but they moved on. Now if Hal Linden, who played Barney, died, the show would have been over.

Rendering... · Dec 7, 2017

Recast. This happened to Starz's excellent Spartacus series, when the star Andy Whitfield's untimely loss derailed production after season 1. A prequel miniseries was released to give everyone time to regroup, and then Liam McIntyre stepped into the lead role from season 2 onward.

He started out rough, but most fans embraced him by the end. I'm sorry to say that I couldn't. Andy was the perfect Spartacus and the series never felt the same without him. I just couldn't trick myself into believing that I was watching the resolution of his story.

Deleted member 437 · Dec 7, 2017

mrmoose said:
I mean they recast tv shows and movies a bunch, mainly because of contract disputes. Aunt Viv in Fresh Prince, Becky in Roseanne, Ann/Egg in Arrested Development (which will also have to do another recasting or exclusion because of Tambor), Rhodey in Iron Man, heck, Katie Holmes to Gyllenhall in the Batman films. Besides Ann, none of these were minor characters.

I guess, but I wouldn't say integral. I'm talking Uncle Phil, John Goodman, GOB, Robert Downey Jr.

mrmoose · Dec 7, 2017

Mikey Jr. said:
I guess, but I wouldn't say integral. I'm talking Uncle Phil, John Goodman, GOB, Robert Downey Jr.

Oh, you mean like Batman? Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney?

Chopchop · Dec 7, 2017

I don't think there's a standard for them, since it's always done by a case by case basis. I think typically the show tries to go on, if possible.

Couple of examples:

In The Matrix, the lady who played the Oracle in the first two movies died before the third movie was shot. She was replaced by another lady who obviously looked different, but acted with the same attitude. There were a few sequences added to the third movie that implied she was killed and had to move to a new body.

Persona 5: The voice actor for Igor (not a main character but a very important recurring character in the series) died and was replaced with another voice actor. Game made no mention of the change.

Haikyuu: The voice actor for the team's coach died and was replaced mid-season. Obviously looked the same since this is an anime, but he sounded different.

In a few cases where the actor DIDN'T die but was quietly replaced:

- In the Matrix, Tank's character was quietly replaced with Link. Tank was sort of killed off camera somewhere between the first and second movies.
- In Iron Man, Rhodes was recast between 1 and 2, but the movie made no mention of it.

Wulfric · Dec 7, 2017

litebrite said:
Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies was replaced when the actor died and a lot of people didn' t even notice

I think people didn't really notice at the time since:

Director Chris Columbus and Richard Harris decided to play the character straight as a generic wizard.
It was still very early in the series before the films started moving to different directors.

You would have to be blind to not see the difference between Dumbledore in Chamber of Secrets and the next film. Michael Gambon moved around a lot and was more expressive than Richard Harris was in that role.

Deleted member 437 · Dec 7, 2017

mrmoose said:
Oh, you mean like Batman? Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney?

Those are more one-off films. Each one is separate from the rest. Like James Bond.

Just_a_Mouse · Dec 7, 2017

I remember when Jon Lovitz was brought in to replace Phil Hartman on Newsradio. Felt like a weird zombie show, and it ended up getting cancelled not long after that.

NameUser · Dec 7, 2017

Violence Jack said:
With the number of alternate earths there are in the Arrowverse, recasting the role would be pretty easy.

Oh, I know, but it seems like it'd be better to just retire his character. I think they'd do that and just work his death into the storyline. Anyway, I don't even like thinking about this.

BorkBork · Dec 7, 2017

Lots of people noticed and criticized the change in Dumbledore. I am not a fan of Gambon's version myself.

As for the original question, you just gotta roll with it. Recasting is always a tricky business.

WhiteRabbitEXE · Dec 7, 2017

mrmoose said:
But yeah, the Hunger Games trilogy was a good example where Hoffman's character was integral to the plot and it was an adaptation so they couldn't change much, and luckily they were able to hack it together with existing footage. Same, I'm sure, with Leia in the new Star Wars.

Fisher had already wrapped filming, so there was no issue there. She had not however completed ADR, so they had to sink a lot of time and effort into cleaning up her audio.

BorkBork said:
Lots of people noticed and criticized the change in Dumbledore. I am not a fan of Gambon's version myself.

As for the original question, you just gotta roll with it. Recasting is always a tricky business.

Harris was great for the whimsical wizard without all that much depth of the early stories, but Gambon was a better fit for the more complex and layered character he becomes by the end of the series.

WhiteRabbitEXE · Dec 7, 2017

Edit: oops, meant to edit into the above post

litebrite · Dec 7, 2017

mrmoose said:
I mean they recast tv shows and movies a bunch, mainly because of contract disputes. Aunt Viv in Fresh Prince, Becky in Roseanne, Ann/Egg in Arrested Development (which will also have to do another recasting or exclusion because of Tambor), Rhodey in Iron Man, heck, Katie Holmes to Gyllenhall in the Batman films. Besides Ann, none of these were minor characters.

Yep, there was an 80's show tltled Valerie that starred Valerie Harper and after the first season they had a contract dispute and they wrote out the lead character the show is named after. LOL The show was still successful and lasted for like 5 seasons afterwards and kept retitling the show to Valerie's Family to The Hogans to finally The Hogan Family.

What do film/tv studios do if an actor that is integral, dies?

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

One Winged Slayer

The Wise Ones

Drive-in Mutant

Drive-in Mutant