Man, Irish actor Stuart Townsend doesn’t have a lot of luck on his side.*
The thespian you’ll recall was originally cast as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s “Lord Of The Rings,” but was replaced last minute allegedly because the filmmakers believed they needed an older actor in the role (enter Viggo Mortensen as his replacement).
It’s a much, much smaller part, but it’s happened to the unlucky star again. He was set to have a role in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Marvel’s “Thor,” which actually starts shooting on Monday, as Fandral, one of the Warriors Three, a triad of of Asgardian adventurers who fight alongside the Norse god.
But it apparently wasn’t to be. According to the AP. He was pulled from the cast last minute and replaced with relatively unknown actor Joshua Dallas who had a role in “The Descent 2.” The production is citing “creative differences,” which is often code for something more problematic, but what that could be is unknown and we won’t bother speculating. Dallas apparently has a role in the George Lucas-produced WWII fighter-pilots film, “Red Tails” which is already in post-production.
Suffice to say, he won’t be in the picture. The relatively good news, with “Thor” shooting on Monday, this will hopefully be the very end of the myriad casting announcements. The film has a relatively gigantic cast that stars Chris Hemsworth as the hero “Thor” (yes, he’s relatively unknown and had a role in “Star Trek”) Tom Hiddleston as the main villain, his evil brother Loki, Natalie Portman as the love interest, plus Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, possibly Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Stellan Skarsgard, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Adriana Barraza and Anthony Hopkins.
*Then again, he’s basically married Charlize Theron so what do we know. “Thor” is now set to hit theaters May 6, 2011.