Ever since the passing of icon David Bowie, it has been revealed that he had been considered for many roles in Hollywood very recently, with many directors and producers actively seeking him out right up until his death. Some examples are ‘Deathnote’ director Adam Wingard wanting Bowie to voice Ryuk, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn wanting Bowie to cameo in the sequel as a member of Yondu’s original crew, and David Lynch contacting Bowie about returning to ‘Twin Peaks’ to reprise his role as Phil Jeffries. Bowie had to turn down all of these due to his declining health, but in one case, he did not even get a chance to speak to the filmmakers before his untimely death. According to a recent interview done by Metro with Denis Villeneuve, Bowie was indeed the original choice to play the villainous Wallace in ‘Blade Runner: 2049’, but sadly, the man passed away before they even got a chance to ask him.
In Villeneuve’s words:
“Our first thought [for the character] had been David Bowie, who had influenced Blade Runner in many ways.When we learned the sad news, we looked around for someone like that.”
Of course, they ended up going with Jared Leto, who seems to have done an exemplary job with the role, even going full method with the role (as he often does ) and acting completely blind for the duration of filming. But still, we cannot help but wonder what Bowie could have brought to the role, or any of the above-mentioned roles had he been well enough to play them. In regard to ‘Blade Runner: 2049,’ it does seem like his spirit is still there, as Villeneuve has stated that Bowie’s influence is clearly seen in the original and therefore has some inspiration on his movie. That should provide some comfort to those who wish they could have seen Bowie in the actual film.
Hopefully, audiences will enjoy the film regardless, as it is already getting great early buzz from critics, but we’ll see what happens when it finally opens in box-offices this Friday.
