Hugo Weaving Replaced the Original Actor in V FOR VENDETTA After Six Weeks of Filming

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Hugo Weaving playing the masked revolutionary V in V for Vendetta. His commanding voice and performance made the character unforgettable, which is pretty impressive considering we never actually see his face.

But Weaving wasn't the original actor cast in the role, and he only joined the film after production was already well underway. Before Weaving stepped in, James Purefoy, best known for playing Mark Antony in Rome and Laurens Bancroft in Altered Carbon, had been cast as V.

He even spent six weeks filming before leaving the project, reportedly because he couldn't stand wearing the character's iconic Guy Fawkes mask.

For an actor accustomed to expressing emotion through facial expressions, spending an entire movie with his face covered was a serious challenge. Purefoy had talked about the difficulties of playing V before his departure, explaining just how much the mask affected his performance.

"That mask is the thing I'll be wearing through the movie. We'll never see my face. It's a great acting challenge. Wearing that thing takes ... a lot of takes. Spider-Man's mask comes off. Batman's mask comes off.

“Even the elephant man had eyes. That's all I ask for, just an eye! Every night I'm in that mask for another three hours when I go home. I have mirrors all over my apartment and I live in it until I go to bed. So my neighbors obviously think I'm mad."

That's some serious commitment to the role, but it clearly wasn't an easy experience. When Weaving was brought in as his replacement, he quickly discovered that Purefoy's frustrations weren't entirely unfounded.

"I know the difficulties James was having and I was warned by other people. Certain difficulties with the mask. I just think it can feel very hot. You feel quite ... cut off."

Fortunately, Weaving got a slightly easier introduction to the production. V impersonates other characters during the film, which meant the actor's first few days on set didn't require him to wear the mask at all.

"Funnily enough, V impersonates a couple of other characters in the story, so the first three days shooting I was not in the mask, which was actually a good introduction to everyone on set."

But the physical discomfort was only part of the problem. Director James McTeigue later explained that Purefoy's biggest difficulty came from having "his main instrument — his face — was being taken away."

Weaving, however, approached the challenge differently. Having already played Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings films, he was no stranger to memorable characters. But playing V required an entirely different kind of performance.

With little time to prepare, Weaving decided to treat the mask as a technical challenge rather than get frustrated by its limitations.

"Particularly if you've been asked to do something and within a few days you fly half-way around the world and jump into the skin of the character.

“There was really no time to think about that either, really, so I decided very early on for me it was a technical exercise and I wasn't going to get emotionally engaged in the problems of the mask at all, but do everything I can to make that mask work."

That approach certainly paid off. Weaving's distinctive voice became one of the defining elements of V, allowing him to communicate the character's personality and emotions through his delivery and physical performance.

McTeigue knew almost immediately that they'd found the right actor. In fact, Weaving's very first take convinced the director that the troubled production was back on track.

"The very first thing Hugo did was the scene where Evey has been in prison for a long time and receives a letter from Valerie. She comes out and V is waiting for her, and she realizes he is the person that's imprisoned her. It's a big emotional scene. On his very first take, I just thought, 'Oh my god, he's saved me. This is going to be amazing.'"

What's interesting about the whole situation is that both actors faced essentially the same problem, but handled it differently. Purefoy struggled with losing one of his most important acting tools, while Weaving focused on finding ways to make the character work without it.

The result was one of Weaving's most memorable performances. He managed to make V intimidating, theatrical, charming, and emotionally complicated, all while staring at the audience through the same permanently smiling mask.

Considering how closely the character has become associated with Weaving's voice, it's fascinating to think about how different V for Vendetta might have been if Purefoy had stayed.

It's one of those Hollywood casting changes that could have gone terribly wrong, but instead gave us a performance that's still remembered two decades later.