The DEATH NOTE Director Originally Wanted David Bowie Or Prince To Play Ryuk

There have already been a lot of bad reviews regarding Netflix's Death Note, although many note that Willem Dafoe's portrayal of the Shinigami Ryuk is a high point for the film. Hilariously enough, we're learning he was not the first choice as director Adam Wingard says (via io9) he originally wanted David Bowie or Prince to portray the character:

David Bowie was actually originally who I wanted to [be the voice of] Ryuk—but then David Bowie died. And then the second person on my list was Prince, weirdly enough—and then he died. And I was like, we got to stop, we’re literally killing them off. Which is really morbid, but it was true.

Wingard also adds that some previous versions of the script before he was involved actually wrote Ryuk out of the story! It's hard to imagine a Death Note story without the character who started it all, but then again it's apparently just as hard to tell this entire story in a film's time. Frankly I find it a bit surprising Dafoe wasn't the first choice as that's who the character always reminded me of...are you surprised?