ZOMBIELAND Writer Reminds Us They Originally Wanted Another Legendary Actor Instead of Bill Murray

Bill Murray's big cameo in the horror comedy Zombieland was easily the film's most unexpected and hilarious surprise! Fans completely flipped over that moment, but it turns out that Murray wasn’t the creative team’s first choice.

Over the years, a number of names have been revealed as potential alternatives to Murray including Patrick Swayze, who reportedly could not do it due to his health issues. He ended up passing away the same month that the film was released in theaters.

Other names that have been brought up include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Bacon, and Mark Hamill. But there’s another legendary actor that was also asked to be in the film before Murray, and that actor is Joe Pesci. Writer Rhett Reese reminded us of this on Twitter, saying:

"We wanted Joe Pesci for what turned out to Bill Murray's role in Zombieland. We warned Pesci's agent it was a small part. He said, 'There are no small parts, only small money.' It was a no."

While I did love Murray’s appearance in the film, Joe Pesci would have also been awesome to see in it! The creative team would have had a lot of fun with that! It’s actually one of those “what if” scenarios that I would have loved to see. You can actually read the script pages that they wrote for Pesci’s scene here.

What do you think?