There’s a very specific joy in delving into the production history of certain franchises and imagining what Hollywood probably looks like in alternate dimensions; maybe there’s even a timeline out there where actors and writers are fairly compensated for their work, but perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves there.
Regardless, imagine a world where Al Pacino piloted the Millennium Falcon, or John Travolta’s mother told him that life was like a box of chocolates, or if the one and only Tom Hiddleston wound up wielding Mjölnir instead of Chris Hemsworth; because, believe it or not, all of those things almost happened.
And in one of those same universes, the one and only Timothy Olyphant‘s name is nearly synonymous with the word “family”; indeed, the Justified star was the original peg for the role of Fast & Furious‘ Dominic Toretto thanks to his role in Gone in 60 Seconds, but he ultimately declined, Vin Diesel stepped up shortly after, and the rest is history.
And now, with over 20 years, half as many movies, and a whole lot of cash under the Fast & Furious belt, one may wonder if Olyphant regrets his decision to not help initiate one of the most lucrative franchises today.
As it turns out, he’s none too bothered; in a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, Olyphant seemed more than happy that the role went to Diesel given what the leading man has helped turn the film series into, and was unsure if it would have blossomed in the same way if he had said yes.
“No, they would not. It feels like part of what makes that [Fast & Furious]… he’s [Vin Diesel] just unlike anything out there. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t make this work, why would I be in this?’ at the time, but yeah, it seems like they got the right guy.”
As happy as we are that Diesel helped balloon the audacious franchise into what it is today, part of us will be left permanently curious about what Olyphant may have brought to the table instead; here’s hoping that our many moviegoing variants are having a blast with that in whichever dimension that state of affairs came true for.