The first choice to star in Jungle Glass was not Bruce Willis, it was Frank Sinatra

Jungle Glass made Bruce Willis an action movie star, but the movie would have been very different with another actor like John McClane.

When Bruce Willis was chosen to play John McClane in The jungle of crystal (Die Hard in the original and Hard to kill in the Latin American market), he was only known for his leading role in the television comedy Moonlight. So it was a strange choice for an action movie hero. So strange that he wasn’t the first to be offered it. In fact, his name wasn’t even among the 10 actors who initially received the offer.

The producer Joel Silverwhich already had a long list of big-budget credits, wanted to include a familiar face in The jungle of crystal. Virtually every great actor of the era was associated with the film at some point, including Academy Award winners, action superstars, and even a music legend. They all turned down the offer, leading the studio to reluctantly turn to Willis.

Actors who turned down the lead role in Jungle Glass, including Frank Sinatra

Jungle of Glass is a free adaptation of the novel Nothing lasts forever written by Roderick Thorpe in 1979, which was a sequel to The detectivewhich itself was previously adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra. The film was initially developed as a direct sequel to the film, and there was a contractual obligation to offer Sinatra the opportunity to reprise his role as Joe Leland.

The legendary singer was 73 years old at the time and, not surprisingly, turned down the role. Once it was found that Sinatra was not going to star in it, the film was changed to be something entirely separate from The Detective. The main character became younger and the search for John McClane began.

arnold schwarzenegger was contacted at the beginning of the project. “There was an unfinished script,” recalls the action star. “Somebody said, ‘Do you want to play this?’ I was working with Joel Silver on Predator, and Jungle of Glass was his next film. So we talked about it, but then he hired Bruce Willis.” Apparently, Schwarzenegger was also tired of action roles at the time and was looking to do more comedy. He ended up starring The twins knock twice beside Danny DeVito in 1988.

Producer Joel Silver was involved in a long list of ’80s action hits, including 48 hours (1982), Command (1985), Predator (1987) and lethal weapon (1987). This last film starred Mel Gibson, who was also offered the role of McClane in Jungle Glass. The actor ended up rejecting her because she seemed too similar to his Lethal Weapon character, Martin Riggswhich, ironically, was turned down for Willis before Gibson got it.

Other actors thought of were Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Kurt Russell, james caan, Nick Nolte, don johnson, Richard Dean Anderson either Harrison Fordwho would coincidentally premiere presumed innocent with Bonnie Bedeliathe actress who played Holly Genero (Mclane’s wife) the same year that The Jungle hit theaters.

Although all the actors on this list are highly talented, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Bruce Willis in the role of our favorite McClane. It’s clearly an iconic role and the producers were right to cast old Bruce to portray the realistic image of the cop. However, out of curiosity, who would have been your next best choice for the role of John McClane?