John Carpenter Originally Wanted Clint Eastwood or Jack Nicholson To Star in BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
When director John Carpenter was developing his 1986 film Big Trouble in Little China, he was looking at casting a big A-list actor in the role of good ol’ Jack Burton. Kurt Russell wasn’t initially on his radar, but he was perfect in the role and it’s hard to imagine anyone else as Jack.
Before Russell enter the picture, Carpenter wanted Clint Eastwood or Jack Nicholson to play Jack Burton! He shared this news in an old Starlog article and explained that all of the A-list actors he did want were too busy. Jeff Bridges was also considered.
When it came to Burton, it was actually the studio that suggested the actor. Carpenter explained: "I hoped to get a major star because I thought I would have to compete with Eddie Murphy. Fox wanted Kurt, though, because they thought he was up-and-coming and hot. I met with him, and we talked about the project. Suddenly, I realized: 'Wait a minute. This guy could be Jack Burton.'"
In regards to competing with Eddie Murphy, the director brought that up because Muphy was making The Gold Child at the time, and the filmmaker explained: “The films have a similar theme in that they both explore Chinese legend and magic. Golden Child has a presold ingredient - Eddie Murphy. Big Trouble doesn't - so I had to make a better movie." Big Trouble ended up being released in July 1986 and Golden Child came out in December.
In the end, Carpenter won because Big Trouble in Little China was definitely the better movie! One of the things that made the movie so damn good was Russell as Burton. He was so funny in that role, and he was one of my favorite movie characters when I was a kid. Oh! And Russell turned down the lead role of Connor MacLeod in Highlander to be in this movie.
When talking about the character Burton, Carpenter explained he was a side kick that didn’t know he was a sidekick: “Jack Burton is a guy who is a sidekick but doesn’t know it. He’s an idiot-blowhard. He’s an American fool in a world that he doesn’t understand.”
I just don’t think that Eastwood or Nicholson could have pulled that off! They are both huge leading men, who are very serious actors, and this movie would have been so different than what we ended up getting. What are your thoughts on this?
Big Trouble in Little China was also originally conceived as a western set in the 1800s and you can read all about that here.
We talked about this movie on our Secret Level podcast and there’s a lot of fun trivia that we uncover and discuss and we also offer some amusing commentary.