The movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola is about to celebrate 30 years since its premiere. The lavish gothic horror of the director of The Godfather it was a triumph of production design and atmosphere. It also achieved a great box office success that raised $ 215 million with a budget of 40 million, not forgetting that it won three Oscars. But not everything went well, since Keanu Reeves He was widely criticized for his portrayal of Jonathan Harker. A paper destined for Johnny depp.
So much Winona Ryder as Francis Ford Coppola they wanted Johnny depp for the role, but the film studio decided to cast Keanu Reeves. Both actors were some of the biggest rising stars of the day.
At that time Johnny depp he already had enough films in his filmography being Eduardo Mannostieras (1990) from Tim Burton the most important. But Keanu Reeves had also dazzled with the two films of Bill and ted (1990 – 1991), They call him bodhi (1991) and My private Idaho (1991). Demonstrating that he dominated comedy, action and drama. So at the time it seemed like a safer option, despite the lead actress and director’s recommendations. further Johnny depp was in a relationship with Winona Ryder at that moment.
But after working together on Dracula, she Winona Ryder Y Keanu Reeves have remained close friends ever since, collaborating on other films such as A Scanner Darkly (2006) and My ex’s wedding (2018).
Hollywood history is full of these casting decisions that you never know what would have happened if the actor or actress had been different. A very clear example is that Will Smith did not want to play NEO in Matrix (1999) to do Wild Wild West (1999), role that obtained Keanu Reeves and made him a legend.
