In 2003, Sony almost replaced Tobey Maguire with Jake Gyllenhaal. Maguire had threatened to skip the body scanning required for Spider-Man 2, and Sony took the negotiations seriously enough to set up meetings with Gyllenhaal as a replacement. The extraordinary detail: Gyllenhaal was dating Kirsten Dunst at the time. Dunst played MJ in the Maguire films.
Maguire came back. He apologized, passed a physical, and reportedly received a massive pay raise. Gyllenhaal moved on.
Sixteen years later, Gyllenhaal took his place in the Spider-Man universe anyway. He confirmed it himself during the Far From Home press tour: "I heard the same thing. There was a slew of actors, and I was one of them."
He spent that time waiting for the right role. Turns out it was the villain.
People on Backlot are watching Far From Home this week. The Mysterio scenes hit different when you know this.
No comments yet