Before Tom Hanks Was Cast, ‘Big’ Had Horror Movie Vibes

The Big Picture

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• Robert De Niro’s casting in Big would have turned the film into a darker horror movie, with his previous roles creating a creepy and uncomfortable dynamic in the story.
• Tom Hanks was the perfect choice for the role of Josh Baskin, bringing charm and innocence to the character, which made the film a successful and beloved comedy.
• Without Tom Hanks, Big would not have had the same enduring appeal, as his portrayal of a child trapped in a man’s body allowed the movie to explore themes of childhood and growing up in a heartfelt and relatable way.

Released in 1988, Penny Marshall‘s Big is the film that turned Tom Hanks into a Hollywood megastar. He was already a star in the late ’80s, thanks to his Bosom Buddies sitcom, and film roles like Splash and The Money Pit. Hanks was doing okay with those parts, but Big shot Tom Hanks up to household name status. The movie was a huge success, making $115 million in the United States. After that, Tom Hanks was off, becoming arguably the most successful actor of the ’90s. It’s hard to not see Hanks in the role of Josh Baskin now, a twelve-year-old stuck in a grown man’s body, but the part was originally given to a bigger name at the time. Believe it or not, Robert De Niro was cast as Josh. That sounds absurd, but it’s true. With De Niro as a boy in a man’s body, Big wouldn’t have been a cute little comedy, but a darker horror film.

Robert De Niro Was Cast Over Tom Hanks in ‘Big’

There’s no denying that Robert De Niro is one of the most acclaimed actors of all time. At the age of 80, he’s still going strong, still tackling huge roles as Martin Scorcese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon shows. As great as he is though, De Niro also has a reputation for his roles. He’s often the bad guy, the mob guy, or even when he’s the hero, he’s still flawed and troubled. De Niro has had success with comedies, like Meet the Parents, but it’s darker dramas where his talent lies. That’s where De Niro was for sure in the 1980s, yet he was cast, and not Tom Hanks, as Josh Baskin in Big. The guy who was just bashing heads in with a baseball bat the year before as Al Capone in The Untouchables was seen as the best choice to play a young boy trapped in a man’s body who falls in love with a grown woman (Elizabeth Perkins). It’s hard to wrap your head around the idea.

Thankfully, it didn’t happen, as De Niro dropped out before filming ever began. In 2021, in an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, De Niro was asked if this was true. The actor confirmed it, saying, “Yes. But we had a thing, an issue with the negotiations, so it went the way it went. But that was fine.”

‘Big’ Would Have Been a Horror Film With Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro wasn’t the only actor who was looked at for Big before turning to Tom Hanks. Matthew Modine told The Independent in 2021, “I wish I’d done Big. When the script was sent to me, it was a much darker movie. They had offered the film to Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford before coming to me, so it didn’t make sense, ’cause those guys are almost 20 years older than me. I thought if I was cast in the film, it wouldn’t have the irony it needed. Obviously, the tone changed so much, and Tom Hanks is terrific in the film. It would have been very different with me.” Matthew Modine could’ve been okay in the role. He had the boyish charm, even if the year before Big he’d been starring in the very serious Full Metal Jacket. Harrison Ford could’ve been interesting. He certainly knew how to act goofy and less serious with roles like Han Solo in the Star Wars film, but he still had the look and deep voice of a man. You can’t look at Harrison Ford and imagine a boy.

The co-lead in Big, Elizabeth Perkins, who plays Josh’s love interest, Susan Lawrence, confirmed that De Niro had been cast alongside her in a 2021 sit down with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live. “It fell apart because he had a scheduling conflict, and then they went to Tom Hanks. It’s like a totally different movie in my brain with Robert De Niro — and dark… [De Niro] was more moody. It was a little more of a horror movie. Robert De Niro wandering around the streets of New York. What Tom Hanks brought to it was so much lighter.”

Can you fathom Robert De Niro in the role of Josh? Suddenly, what is innocent becomes creepy and dark, even if he wasn’t trying to be. In the late ’80s, it was impossible not to look at De Niro and see The Untouchables, The King of Comedy, The Godfather Part II, or the mentally deranged Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. It would have been challenging for him to play a man who has to act like a preteen boy, without it coming across as incredibly uncomfortable. Something intended to be sweet, with Josh falling for a grown woman, now seems very wrong and stalkerish. Susan begins to feel like a victim. Robert De Niro might be a talented actor, but there’s no way he could have pulled off what the role required to make it a charming comedy.

RELATED: Tom Hanks’ First-Ever Movie Role Was in This 1980 Slasher

‘Big’ Wouldn’t Have Been a Success Without Tom Hanks

An actor who could pull off a comedy like this was Tom Hanks. Tell someone in 2023 that you want to make a movie about a boy who wishes to be big, only to wake up as a grown man who then falls for a grown woman, and it wouldn’t get made. There would be so many issues with that. After all, Big is about a twelve-year-old and an adult falling in love. There’s even almost a love scene, where Hanks’ Josh touches Susan’s breast over her bra, yet it doesn’t feel weird. Big hasn’t been canceled, and new generations don’t look at it unfavorably or as offensive. Thirty-five years later, it still makes us laugh and smile. That’s because of Tom Hanks. He was then, and is now, seen as the ultimate nice guy. With his charm and babyface looks as well as his lighter voice, he felt like a kid in a man’s body. His acting made Josh innocent and scared rather than creepy.

Robert De Niro as a boy in a man’s body would have felt like a possession film of sorts as if this grown man was some twisted creature, a man pretending to be a child, rather than genuinely feeling like one. With Tom Hanks as Josh, we saw a kid and not a man. That keeps the intended themes intact. Big is about wishing to be older, but not being ready for adulthood. The moral of the story is to enjoy childhood, because it doesn’t last forever, and adulthood isn’t the dream of freedom kids think it is. Adulthood can be scary and heartbreaking. Childhood is the best time of your life. With Robert De Niro in Big, however, the message may have been to run for your life.