Jamie Dornan is no longer Dr. Death. The “Fifty Shades of Grey” actor has dropped out of Peacock’s adaptation of the Wondery podcast, where he was set to play the title character, Dr. Christopher Duntsch. Joshua Jackson will now take on the lead role.
Dornan is no longer able to participate due to the delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Dr. Death” is slated to begin production this fall.
Jackson joins Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater on the series. Here is the official description from UCP:
“Dr. Death” is based on the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Young, charismatic and ostensibly brilliant, Dr. Duntsch was building a flourishing neurosurgery practice when everything suddenly changed. Patients entered his operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries and left permanently maimed or dead. As victims piled up, two fellow surgeons and a young assistant district attorney set out to stop him. “Dr. Death” explores the twisted mind of a sociopath and the gross negligence of the system designed to protect the most defenseless among us.
Baldwin will play the neurosurgeon Robert Henderson, described as “quiet, deliberative and methodical, Robert believes wholeheartedly both in the system in which he rose through the ranks and that anything worth doing shouldn’t be rushed. It should be gotten right.” Slater will portray vascular surgeon Randall Kirby, who is described as the polar opposite of Henderson: “brash, impulsive and more than willing to burn that system to the ground in the name of justice.”
Patrick Macmanus will serve as showrunner and executive producer, alongside Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch and Taylor Latham from Escape Artists, as well as Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery. Maggie Kiley, Jennifer Morrison and So Yong Kim will direct.
Canceled, Recast, Reshot: 7 Times an Actor Accused of Wrongdoing Was Totally Erased From a Film (Photos)
In the #MeToo era, when an actor is accused of wrongdoing and the film or TV project is already under way -- or even wrapped -- sometimes directors and producers go back and reshoot their scenes with a replacement.
"All the Money in the World"
After Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct, director Ridley Scott went back into production on "All the Money in the World" and reshot all of the actor's scenes, this time with Christopher Plummer playing billionaire J. Paul Getty. (Plummer received an Oscar nomination for the role.)
BBC had already shot a new adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic with "Gossip Girl" alum Ed Westwick as the rough-around-the-edges son of a wealthy family. But after Westwick faced accusations of sexual misconduct, the network went back and re-shot the limited series with "Magic City" alum Christian Cooke.
BBC/Amazon Prime
"Wonder Park"
Ken Hudson Campbell ("Armageddon") replaced Jeffrey Tambor as the voice of Boomer the Bear in Paramount's 2019 animated film months after the Emmy-winning "Transparent" star was accused of harassment on the set of that series.
Louis CK had voiced the lead dog in the 2016 animated hit -- but Patton Oswalt replaced the comedian in the 2019 sequel after CK's 2017 admission of sexual misconduct.
Kian Lawley had already shot his supporting role in the 2018 Black Lives Matter-themed drama "The Hate U Give" when old clips of the YouTuber spouting the N-word resurfaced; producers re-shot his scenes with "Riverdale" star KJ Apa in the role.
In August 2020, Netflix announced that Zack Snyder would do reshoots of his already-wrapped zombie-hunting movie with Tig Notaro replacing Chris D'Elia following online accusations that D'Elia had engaged in predatory behavior with underage girls (he has denied the accusations).
Johnny Depp, who played the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the first two films in the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, was replaced as shooting on the third film was underway in the U.K. in November 2020. The forced resignation came just days after a U.K. court ruled against the star's libel suit and found that ex-wife Amber Heard's accusations of domestic abuse by Depp were "substantially true." (Depp has continued to deny the accusations he was a "wife beater.")
Warner Bros.
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Johnny Depp, whose role in the third ”Fantastic Beasts“ film will be recast, becomes
In the #MeToo era, when an actor is accused of wrongdoing and the film or TV project is already under way -- or even wrapped -- sometimes directors and producers go back and reshoot their scenes with a replacement.