14 TV Stars Who Got Their Part After The Pilot Was Filmed

V actor Jeff Yagher originally played undercover police officer Tom Hanson on the 1980s Fox series 21 Jump Street. However, the production decided to replace Yagher with up-and-coming star Johnny Depp for the lead role. All of Yagher's scenes from the original pilot were later reshot with Depp. 

The teen-centered police drama turned Depp into a reluctant teen idol. The actor left the series after four seasons. 21 Jump Street remained on the air for just one more season after Depp's departure. 

Actor and screenwriter John Posey played widowed patriarch Danny Tanner in the original pilot for the ABC sitcom Full House. Posey later learned producers originally wanted either Bob Saget or Paul Reiser for the role. However, they were both unavailable. 

When Saget's schedule suddenly opened up, Posey got the phone call that the show would be going in a different direction. 

ABC hired Saget and refilmed the pilot. "Exact same pilot, with [Saget wearing] the exact same outfit, which is weird," said Posey. "I'm this stocky ex-football player, ex-wrestler, who's like 5' 9", 180 pounds, and Saget's like 6' 3", 110 soaking wet. He's an urban Jewish guy, and I'm this Irish guy from Florida and Georgia. And somehow we've got the same exact outfit on, playing the same role."

Full House ran for eight successful family-friendly seasons from 1987-1995. In 2016, Netflix aired a sequel series called Fuller House, which lasted for five seasons. Saget also appeared in the sequel series.

Home Improvement ruled 1990s TV over the course of eight seasons. The original cast featured Titanic actress Frances Fisher in the role of Tim Taylor's (Tim Allen) tolerant yet tough wife Jill.

Test audiences didn't respond well to Fisher. The prolific dramatic character actress did not quite have the necessary comedy skills. Executives decided they needed to recast the role. 

ABC hired Patricia Richardson to play the Taylor matriarch. Producers were already familiar with her work, and she did not even have to audition. 

It was the right move. The chemistry between Allen and Richardson was immediate. 

"Tim was so hilarious, and we just clicked right away. It was a really fast five or six days, we did the pilot," said Richardson. 

Richardson received four Emmy nominations for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series.

In 1996, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon filmed a 25-minute pilot called "Welcome to the Hellmouth." The executive producer and showrunner reportedly wasn't happy with the pilot. He made several changes before the supernatural series aired its premiere episode in 1997 on the WB. 

One major change was in the casting of Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) best friend Willow Rosenberg. Actress Riff Regan played the role in the unaired pilot. However, Whedon later recast the pivotal part with Alyson Hannigan reportedly because Regan simply didn't fit with the rest of the cast. 

"We actually had cast someone else in the pilot, and it just didn’t work," said casting director Marcia Shulman in a DVD special features interview. "So when we got picked up, we always felt that we were going to start again and look for another Willow. The qualities that Willow had to have are the exact opposite qualities of what actresses have to have."

"Sort of insecure, shy, self-effacing. Every line that somebody else would play like they were sad, Alyson was joyful about. That made her the only one for the role," added Shulman. 

Hannigan became one of the most popular cast members and remained on the teen drama series for its full seven-season run. The entire 25-minute original pilot is available to watch on YouTube. 

The fish-out-of-water buddy comedy Perfect Strangers reigned on ABC for eight seasons. The sitcom starred Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous, who travels all the way from the fictional Mediterranean country of Mypos to Chicago in order to meet his distant cousin Larry Appleton, played by Mark Linn-Baker. 

The series could have featured two different actors in the lead roles. Pinchot originally turned down the part because he was already committed to another series called Sara. However, the actor signed on after Sara got canceled. 

Additionally, rising stand-up comic Louie Anderson initially landed the role of Cousin Larry. They filmed the pilot episode with Anderson and Pinchot.

ABC picked up the pilot. However, Linn-Baker replaced Anderson after producers felt there was a lack of chemistry between the original leads. 

Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss filmed the pilot episode called "Winter Is Coming" in 2009. It was not received well. The story was confusing to anyone not familiar with George R.R. Martin's fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. HBO insisted on several story and cast changes. 

“Watching them watch that original pilot was one of the most painful experiences of my life,” Weiss admitted. “As soon as it finished, Craig [Mazin] said, ‘You guys have a massive problem.’”

One of the major cast changes involved Tamzin Merchant, who simply was not working as Daenerys Targaryen. The British actress later revealed that she tried to back out of the role because it didn't feel right. She explained:

It was a lesson that if my guts are telling me a story isn't something I'm excited to tell, then I shouldn't try to be excited just because other people are telling me that I should be excited. I didn't have any training as an actor, I only have my instincts. And what excites me and what drives me is a compelling story and a compelling character. So for me, Game of Thrones was never that. I think it's a testament to Emilia Clarke for making that role iconic - she was obviously excited to tell that story, and she was epic and excellent. But for me, it wasn't in my heart to tell it.

The producers brought on Emilia Clarke to portray the Queen of Dragons. Clarke went on to earn four Emmy nods over the course of the hit show's enormously successful eight-season run.

The original pilot never aired and has never been released in full to the public.