Following the news that James Dean, the iconic actor passed away in the 1950s, would return via CGI for the upcoming Vietnam era action-drama Finding Jack, THR reported on Wednesday (November 20) that the role was originally for…a CGI Elvis Presley.
According to the report, filmmakers Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh originally had Elvis in mind for the role of an Army unit leader, but “were turned down by his estate.”
The filmmakers also debated casting a “young Paul Newman” for the lead role, a soldier named Fletcher, but decided to limit the CGI casting to James Dean.
“We don’t want this to become a spectacle — more than it already is,” said Anton of the backlash surrounding the virtual casting, including Chris Evans.
He referred to the backlash as: “nuts, just nuts.”
He also discussed the search for a real-life actor to play alongside the CGI James Dean.
“But it’s a good challenge: Can they outshine James Dean? You’re going to need someone with big balls.”
He also claimed a script was sent to Chris Evans, and that he “liked the story.”
Tati went on to say that they’ve gotten “a lot of emails” from people hoping to voice the virtual James Dean, and there was also the option of computer technology.
“But that’s where we drew the line. We said no, because that would have been a bit ghostly,” Anton clarified.
READ MORE: Chris Evans Slams Idea of James Dean Returning to Screen Via CGI Decades After His Death
