The Gray Man was one of the top releases of the past year, which garnered a massive commercial and critical success.

The movie’s star cast included the immensely talented La La Land star Ryan Gosling, alongside our very own Captain America aka Chris Evans, and Ana De Armas was the female protagonist. The film was based on the screenplay written by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely; based on the novel of the same name by Mark Greaney.

Chris Evans in The Gray Man (2022)

Those who have watched the film know that the role was best fitted for Ryan Gosling, however, can you imagine if the role was gender-swapped!

Charlize Theron was in talks to lead The Gray Man

Charlize Theron is a South African-American actress and producer; known for her ease of doing action roles. The actress is popular for playing a serial killer in Monster, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Some of her commercially hit action movies are The Italian Job, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Fate of the Furious, among others.

As per reports, Snow White and the Huntsman fame was in the talks to star in Sony’s action-thriller The Gray Man. The actress was supposed to play the lead as the former CIA assassin who goes rogue. The role was originally written for a man, but they were considering a gender swap for the character with Theron as the protagonist.

Charlize Theron

The project was under development for several years, and at one point Brad Pitt was considered to lead the film with James Gray as the director. But Sony Pictures acquired the rights to the film, and Anthony and Joe Russo came on board as new writers and directors of the movie. As per the reports, the gender-swapped version with Theron was based on the Russo brothers’ script. 

However, the role was given to Ryan Gosling, and the movie was released in 2022.

About Ryan Gosling’s The Gray Man

The action thriller focuses on the life of an expert CIA agent who turned assassin. He is forced to evade challenges as he tries to save the lives of his daughters whom he did not know of earlier. The story centers around a CIA agent Sierra Six, who is running from a crazy ex-CIA agent and mercenary, Lloyd Hansen as he discovers corrupt secrets about his boss.

The star cast comprised Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Regé-Jean Page, Wagner Moura, Julia Butters, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard, and Billy Bob Thornton.

The Gray Man

The movie was a massive hit, and the global gross was $454 million.

The Gray Man could have joined the list of movies comprising gender swaps if actress Charlize Theron had played the lead role.