For a very long time in the film industry, seldom have we seen a more talented female star than South African actress Charlize Theron. Her capability to mold herself from a very sensual and captivating character to an absolute a*s-kicking diva has made her a very desirable star that almost everyone in the industry wants to work with on a project.

Charlize Theron
Therefore, it’s almost crazy to think that she would be turned down for a film when she was excited to work on it more than anything else. But that’s exactly what happened when she was removed as a cast member of 2002’s award-winning musical film Chicago. This happened because the director changed, and the new person helming the project didn’t want to work with her.

Charlize Theron Was Removed From The Cast Of Chicago By The Director

Charlize Theron in a still from The Devil’s Advocate
The life of a star in Hollywood is also a game of luck as much as it’s based on the actual acting talent of an individual. Thus, despite Charlize Theron making a name for herself as the next big thing in Hollywood in the ’90s and early 2000s, she wasn’t able to land a role in 2002’s Chicago.

But it wasn’t like she was refused from the get-go. In fact, she was actually going to be a part of the film until the project changed hands.

 

In a past interview on an episode of The Howard Stern Show, the Fast X actress was asked about her involvement in Chicago in its early stages. She revealed that she was actually recruited for the role of Roxie Hart, the character that was later played by Renée Zellweger in the film. Theron said that the reason she didn’t get to play it for the rolling camera was because the project was given to a new director, who had no intention of working with her according to their vision.

She said that she was probably the most bummed out about not being a part of that film, especially after it won a staggering six Academy Awards in 2003. She said:
“The director kicked me off it. … I was really bummed about it. And I think because I had it, I was like, ‘Ah … I’m gonna make this movie’ and I got kicked off it. Well, there was another director attached and he brought me on. And then that director got fired and this new director got brought on and he didn’t want to make the movie with me.”
Actress Scarlett Johansson also suffered the same fate when she was all set to make her appearance in 2006’s Mission: Impossible 3. But due to that project being taken over by a new director, she was relieved from the film.

 

What Was Chicago About?

A still from Chicago
Combining two seemingly incompatible genres musical and crime may have been a tough challenge, but Chicago managed to create something truly beautiful through its harmony.

The film tells the tale of Velma, who is a sensational nightclub performer who murders her husband for engaging in serial adultery. To defend her, Billy Flynn, who is considered to be Chicago’s most clever lawyer, decides to take on the case. But at the same time, he also takes on the case of Roxie Hart, who is also charged with murder. Thus, it soon turns into a fight between the two beauties to prove who is more popular for her case in the eyes of the public.

 

Chicago, streaming on Paramount+.