From actors and directors to actresses and screenwriters, these are twelve people from Hollywood who almost worked on Fight Club.
This is one of those titles with name value that arguably surpasses its overall quality. It’s a great film, no doubt about it, but its status as a cult classic has rendered Fight Club (1999) something of an anomaly in the career of David Fincher. Divisive among critics upon release, this project picked up tremendous traction in the home video market a few years down the line, and is now among the most recognizable titles of its entire decade.
Its cast and crew are well-known, too: on top of Fincher behind the camera, actors standing in front of the lens included Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. But the names attached to the project shifted various times throughout the years, with several other popular Hollywood figures once signed on to take part, to one degree or another, in the production of this ‘90s cult classic. These are twelve people from Hollywood who almost worked on Fight Club.
Although you may not recognize Buck Henry by name, you’ll likely know a few of the projects he’s worked on throughout the years: take The Graduate (1967), for instance. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work therein. And considering the film at hand was based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, it’s safe to say Henry would’ve been a fine fit for the adaptation.
Eventually, Fight Club was adapted by Jim Uhls, whose only other credit as a screenwriter was for the science fiction action film Jumper (2008) with Hayden Christensen. Those titles are on the opposite ends of the quality spectrum, with Jumper likely being the reason you’ve never heard of Uhls in the first place. But at the same time, you may not know Buck Henry, either, ultimately landing him at the start of the list.
Considering some titles with tangible neo-noir qualities such as The Usual Suspects (1995) saw direction under American filmmaker Bryan Singer, there’s a solid argument he would have been a fine fit for Fight Club. The production company in 20th Century Fox even sent Singer a copy of the book by Chuck Palahniuk. And although he successfully received the book, Singer didn’t actually read it.
There’s no telling if he read the premise and simply lost focus soon into his research, or if he neglected the project overall and said yes to the project in spite of having no plans to adapt it whatsoever. Not that it matters, though. The production company had several other Hollywood names left to check off before pulling the plug.
From one controversial American director to another, this entry marks another filmmaker who was once signed on to helm the project at hand. And like the prior pick on the list, David O. Russell also received the book from Palahniuk. But unlike Singer, he actually perused its thrilling pages with an overarching interest in adapting the novel to the big screen.
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Alas, O. Russell couldn’t quite comprehend its involved and thematic plot. This is understandable to an extent, but if O. Russell truly resonated with its characters and wanted to see the project come into fruition, he could’ve given it more effort. But once again, 20th Century Fox moved onto the next filmmaker on their list.
Continuing the search for a Fight Club director, 20th Century Fox reached out to English filmmaker Danny Boyle. He’s known throughout his career for projects such as Trainspotting (1996) and 28 Days Later (2002), the former of which can sort of resemble the overall style and tone of Fight Club. He could very well have been an adequate choice for the role, in other words, and just like the others he received a copy of the book.
Boyle read Palahniuk’s work front to back, but ultimately, he just wasn’t interested. It remains to be seen whether he declined the offer for a particular paucity of a creative or artistic vision, or if he was given negative feedback in that regard and therefor bowed out. With another name down, 20th Century Fox had one more director in mind before landing on David Fincher.
New Zealand film director Peter Jackson boasts a hardcore following of fans that would have undoubtedly had full faith in his capacity to adapt Fight Club onto the silver screen of movie theaters. This was before he ever started working on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but even then, Jackson was too busy working on a project called The Frighteners (1996).
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Before he made that supernatural comedy, he released Heavenly Creatures (1994) with Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey. And although both projects were of great quality, Fight Club very well could’ve been the most seminal work of Jackson’s career up to that point. But he stuck with The Frighteners until moving onto the biggest fantasy franchise that films have ever seen.
Aside from Brad Pitt, there was only ever one real contender for the role of Tyler Durden. That was Australian actor Russell Crowe, who despite not holding much name value at the time of production for Fight Club without a doubt reached international recognition around this same time. Fight Club released in the same year as The Insider (1999) for which Crowe received a Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards.
And although he came up short, he garnered nods for the same category in the next two years straight, even winning for his fan-favorite efforts in Gladiator (2000). This is among the more fascinating prospects on the list, Russell Crowe playing Tyler Durden. But in the end, he might not have been able to hold even the slightest of candles Pitt’s pitch-perfect portrayal.
From one primary character to the other, American actor Matt Damon was heavily considered for the part of The Narrator. Though unnamed, The Narrator was the protagonist of Fight Club, of course portrayed by Edward Norton. But that name was far from the first pick from the production studio to play the lead character of the adaptation.
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They wanted a “marquee name” to strengthen the film’s overall commercial value. And although Edward Norton was coming off a string of successful stints throughout the late 1990s, he had really only burst onto the Hollywood scene in 1996, just two years prior to the casting process of Fight Club. Thankfully, they wound up picking Norton.
For the same reason as Damon, the team also considered Sean Penn for the role of The Narrator. He held tremendous star power at that time, though not quite as much as Damon. The latter was coming off an Academy Award-winning screenwriting effort thanks to Good Will Hunting (1997), and without a doubt would have been the more prominent name for the role.
But Penn perhaps would have been the better choice as far as overall quality of performance would have been concerned. Nothing against Damon in that regard. Penn was just a tad more suited for a role of this ilk. But again, they made the right decision when casting Edward Norton.
Then, there are the many contenders up for the part of Marla Singer. For those unfamiliar with the project as a whole or at least the names among its supporting cast, Marla was eventually portrayed by English actress Helena Bonham Carter. And just like with the protagonists, it’s hard to envision anyone else stepping into Marla’s idiosyncratic shoes.
But Janeane Garofalo could have been a surefire pick, as well. She rose to prominence during the decade at hand for acting in stints such as Reality Bites (1994), with that project in particular showcasing a particular acumen for a role of this kind. But Garofalo was far from the only actress the behind-the-scenes team had in mind.
There was a bit of controversy over Garofalo’s decision to say no to the part of Marla Singer, so 20th Century Fox quickly moved on to their following prospect. And of all the potential casting decisions or even choices of crew members, Courtney Love as Marla may be the easiest one to envision due to Love’s rough-and-tough exterior.
She’s a musician on top of being an actress, but her occupation as the latter truly kicked off a couple of years prior to the casting of Fight Club. Her role in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) even garnered her a Best Actress nomination at the Golden Globes. And while she came up short, that part showcased why she would’ve made an interesting choice for Marla Singer.
At this point in her career, American actress Winona Ryder had already garnered widespread critical acclaim for her roles in films such as The Age of Innocence (1993) by Martin Scorsese and Little Women (1994) by Gillian Armstrong.
But the two roles of Ryder’s most prominently worth writing home about up to the casting process of the film at hand would be Heathers (1989) and Reality Bites (1994). Although those first two performances were more critically acclaimed, the latter two better showcased her full range as an actress. Her interpretation of Marla Singer would’ve been fascinating to watch.
Without a doubt, this is among the more confounding casting prospects throughout the production of Fight Club. It’s truly difficult to consider Reese Witherspoon as Marla Singer ever being seen come into fruition, even in an alternate timeline where the studio went through with their brief consideration in this regard.
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But ultimately, studio executives felt she was too young to properly portray the part, and ultimately, they moved onto Helena Bonham Carter. And with good reason. While Witherspoon is of course a talented actress with many impressive efforts under her belt even from this very time period, there’s no doubt in the end that the studio made the right call when casting Marla Singer.
As a budding screenwriter, Jonah has a particular interest in the careers of auteurs: Godard, Kurosawa, Tarantino, Anderson, the Coens, and Fincher. Whenever he isn’t writing about films or writing movies themselves, he can probably be found watching one.

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