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(#3) Paula
Jane Lynch owes this role to Steve Carell’s wife. Comedian and actor Nancy Walls told Carell that there should be more women in the movie. So, the store manager was changed from male to female. The role wasn’t just handed to Lynch, though; she had to earn it.
While improvising with the other actors, she nailed the part. She also added a new dimension to sexual harassment in the workplace.
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(#11) Delacourt In 'Elysium,' Played By Jodie Foster
Foster had wanted to work with Neill Blomkamp since she saw District 9. As he was casting Elysium, he decided to make Defense Secretary Delacourt female. But once he made the decision to change the character’s gender, he didn’t know if Foster would do it. “I thought, ‘That would be f*cking awesome, but there’s just no way,'” he said. “But then, within, like, a day, I had a meeting with her and she said, ‘I want to play it.’ I was like, ‘Holy sh*t!’”
Foster’s Delacourt proves women can be just as elitist as men when it comes to sharing snooty orbiting space real estate.
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(#14) Lenny
On the way to production, the character of network president Lenny changed to female. Weaver insisted that nothing change about her character, including the obsession about whether women’s breasts are real.
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(#17) The 'Ghostbusters' Reboot Gals
The making of the new Ghostbusters with women in the lead roles caused quite a stir. Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones will not kill anyone’s childhood. They are comedy pros, and director Paul Feig knows what he’s doing.
There’s room for everyone in this world. It was awesome.
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(#5) Karsi In 'Game Of Thrones,' Played By Birgitte Hjort Sørensen
She only appeared in one episode in Season 5, but Karsi left an impression with viewers. In “Hardhome,” Sorensen’s clan chief and Wilding elder is tough and ready to kick White Walker butt. Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the episode, said that Karsi was originally written as a man.
They wanted to show another dimension to the Wildling plight as the dark forces closed in on the north. When the warrior and mother faces off with White Walker children, the end result is powerful.
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(#12) Jane Bodine In 'Our Brand Is Crisis,' Played By Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock took on the role (a “female Karl Rove”) intended for the film’s producer, George Clooney, after looking around for strong roles for women and finding the search to yield few results. “About two-and-a-half years ago, I just put out the feelers saying, ‘I’m not reading anything I’m excited about. Are there any male roles out there that they don’t mind switching to female, as long as it works?’”
The writers didn't really change anything about the character besides her gender.
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About This Tool
When we think of “Women in speculative fiction, ” we often think of the roles once called “scream queens, ” actresses who appear in the second act of the next day and escape alien invaders from Earth or scuffling with aliens on an alien ship. You’ll find one or two regulars on the list below, but our intent is not to stir up familiar faces from sci-Fi genres but to honor the actors who have created some of the most distinctive and iconic roles.
The random generator tool collates 17 entries, recording 17 iconic roles that should have been played by men, but was instead played by women. As Ellen Ripley, M, Paula, Evelyn Salt, Starbuck and others, but they were very successful and impressed the audience.
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