Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., and Keanu Reeves were eying for Ron Howard’s ‘Backdraft.’

Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., and Keanu Reeves are three of the most prominent stars in Hollywood. Pitt was at the beginning of his career giving fans acclaimed movies like Thelma & Louise in 1991 but the actor lost a movie role he wanted in the same year and it also happened to Downey Jr. and Reeves.

William Baldwin, Donald Sutherland in Backdraft. Credit: Universal Pictures
The impact of losing the role upon all three stars may seem insignificant considering their remarkable cinematic career but the loss of a movie may hit hard. After their horrible auditions for Ron Howard’s Backdraft, the trio lost the role to William Baldwin. The movie could have been in the resume of one of the actors.

Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr. And Keanu Reeves Lost A Role To William Baldwin

Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., and Keanu Reeves. Credit: MGM, Fine Line Features, and Universal Pictures

When Ron Howard was screen-testing actors for his 1991 action thriller Backdraft, Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., and Keanu Reeves decided to have their shot at the movie for the lead role. However, the trio failed to impress the director.  Howard is one of the acclaimed directors in Hollywood who has Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and Rush to his credit. His 1991 action thriller Backdraft received favorable critical reviews and grossed $152.4 million worldwide (per The Numbers).

Pitt is certainly one of the most popular stars. He claimed an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But Pitt’s audition for Backdraft did not turn out to be great as a clip of their audition surfaced online.

Iron Man star Downey Jr. who won his first Oscar recently for his brilliant performance in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer also struggled to get into the trait of Brian McCaffrey, a probationary firefighter played by William Baldwin. While the actor found success in his post-Iron Man tenure as an actor, his struggle to impress the director is visible in the clip.

Reeves is now at the prime of his career, thanks to The Matrix movie series which propelled his cinematic career, and the action franchise, John Wick. Reeves appeared in two movies in 1991— Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, and My Own Private Idaho— and Backdraft could have been his third. However, like Pitt and Downey Jr., The Devil’s Advocate star was also far from getting closer to booking the character to his name. So, in this regard, Backdraft remains to be one commonality that the trio share.

Backdraft Was A Great Experience For William Baldwin

William Baldwin alongside the Backdraft cast. Credit: Universal Pictures
Baldwin did not have a sound sleep while playing the Backdraft character. The director once asked the actor if he could light him on fire for a scene. “Well, as long as you can see that it’s me,” Baldwin gave a crafty reply adding, “Otherwise send in the stuntman, and I’ll take a nap in my trailer.” But the movie was worth every trouble, he told Rolling Stone.

“It was the most incredible experience, not only of my career, but that any actor could have, to work with Ron Howard, Robert De Niro, Kurt Russell, Donald Sutherland, Scott Glenn….”

Of course, as Baldwin said, the movie has an astounding cast despite the fiery atmosphere on set, the filming was quite different for the actors as the director was insistent on using actual flames. “The fire was all in-camera,” Howard told The Hollywood Reporter.

We had gas burners and fire retardants and a team of 10 Chicago firefighters around us at all times with extinguishers at the ready, and they needed to move in at times. No matter how well planned, [we] just never knew when the fire was going to get away from us. And it did on occasion.

Thankfully, no one was injured on set while filming the movie. The director also revealed that he hasn’t seen the film since its release but the memories behind the set will be cherished for life.