THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992) - 9/19/2024
Who else could have played the DDL role?
On re-watching The Last of the Mohicans, which I am now convinced is my favorite Michael Mann movie, I was wondering why Daniel Day-Lewis was playing a native. It’s something I didn’t think about at the time in 2008, but over the years I really did think how wild that is that they got a light-eyed Irish man to play an Indigenous person. Then they explained it in the film that he was essentially adopted by his tribe, so he is European ethnically, but native socially. So then my next thought is, who could have played this role in 1992?
I feel like the easiest way to do this is to pull from the highest grossing actors of the time. Now, being a high grossing actor shouldn’t be the barrier for entry to be considered; Daniel Day-Lewis for sure was not one, but he was at least known, revered, and award-winning. If you’re a studio sinking a ton of money into a period and war drama, you want to get asses in seats in order to be in the black, and the easiest way to do that is by getting a movie star - and stardom equates to box office returns.
Looking back at the highest grossing actors of 1990 (which is probably when the movie began casting and ramping up production) a lot of names on that list are not necessarily dramatic ones. It’s a ton of comedic actors, some too distinguishable (i.e. funny looking) to ever be taken seriously on screen in this role. However, a few from this time do stand out.
Lower down the pole is Steven Seagal. Now, does he have the dramatic chops to pull this role off? Probably not, but he has the bonafides of a physical action star to make you believe in the fight scenes. His large presence and black hair and olive complexion would have fit in perfectly.
Then there’s Charlie Sheen. Sheen may have been less known at the time, but he has the family pedigree and the sort of danger in his eye that makes you believe that he could pull it off. However, I think his brother1 would have been a better choice. Emilio Estevez already has the on screen attraction and appeal, a softer look behind his eyes that draws you in when needed, and has done some gimmicky action stuff with Hot Shots! That could fall right in line here. Both of them having some hispanic background would feed into the look of someone more ethnically obscure/passing for native.
However, I think the biggest win here would have been Mel Gibson. Already a bonafide star at this point from the Mad Max series, he can pull off the action. He has been a romantic lead, and svelte, and a massive box office draw. He of course would go on to do several war and period pieces, but I think Gibson would be a no-brainer here if they could have gotten him.
At the end of the day though, DDL was and is the best fit for this part, and a major aspect of what makes this film so rewatchable.
As I just learned, his older brother.