Final Destination star Devon Sawa has revealed that he was in fact the second choice for one of his best-remembered projects.
The 45-year-old actor first came to prominence in the 1990s, playing youth roles in films such as Casper and Little Giants.
In recent years, he has gained a whole new fan base by playing several characters in the horror comedy series Chucky about the iconic evil doll.
Now, however, Devon has told the story of one of his most famous roles from his early career – and revealed he almost failed to land the role.
He was the fallback option after Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin turned down the role, Devon said Entertainment tonight.
Devon Sawa has revealed that he was in fact the second choice for one of his best remembered projects; pictured last month
The 45-year-old first came to prominence playing youth roles in films including Final Destination, in which he is pictured (left) with Amanda Detmer (centre) and Ken Smith (right).
The project was the beloved Eminem music video Stan, which was released in 2000 and featured Devon as the title character.
Stan is an Eminem superfan whose obsession with the rap star leads to disaster for both him and his pregnant girlfriend, played by English singer Dido.
Devon has now confessed: ‘They went to Macaulay Culkin first. I think they wanted him, but he wasn’t available, or he didn’t want to do it, or something.”
Dr. Dre then “proposed” to Devon because he “was a fan” of the 2000 film Final Destination, in which Devon starred.
“There happened to be someone in the casting office who knew someone who was friends with me, and they called me that way… and it ended up working out pretty well,” he recalls. “It’s also one of the proudest things I’ve been a part of.”
In the Stan music video, Devon’s character adopts an eerily similar look to Eminem and syncs the lyrics to the song.
Devon talked about some initial awkwardness on set, saying, “I’ll never forget it, they told me the day I was going to lip sync it.”
The Vancouver native said, “I remember after the first take I did, Dre ran in and said, ‘It was good, but can you try it with some rhythm this time?’ And I thought, “Oh my God.” And that’s pretty much how the day went.’
One of Devon’s best-known roles, which he played in 2000, was initially offered to Macaulay Culkin, who is pictured in rehearsals for the West End play Madame Melville that year.
However, one of his most famous projects was the beloved Eminem music video Stan, which was released in 2000 and featured Devon as the title character.
Stan is an Eminem superfan whose obsession with the rap star leads to disaster for both him and his pregnant girlfriend, played by English singer Dido.
In the Stan music video, Devon’s character adopts an eerily similar look to Eminem and syncs the lyrics to the song.
He said fondly, “But it’s such an iconic video. Dr. Dre was there, D12 was there, I think Snoop was wandering around, Cypress Hill. It was a wild three days of filmmaking, it was amazing.”
As for the lyrics, he admitted, “I’ll tell you one thing: I know it better now than I did that day. Because I’ve heard it a million times since then.’
A few years ago, Devon was asked about the Stan music video on what was then known as Twitter and he described the atmosphere on set as “a big party.”
Devon, who was 22 when the video came out, confessed that he was “a little bit dark in his early 20s,” which made it easier for him to play the disturbing role.