David Bowie 'could have been in Blade Runner 2049'
Instead we have Jared Leto in the long-awaited follow-up to Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic
Oh, what could have been. Denis Villeneuve – the Canadian director of Arrival, Sicario and the upcoming Blade Runner sequel – has revealed that he initially wanted David Bowie to appear as a major character in Blade Runner 2049.
Speaking to the Metro, Villeneuve reveals that the polymath was his first choice to play Neander Wallace, a replicant manufacturer in the upcoming movie. “Our first thought [for the character] had been David Bowie, who had influenced Blade Runner in many ways,” reveals Villeneuve.
However, when Bowie passed away in January 2016, Villeneuve had to go back to the drawing board. “When we learned the sad news, we looked around for someone like that,” he says.
After looking hard and wide for an actor with Bowie’s rockstar charisma and they come up with, er, Sucide Squad actor Jared Leto. Get a glimpse of Leto’s performance in the latest Blade Runner 2049 trailer below, and check out his performance in the film when it is released 8 October.