Bowie was meant to star in Blade Runner 2049 (Picture: Columbia Pictures, Getty)

Blade Runner 2049 director, Denis Villeneuve, has revealed that the late music legend David Bowie could have potentially starred in his latest movie.

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The franchise director admitted that his first choice for the character of Neander Wallace was the Let’s Dance hitmaker, but when news broke of the singer’s death last year January after a battle with liver cancer, he was forced to consider other talent with similar rock star qualities.

Talking about the casting process, Villeneuve said: ‘Our first thought [for the character] had been David Bowie, who had influenced Blade Runner in many ways.

‘When we learned the sad news, we looked around for someone like that.’


The singer had influenced the film (Picture: PA Wire)

Jared Leto ended up taking on the role of Neander.

Jared Leto was cast instead (Picture: WireImage)

The 49-year-old also addressed another casting decision, admitting that Ryan Gosling’s character Officer K. was all him from the get go.



He said: ‘The part was written for Ryan right from the start. He was perfect.’

Meanwhile, Star Wars veteran Harrison Ford will be reprising his role as Rick Deckard and despite famously clashing with franchise creator Sir Ridley Scott, he insists he still has a lot of respect for the veteran filmmaker, but admitted he had a ‘very different’ experience working with Denis.

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Ford explained: ‘Ridley and I have long made our peace with each other. Whatever the circumstances were during the original film, I have great respect for Ridley and admiration for his work.

‘Denis brings enormous craftsmanship, cogent thoughts about storytelling. He is very direct and straightforward with the actors on the set. He either deeply loves it or thinks it is dog do.’

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