'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul' News: Why Did Film Replace Original Cast?
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul" features a new set of faces, with Jason Drucker starring as main character Greg Heffley, Charlie Wright as Greg's older brother Rodrick, and Tom Everett Scott and Alicia Silverstone as their parents.
The question is: Why was the original cast replaced?
A lot of viewers who were used to seeing the original cast were not quite comfortable watching different faces on the big screens. However, the big change-up was essential for the film to push through.
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"Making a fourth Wimpy Kid film with the original cast wouldn't have been possible," said Jeff Kinney, the author of the famous children's book series, as reported by The Washington Post. "The kids grew up and grew out of their roles, and we knew we'd hit the end of the road with them."
To solve the problem, the people behind the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movie franchise, including director David Bowers, had to restart the entire casting process, which is said to be the most important and difficult part of making movies.
So, they cast 11-year-old Drucker for the lead role, seeing as the original actor, Zachary Gordon, is now almost 20 years old, much older than the character Greg, who is supposed to still be in middle school.
Kinney added, "Getting the audience who liked the first three films to embrace the new cast is a challenge, of course, and we certainly encountered some resistance. But I think the new cast does a great job and makes you believe they're a family. having David Bowers back was a big help to keep a sense of consistency in the film universe."
According to a movie review on Variety, the new cast members do bear some physical resemblance to their original actors, apart from Silverstone. But more importantly, the new set of actors seemed to ease into their roles quite fast.
In other news, Drucker recently spoke with BSC Kids, and he shared that a few of the members of the original cast got in touch with him when he landed the role.
"Zach called me soon after I found out I booked the part," he started. "He was real nice and he reminded me to enjoy the ride but don't ever change. Which is and always was my motto also."
He added that Grayson Russell and Robert Capron also reached out to him via social media.
