Swayze Was Set to Cameo in Zombieland!

By Perri Nemiroff: 2009-09-18 21:58:09

The stars of Zombieland are clearly Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, but the film features a mystery actor in a very prominent cameo role. That role initially belonged to the late Patrick Swayze.

Co-writer Rhett Reese said, “That was many years ago, before he got sick. It was [going to be] a Patrick Swayze zombie. They got attacked by him zombified and we had these wonderful moments where they found a potter's wheel and there's Columbus on the wheel and these other hands come up behind him and it's Patrick Swayze the zombie. Ultimately, they fight and Patrick bull rushes Tallahassee who grabs him and lifts him into the air, a la Jennifer Grey, and smashes him into a pillar.”

When Swayze backed out of the film Reese and co-writer Paul Wernick had to look into other options. They considered Sylvester Stallone, Joe Pesci, Mark Hammill, The Rock, Kevin Bacon, Jean Claude Van Damme and Matthew McConaughey, but none worked out. While it’s disappointing to hear that Swayze is not in the film, you’ll be very pleased with the man they nabbed to make that cameo. Find out when Zombieland hits theaters on October 2nd.