The new action thriller Rebel Ridge, which is currently number 1 in the top 10 films in 88 countries, has been streaming on Netflix since the weekend. The film by Jeremy Saulnier stars Aaron Pierre, who takes on a police station full of corrupt cops.
However, we almost got to see Star Wars star John Boyega in this role, because Rebel Ridge was first filmed with him. But then everything turned out completely differently.
John Boyega left the Rebel Ridge set during filming
As Screen Rant summarizes, Boyega was cast in the role of Terry Richmond in the Netflix film back in 2019. Due to the Corona pandemic, filming did not begin until May 2021, where complications quickly arose. Shortly after production began, Boyega left, citing family reasons the set and dropped out of the film completely.
Aaron Pierre was quickly cast as the new Rebel Ridge lead
Filming of the action thriller was subsequently halted and director Jeremy Saulnier had to look for a replacement for Boyega. In an interview with Vulture, he said:
The search was incredibly short, because within a few weeks I had a Zoom call in Louisiana with Aaron Pierre and I knew in less than two minutes that this was the guy. We had a very deep conversation. We were at this perfect crossroads, his career, my career. It didn’t seem desperate at all, but it felt like we needed each other at that point in time. And the way he presented himself, his immediate interest, his commitment was uplifting and gave me instant energy.
Pierre was most recently seen in the Amazon series The Underground Railroad and in the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Old. This year he will also appear in Mufasa: The Lion King as Voice of adult Mufasa can be heard – at least in the original version.
Maybe we’ll see the British actor in more action roles soon, because Rebel Ridge definitely seems like an application letter for a future in the genre.