John Wayne Almost Lost His Breakout Western Role To This Hollywood Icon

John Wayne came close to losing his breakout role to another Hollywood icon. John Wayne’s path to stardom technically began in 1930 when he headlined the John Ford Western, The Big Trail. However, the film wasn’t a success, leaving Wayne to work as a B-movie Western actor for much of the decade. The trajectory of John Wayne’s movie career didn’t change until he starred in Stagecoach.

Remembered as one of the greatest Westerns of all time, Stagecoach featured a now-iconic introductory scene for John Wayne’s Ringo Kid, one that effectively signaled the actor’s takeover of the Western genre. After Stagecoach, Wayne headlined a number of Westerns of much greater caliber than the ones he was making in the 1930s, and in doing so, emerged as one of Hollywood’s top stars, becoming a favorite casting choice not just for Westerns, but also big-budget war movies.

John Wayne Could Have Lost The Ringo Kid Role To Gary Cooper

John Ford Ensured That The Studio Didn’t Get Another Actor For Stagecoach’s Main Character

The fame John Wayne achieved in the 1940s may not have been feasible had Paramount Pictures executive Walter Wanger gotten his way. In Michael Munn’s John Wayne biography, John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, it was explained that in 1937, John Ford persuaded Paramount Pictures to approve his idea for a movie adaptation of “Stagecoach to Loadsburg,” a story from a then-recent issue of Collier’s magazine. Having worked with John Wayne on The Big Trail, Ford was quick to decide that Wayne would play the main character. Wanger, who served as a producer on Stagecoach, disagreed, preferring Gary Cooper for the part.

In addition to wanting Cooper for the Ringo Kid, Walter Wanger made an initial push for Marlene Dietrich to play Stagecoach’s female lead, rather than Claire Trevor.

Unlike John Wayne, Gary Cooper was an A-list actor with several major credits under his belt, including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, a film that saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Plus, he had enough experience in Westerns to show that he could probably handle a character like the Ringo Kid. On paper, picking Cooper made a lot of sense, but as Munn explains in the book, there were budget concerns about tapping Cooper. He’d obviously be an expensive choice. What’s more, Ford was adamant that Cooper wasn’t needed and made a case for Wayne to star.

John Wayne Had Already Lost One Role To Gary Cooper

John Wayne Was Passed Over For The Lead In The Plainsman, Which Went To Gary Cooper

If this had happened, Stagecoach would have been the second time that Gary Cooper was ultimately picked over John Wayne. According to Munn’s John Wayne biography, such a situation had already occurred in 1936 when Cecil B. DeMille was looking for an actor to star in The Plainsman, a Western about American Wild West icon and lawman Wild Bill Hickok. Making little secret of his interest in playing the historical figure on the big screen, Wayne had a meeting with DeMille about the part.

Ironically, John Wayne was the original choice to play Will Kane in High Noon, but he turned it down, claiming it was an “un-American” movie. His decision paved the way for the single most important movie in Gary Cooper’s filmography.

Unfortunately for the actor, his B-movie star status kept DeMille from seriously considering him. He recognized Wayne’s involvement in The Big Trail, but noted “all the water that had passed under the bridge seen then,” implying that John Wayne’s movie career had taken a downward spiral. Afterward, Cooper landed the starring role in The Plainsman that Wayne had coveted, and in turn, the film became one of Gary Cooper’s best Westerns.

Starring in The Plainsman added another great film to Cooper’s resume, but for Wayne, it could have been the movie that jump-started his career, especially since it did garner Oscar attention. But, not getting the role only delayed Wayne’s rise. He didn’t have to wait much longer for his big break, which came via Stagecoach three years later. Although there was a window for Cooper to wind up with that role as well (thanks to Wanger), John Ford’s confidence in the Duke’s abilities prevented that scenario from coming to pass.