The characters we love were not always as we know them today; a lot of times, they’ve swapped their genders in order to make stories more exciting or to find equal representation for both genders. Here are 30 examples of movie and TV show characters that had their genders swapped.
Kara Thrace – Battlestar Galactica
In the reboot of the 1978 sci-fi series, the director decided to switch Lieutenant Starbuck for Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.
The Ancient One – Doctor Strange
This role was supposed to be played by an Asian man, but they changed everything. Marvel fans weren’t happy about this.
Pinhead – Hellraiser
In the 2022 version of Hellraiser, Pinhead was played by Jamie Clayton, while the original one from 1987 was played by Doug Bradley.
Murph – Interstellar
Matthew McConaughey’s grown daughter, Murph, was originally written as a man, but the director claims that he may have changed because his eldest child was a girl.
Ellen Ripley – Alien
This legendary hero was supposed to be a man like every character written in Alien.
Jane Bodine – Our Brand Crisis
This political strategist was supposed to be played by a man, and Sandra Bullock suggested that they could swap the genders of a character for the movie to be more exciting.
Evelyn Salt – Salt
Tom Cruise was supposed to star in this movie, but declined after realizing it was too similar to Mission Impossible. They had to rewrite the story, and that’s when Angelina Jolie came on board.
Zula – Conan the Destroyer
In the comics, Zula was a male character, but the director cast Grace Jones to play her.
Dean Hardscrabble – Monsters University
Helen Mirren voiced this character after they decided that it needed to be a female character.
Captain Phasma – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
They swapped genders once they realized there were only two female characters in the movie.
Paula – The 40-Year-Old Virgin
When Steve Carrell’s wife pointed out that the movie was overwhelmingly male, they decided to change the character’s gender.
Alicia Clark – The Paper
Glenn Close ended up playing the role of a paper’s managing editor and managed to change the character as little as possible.
Lt Saavik – Wrath of Khan
This character was supposed to be a male Spock clone called Mr. Wicks.
Dory – Finding Nemo
The director wanted the fish that helps Merlin find Nemo to be a male character, but one night his wife was watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show and he got inspired.
Mason – Snowpiercer
Tilda Swinton plays a character originally written as a “mild-mannered man in a suit”.
Hildy Johnson – His Girl Friday
The movie was based on a play originally written for two male characters, but when the director had his secretary read for one of the roles, he realized the dynamic was way better between a man and a woman.
Prospera – The Tempest
Julie Taymor, director of the 2010 adaptation of The Tempest, decided to cast a woman for the originally protective father.
Secretary Delacourt – Elysium
Neill Blomkamp decided to switch the gender of the character and called Jodie Foster for the role.
M – James Bond
From 1995 until 2012, M was played by Judi Dench despite being portrayed by a man before.
Kyle Pratt – Flightplan
Judi Foster played a desperate mother looking for her child mid-flight, who was supposed to be a father.
Maggie Peyton – Herbie: Fully Loaded
Maggie Peyton was originally Jim Douglas in the first Herbie film series.
Jeri Hogarth – Jessica Jones
In Jessica Jones’ comics, Jeri was a male character also portraying an attorney.
Ali Davis – What Men Want
In the new version of What Women Want, the new plot presented a woman who could hear men’s thoughts and used them for her advantage in her men-dominated career as a sports agent.
Jo & Penn – The Hustle
In the original version, Dirty Little Scoundrels, there were Freddy and Lawrence.
Cameron Kweller – He’s All That
In the new version, the guy received a makeover from a classmate who was a TikTok star, after she accepted a bet to turn him into prom king instead of being the other way around.
The Whole Team in Ocean’s 8
In the new Ocean’s film, they presented a whole new team consisting only of female characters.
Leonardo & Kate – Overboard
They swapped Goldie Hawn’s heiress Joana Mintz-Stayton for a spoiled playboy named Leonardo Montenegro, and Kurt Russell’s widower carpenter Dean Proffitt became a widowed single mother named Kate Sullivan.
Luke Danes – Gilmore Girls
People pointed out that the pilot was too female-dominated, so Sherman-Palladino switched the role from “Daisy” to “Luke”.
James Bond – James Bond
They wanted a woman to play James Bond because they claimed the character was “kinda stupid,” and when the role was offered to Susan Hayward, she declined it, forcing them to rewrite the character.
Luke Skywalker – Star Wars
Luke Skywalker was supposed to be a young woman in love with Han Solo. That plot eventually shifted to Princess Leia.
