I’m currently reading the awesome “Bronson’s Back Again! On the Set With Charles Bronson” and I came across an interesting tidbit which I never knew.
The legendary Charles Bronson was in fact the first choice to play the iconic Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s Escape from New York.
According to the book director Carpenter said “Charles Bronson had expressed interest in playing Snake [Plissken], but I was afraid of working with him. He was a big star, and I was this little-shit nobody.”
I’d also heard that Carpenter thought Bronson would be too old to play Snake and that it was the studio that really wanted him.
Apparently Tommy Lee Jones was also up for the role but I think we can all agree that Kurt Russell was just perfect as the character.
I totally could have pictured Bronson in the role though…