Film star Wesley Snipes, who headlined the Blade series and has a scene-stealing turn as General Izzi in Coming 2 America, says his career would have been very different if he had been cast as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The role instead went to Levar Burton, who played La Forge through the 1987-1994 run of The Next Generation and three movies based on the series. When asked by Collider if he auditioned for the part, Snipes said "Yes, that is true."
"I think that was in the eighties. Yeah. And was disappointed that I didn't get it," Snipes said. "Not as disappointed as I was not getting the role in the first Coming to America, but that actually turned out pretty good. Because I think if I had gotten the role that I would have been in television more than film, and maybe would have been never got a chance to do everything else I’ve done."
Snipes recalled being a finalist for the role of La Forge, but said things turned out well both for him and Burton. "Yes. That's how I remember it. Yeah. It was close. But yeah, a greater actor than I went on to make it famous. I applaud him, my friend, great and wonderful." In 1987, Snipes appeared in the long-form version of Michael Jackson's Bad video. Movie stardom followed, beginning with 1989's Major League.
Directed by Craig Brewer, Coming 2 America stars Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha and Bella Murphy. The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Collider