Crispin Glover was almost the lead in Sharknado

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

There are millions of viewers who gladly tune in for each new increasingly insane installment of the SHARKNADO franchise. I'm not one of them. I'm not a fan of these movies, their tone and style just isn't appealing to me at all. I haven't put much thought into what the series could have done to get me to tune in for each year's SHARKNADO, but an answer occurred to me while I was looking through an article on The Hollywood Reporter on the casting in the series (particularly the cameo stunt casting).

If they wanted me to watch every SHARKNADO movie that was made, they would have to cast Crispin Glover in the lead role.

It nearly happened. While putting together the original SHARNKADO, the producers approached over 100 different actors with the offer to play male lead Fin Shepard, who ended up being played by Ian Ziering. Kevin Dillon, Dave Foley, Seth Green, John Stamos, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst (who was also offered the chance to direct the film) were all potential Fins. And so was Crispin Glover. According to director Anthony C. Ferrante, Glover came the closest to signing on.

I ended up in this 30-minute conversation with him during a location scouting in San Pedro. He wanted to play Fin like he had brain damage or something. And in my head I'm like, 'OK — my job here is to make sure he says yes to the movie.'"

Unfortunately, despite already having a brain damaged approach to the character in mind, Glover ultimately decided not to do SHARKNADO.

If Glover was starring in these movies as a brain damaged Fin Shepard, oh yeah, I would be watching every one of them.

Ian Ziering's version of Fin will be seen battling sharks once again (and enduring more than 80 celebrity cameos) when SHARKNADO 5: GLOBAL SWARMING makes its premiere on Syfy this Sunday, August 6th.