It’s every actor’s worst nightmare. You’re attached to a project for months if not years, it finally gets greenlit and you film your scenes – only to end up on the cutting room floor. Case in point: Simone Ashley, the Bridgerton star due to appear opposite Brad Pitt in the exhilarating new motor-racing drama F1 The Movie.
“It happens on every film,” director Joseph Kosinski (of F1 and Top Gun: Maverick fame) told People magazine, noting how there are often two or three storylines that get dropped. Ashley can, however, take comfort that she’s is great company.
Here are nine major actors who did not make the final cut in critically acclaimed films.
Harrison Ford in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Even the star who played Indiana Jones and Han Solo isn’t immune to the chop. Harrison Ford shot a role as Elliott Taylor's high-school principal in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 sci-fi classic, about a boy who befriends an alien. The scene had Ford lecturing Elliott (Henry Thomas), about his behaviour after he sets frogs free in his biology class. But Spielberg cut it, feeling Ford’s appearance would shift focus away from Elliott.
Mickey Rourke in The Thin Red Line
Many an actor has fallen foul of director Terrence Malick, known for pondering for years in the editing room, including Mickey Rourke. Playing a scout sniper in the 1998 all-star Second World War drama The Thin Red Line, featuring the likes of Adrien Brody and Sean Penn, Rourke was snipped from the final edit. “There were political reasons why I was out of the movie. That really upset me,” he said, believing his wild off-screen reputation had led to the decision.
Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World
When actor Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct, director Ridley Scott cut all of Spacey’s scenes in this 2017 drama about the kidnapping of the grandson of wealthy tycoon John Paul Getty. It was impossible to excise Getty from the story, however, which meant Scott recast the character, bringing in Christopher Plummer and reshooting all the scenes. Plummer even got an Oscar nod.
Paul Rudd in Bridesmaids
One of the great losses in Paul Feig’s stellar 2011 romcom is Paul Rudd’s turn as an unhinged guy who singleton Annie (Kristen Wiig) dates. They go ice-skating and he slips over, injuring his finger and cursing at children. It was cut because Annie already had too many other paramours, making it potentially confusing for audiences, but the scene is hilarious. Check it out online.
May Calamawy in Gladiator II
The Egyptian-Palestinian actress, famed for Marvel TV show Moon Knight, suffered the same fate as F1’s Simone Ashley. Her role in Ridley Scott’s 2024 Gladiator sequel was drastically pruned, with just brief glimpses of her left in the final film, and no dialogue. While it was never revealed who she played (though she hinted at working with Denzel Washington, who played gladiator owner Macrinus), it’s likely her subplot was a victim of the film’s unwieldy 148-minute run-time.
Tobey Maguire in The Life of Pi
In 2012, when Ang Lee’s take on Yann Martel’s novel hit cinemas, Tobey Maguire was one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, thanks to his titular role in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. But this is exactly why Lee decided to drop Maguire as the reporter who listens to the fantastical tale of a boy shipwrecked with a Bengal tiger. Lee reshot the scenes with English actor Rafe Spall, as Maguire was deemed too distracting.
Robert Pattinson in Vanity Fair
These days, cutting Robert Pattinson would be unthinkable. But back in 2004, in what should’ve been his screen debut as the son of Reese Witherspoon’s Becky Sharp, he was severed from Vanity Fair. The film is director (and mother of Zohran Mamdani) Mira Nair’s take on William Makepeace Thackeray's classic Victorian novel. According to Pattinson, the casting director was so apologetic, she pushed him forward to play Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter films. The rest, as they say, is history.
Ana de Armas in Yesterday
Before Knives Out, No Time To Die and Ballerina, Ana de Armas was set to charm us in Danny Boyle’s 2019 Beatles-infused romcom Yesterday. Playing a girl who catches the eye of struggling musician Jack (Himesh Patel), de Armas’ character didn’t play well with test audiences, who objected to the leading man’s eyes straying from his main love interest, Ellie (Lily James). De Armas still made the trailer, though, as Jack sings to her on James Corden’s talk show.
Sienna Miller in Black Mass
Another actress to fall foul of the unwanted girlfriend role, British star Miller was dropped from Scott Cooper’s 2015 gangster epic. It was something of a surprise, given she portrayed Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of mobster Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp), who helped him avoid capture for 16 years. But with Dakota Johnson already playing Lyndsey, his love interest from an earlier part of his life, Miller’s role got the figurative bullet to the head.
Results
2pm: Al Sahel Contracting Company – Maiden (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: AF Mutakafel, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
2.30pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: El Baareq, Antonio Fresu, Rashed Bouresly
3pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Keeneland – Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Alkaraama, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
4pm: Keeneland – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Lady Snazz, Saif Al Balushi, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Hive – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
5pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – (TB) Handicap Dh64,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Price: From Dh117,059
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Indika
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Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
Super Rugby play-offs
Quarter-finals
- Hurricanes 35, ACT 16
- Crusaders 17, Highlanders 0
- Lions 23, Sharks 21
- Chiefs 17, Stormers 11
Semi-finals
Saturday, July 29
- Crusaders v Chiefs, 12.35pm (UAE)
- Lions v Hurricanes, 4.30pm
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
