Fall of the House of Usher: Why was Frank Langella recast?

Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher had its main patriarch recast during the middle of shooting, but why was this?

Mike Flanagan has quickly become known as Netflix‘s master of horror television, with series like Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass all becoming major critical hits. His most recent – and seemingly final – Netflix show, The Fall of the House of Usher, has been no different.

Like most Flanagan Netflix productions, Fall of the House of Usher is based off of horror literature, this time being the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The synopsis for the show reads: “Siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built a pharmaceutical company into an empire of wealth, privilege and power; however, secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying.”

While the show was met with a lot of excitement, the making of the series wasn’t so easy, mainly due to a lead star and Oscar nominee Frank Langella being recast midway through production. So, what was the reason given for Langella’s replacement?

Why was Frank Langella recast in The Fall of the House of Usher?

Frank Langella, who originally played the titular family’s patriarch Roderick Usher, was fired a few months into shooting The Fall of the House of Usher due to a misconduct investigation. He was replaced by Bruce Greenwood, who had to reshoot all of Langella’s scenes that had already been done.

Understandably, not many details of the situation have been made public. But, during a recent interview with Kyle Meredith, star of Fall of the House of Usher (and numerous other Flanagan projects) Kate Siegel was asked about the recasting of Langella.

Two years on from the incident, the actor didn’t refrain from saying how “devastating” the whole situation had been, but made sure to praise Greenwood’s reshooting work, saying: “The most sh*t went down. Most people who are correctly praising Bruce need to remember that every single scene that Bruce shot that wasn’t sitting down across from Carl Lumbly was an emergency reshoot. We redid almost all of it. It’s amazing what he did.

“It was heartbreaking. It was overwhelming and heartbreaking and disappointing, and people were hurt. I was tangentially – I wasn’t involved in any of the actual HR stuff, but hearing about it, knowing that cast members felt sad and uncomfortable and taken advantage of by another member of the cast, it was just devastating.”

Check out the full interview below:

Siegel continued: “Because Mike has spent so much time building an amazing set life and experience and family, and to know that one person can come in and just f**k that sh*t up made me furious. I think when Bruce came, there was palpable relief from everybody, because we had a scene partner, we had somebody who we respected and respected us, and a family member back.

“I think it just, for me, solidified that feeling of you don’t need to be tortured to be an artist. You can be a good person and show up and do your job, even if you’re playing somebody extreme, even if you are in extreme situations, you are capable – anybody’s capable – of being sane, pleasant and professional on set.”

Bruce Greenwood, who replaced Langella in the role, has been a collaborator with Mike Flanagan on a number of his projects, including Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep.

Thankfully, despite all that “went down,” The Fall of the House of Usher managed to maintain popularity with its audience. We even listed the show amongst the best of the year, writing: “To us, Mike Flanagan can do little wrong, and while The Fall of the House of Usher may not quite live up to the likes of Hill House, the director continues to make some of the best horror media out there, and especially the best on Netflix. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast, and a clever integration of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, House of Usher has more fun with its scares, allowing this entry in the Flanagan horror universe (The Flana-verse?) to stand on its own two feet.”

The Fall of the House of Usher is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of Dexerto’s TV & Movies content for more info on the latest and upcoming shows.