"I Begged Him": Darren Aronofsky Wanted To Cast Dave Chappelle In 'Requiem For A Dream'

Aronofsky wanted Dave Chappelle to portray the character that fellow comedian and actor Marlon Wayans ended up portraying.

In an alternate universe, Dave Chappelle was a part of Darren Aronofsky's cult classic film, Requiem for a Dream.

Vulture recently published an oral history on the film, which turned 20 this year, and in it Aronofsky shared that he wanted to cast Chappelle as Tyrone C. Love.

"I wanted to cast Dave Chappelle. I had a bunch of friends that were in the comedy scene, and I’d seen him onstage and thought he was amazing," the director said. "I begged him, but he wasn’t really interested in acting at the time. So he passed. But I always felt like a comedian for that role would be great."

The role ended up being portrayed by Marlon Wayans, with Aronofsky noting that Wayans provided a "level of commitment" with the character.

Wayans also spoke on the role and not being known as a drama actor.

"It’s not that I don’t do drama. I haven’t been on the top of the list, because people don’t know if I can do drama or not," he said. "I studied drama for four years every day."

This isn't the first time Aronofsky has revealed that he wanted to cast Chappelle for the film. In 2008, during an interview with Howard Stern, the director shared how the comedian was his first choice for Tyrone, saying: "I always wanted a comedian for that role because when I read it in the book I thought the guy had a lot of humor. I actually went to Chappelle first and I begged Chappelle to do it."

In related news, Chappelle will be appearing on the third season of David Letterman's Netflix interview series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.