Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods could have looked a lot different according to a new post by Collider.

Giancarlo Esposito revealed to the outlet in a new interview that the original group of actors Lee wanted to hire for the roles included himself and Samuel L. Jackson as well as John David Washington. All of them have worked with Lee in the past, with the most recent collaboration being between the director and Washington for BlacKkKlansman.

“It was me and Samuel L. Jackson and Denzel Washington, and Denzel’s son,” he said to the outlet’s Collider Connected series.

Esposito said he was approached to play Eddie, who is played in the film by Norm Lewis. “He’s the gentleman that I belive he steps on a mine and gets blown up…I would have played that particular character,” he said. “I was looking forward to that film.”

Esposito had to bow out of the film because of prior commitments.

“I just love and adore Spike Lee, and the messages that he created in his films that are so powerful and strong, and also because [of] the cast he was talking to at that time,” he said. “But it didn’t work out for any of us because the shoot got pushed, and Spike was waiting everyone to be there the whole time overseas when he shot it, and I was still shooting Better Call Saul, and was juggling that with Godfather of Harlem, so it didn’t work out. It was so hard for me not to be able to do that film.”

Da 5 Bloods is now streaming on Netflix.

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Photo credit: Netflix