Will Forte wasn’t originally supposed to be The Last Man On Earth

By Sam Barsanti | June 28, 2015 | 10:27pm

Aux Features TV

Despite and/or because of its bizarre premise, Fox’s The Last Man On Earth turned out to be a pretty big hit in its first season. The show stars Will Forte as Phil Tandy Miller, a guy who thinks he’s the last man on Earth until he meets—and then marries—Carol (Kristen Schaal), who they believe to be the last woman on Earth. They’re wrong, and more men and women eventually show up and form a small society around the fact that Phil is a pretty big asshole. Still, it’s hard not to root for a guy who just wants to sleep with beautiful women and be the President Of The United States when he’s played by Will Forte.

According to a discussion held by Deadline, though, Forte wasn’t even supposed to be in the show at all. Creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller originally wanted Forte to just be a writer on The Last Man On Earth, but after writing the pilot Forte realized that he had fallen in love with the crazy premise and wanted to be a bigger part of it. The show probably never got far enough along for any other actors to be considered, but it’s still interesting to think about what might have been. Who else could play Phil Miller? Maybe Boris Kodjoe?