Dawn of the Dead (2004): 10 Things You Didn’t Know

Image from Universal

6. Ving Rhames demanded a starring role in the film.

One person who is apparently a huge fan of zombie movies is Ving Rhames. As one of the lead characters in Dawn of the Dead, Rhames is one of the most memorable of all of the cast involved. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and neither would Zack Snyder— Rhames was always the first choice to play Kenneth (whose name is likely a nod to Ken Foree, star of the original).

But it should also be said that producers never even had to consider someone else. When Rhames first heard about a remake of Dawn of the Dead going into production, he took it upon himself to track down the filmmakers involved to lobby for a role. Clearly recognizing how well Ving Rhames would fit into the film, he was cast pretty quickly and wound up becoming one of the movie’s most popular characters.

Maybe Rhames is simply a huge fan of Romero’s classics, eager to have any type of involvement with them. That’s probably why he also acted (as a different character) in the Day of the Dead remake, which was unfortunately nowhere near as great as Dawn of the Dead.

Next: Down with the sickness?