Lopez, Carrey Land Little-Known Co-stars

ByABC News
February 5, 2001, 1:42 PM

February 2 -- Getting a leading man to star opposite Jennifer Lopez who's currently got both the No. 1 album (J.Lo) and the No. 1 movie (The Wedding Planner) in the country should be a no-brainer, but most actors are already locked into projects of their own as Hollywood scrambles to churn out as many movies as possible before potential writers' and actors' strikes.

So when The Practice's Dylan McDermott backed out of a potential role as Lopez's abusive husband in Enough, Columbia Pictures turned to another, lesser-known TV hunk: Billy Campbell, of Once and Again.

McDermott reportedly did not want to play such a negative role, especially since the financial deal offered didn't make it appealing enough to him, according to Variety.

The scarcity of talent during this crunch period has also proved to be a boon to virtual unknown Laurie Holden, who just landed a starring role opposite Jim Carrey in the McCarthy-era thriller The Majestic (formerly titled Bijou).

Director Frank Darabont says of Holden, "She beat out a lot of people for this role, and I have to say I'm thrilled at the prospect of presenting a fresh face to the audience. I think she's going to capture a lot of hearts and blow people away."

Holden is known to X-Files fans as U.N. informant Marita Covarrubias. This will be her first lead in a feature.

The clock is ticking on all movie productions, with April being seen as the last possible start date to avoid being shut down by the looming strikes.

Pre-strike casualties already include Oliver Stone's Beyond Borders; The Green Hornet, which had already lost star Jet Li; and possibly David Fincher's The Panic Room, which has lost star Nicole Kidman to an injury. Jodie Foster, who had to scrap her directorial effort Flora Plum due to another injury (to star Russell Crowe) is rumored to be available to take over for Kidman.