the a-team

[richardfinch]

in the pilot film face was played by a guy called tom, but in the series he was played by dirk benedict. why did it change, did tom leave or was he not good enough? did dirk originally apply for face but get rejected, or was he approached after tm left? does anyone know why the chage happened? thanks

[crimbo]

The guy's name was Tim Dunigan and he was replaced because the producers felt that he looked too young to be a Vietnam Vet. (thanks imdb)

[calibrax]

Tim Dunigan was let go after the pilot episode. In an interview, he said "I was the original Face. But after I did the pilot, the producer decided that I was too young for the part and they replaced me with Dirk Benedict. Not getting that part hit me very hard. The A-Team was the first job, acting or otherwise, that I had ever been fired from. It screwed me up for a long time."