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Imagine an alternate reality where guests arriving at television’s most mysterious tropical paradise weren’t greeted by the suave charm of Ricardo Montalban, but rather by the Shakespearean gravitas of Orson Welles. As it turns out, that reality was almost on the itinerary for “Fantasy Island.”
When the series was first being developed, ABC pressured executive producer Aaron Spelling to cast Welles as Mr. Roarke — the white-suited host who granted the deep, sometimes dangerous desires of the island’s wealthy visitors. Spelling, however, stuck to his first choice, Montalban, despite ABC’s hesitation. Spelling discussed the casting battle in his 1996 memoir, “Aaron Spelling: A Prime-Time Life.”
“ABC gave us an order to do a ‘Fantasy Island’ TV movie in 1977,” Spelling recalled in his book, per MeTV. “We immediately thought of Ricardo Montalban as suave Mr. Roarke, the wishmaster. ABC had another idea. They saw Mr. Roarke as Orson Welles.” Spelling — who once called himself one of Welles’ “greatest fans in the world” – believed Montalban was simply a better fit for the show’s unique tone. “We thought it would be much more interesting to have Ricardo,” Spelling noted in his book. “Welles was great, but he wasn’t Roarke, no more than we would cast Ricardo to play a vampire in a Dracula movie.”
Aaron Spelling believed ABC executives were hesitant about Ricardo Montalban’s heritage
According to a 1999 interview Aaron Spelling gave to the Television Academy, network executives also expressed apprehension over Ricardo Montalban’s heritage, which Spelling countered by leaning into the character’s ambiguity.
“When we suggested Ricardo Montalban, the first instinct was, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because he’s a brilliant actor,’ and I could see they were afraid to say anything else. I said, ‘If it bothers you that he’s Hispanic, remember a lot of our audience is Hispanic, and I think the accent makes him different, because, as we said in the script, we didn’t know [where] Roarke came from … and the whole accent blended.'”
Spelling ultimately got his way and proved to executives that his instincts were spot on. “Well, he turned out to be one of the greatest quarterbacks on this show we’ve ever had,” the producer concluded. “Fantasy Island” enjoyed a successful seven-season run, with Montalban playing Mr. Roarke 154 times across the series and the two TV movies that launched it. Alongside Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize), he helped create one of television’s most memorable duos. The franchise remained popular enough to inspire a 2021 reboot featuring Roselyn Sanchez as a distant relative of Roarke.