Devon Sawa Claimed That He Wasn’t Paid for His ‘Final Destination 5’ Cameo
Actor Devon Sawa once made a surprise comeback to the Final Destination universe in the series’ fifth film. But Sawa claimed that he didn’t receive a cent for his contributions.
Devon Sawa wasn’t paid for his ‘Final Destination 5’ cameo
Sawa was one of the first actors who introduced the Final Destination series to audiences. Fans have recognized him as the main character Alex, who developed mysterious psychic powers that allowed himself and his friends to cheat death.
Sawa left the Final Destination world after the first film. But he would eventually return to the franchise much later. His character would appear in a brief cameo in 2010’s Final Destination 5.
Sawa shared that, even if he was no longer a part of the series, he always kept in touch with the Final Destination movies. He even went to the premiere of Final Destination 5, which was in 3-D, to test the experience. But he was surprised to see that he had an uncredited cameo in the fifth movie, which he was offered no money for.
“I never got paid a cent for Final Destination 5,” Sawa once said according to Comic Book Resources. “They didn’t even tell me I was in it when they invited me to the premiere. In the first contract for part one there was a section the stated they owned the footage and could use it in the future. I assumed for press. I was wrong.”
However, Sawa explained that he held no ill will towards the Final Destination 5 filmmakers.
“This has nothing to do with the filmmakers by the way. I loved FD5. I love them all to be completely honest. And I’m super excited to see number 6,” he said.
How ‘Final Destination’ would’ve changed if Devon Sawa stuck around
The first Final Destination left the door open for Sawa’s character to return, but Final Destination 2 seemed to write the character off entirely. Final Destination creator Jeffrey Reddick wanted both Sawa and Ali Larter’s character, Clear, to have more substantial roles in the franchise. But scheduling issues caused plans to change.
“I wanted to bring both Alex and Clear back. There were some issues with scheduling and stuff with getting Devon Sawa back, and I got annoyed how they just killed him off with a brick, which I thought was a big F you. That’s really my only complaint with Final Destination 2,” Reddick once told Collider.
But Reddick also had in mind what he wanted to do with Sawa’s and Larter’s characters if the two stuck around.
“If I had them both back, I had always planned on killing Clear, but I wanted to keep Alex alive. I had a cool twist at the end where it still was, you know, she has a life that saves her life, but then death gets her once she has the kid and Alex is still kind of the torch-bearer,” Reddick said. “That was my original take, but with the scheduling stuff, we ended up with no Alex. And I’m like, ‘Ah, if I’d known we weren’t gonna bring Alex back, I would have not have killed Clear,’ because I love bringing original people back, but I don’t like killing them.”
What Devon Sawa felt about the latter ‘Final Destination’ movies
The Final Destination series would continue on with a revolving door of new actors and characters to play with. The Chucky star had nothing but kind words to say about the direction the series was taken in, and the talent they recruited for the movies.
“Every movie they did, casting found a new group of extremely talented young actors and it’s been a lot of fun to watch what they’ve done. I’m still such a giant fan,” Sawa once told Cemetery Dance.
