 The role of Alex was originally offered to Angelina Jolie (qv) who  turned it down after admitting she was not a fan of the original  series. It was then offered to Jada Pinkett Smith (qv) who  declined it to film _Bamboozled (2000)_ (qv) instead.  Thandie Newton (qv) was finally cast but had to leave owing to  freak weather which caused the _Mission: Impossible II (2000)_ (qv)  schedule to overrun. The role was eventually taken by  Lucy Liu (qv).