"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" gave Melissa McCarthy her first big dramatic role, but Julianne Moore was originally tapped to star in the film. During a March 2019 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen", Moore confirmed the rumours that she was supposed to play Lee Israel, though according to her, she was let go from the project. "I didn't leave that movie, I was fired. Nicole fired me," Moore said, referring to the movie's director, Nicole Holofcener. "I think she didn't like what I was doing. We'd been rehearsing and doing preproduction stuff, and I think her idea of where the character was was different than where my idea of the character was, so she fired me."