Last fall, there was a major controversy when Mel Gibson was hired for a brief cameo in The Hangover 2. Director Todd Phillips had thought that Mel’s involvement was going to be something fun and silly, like Mike Tyson’s extended cameo in the first Hangover. But when Mel’s casting was announced, several cast and crew members revolted. Zach Galifianakis even went public with his dislike of Mel’s casting, and it’s believed that Bradley Cooper had words with Todd Phillips as well. What made the story especially awesome was that at the last minute, Bradley organized his A-Team costar Liam Neeson to take over the cameo role. Liam was said to be thrilled to fly to Bangkok and film for a day or two – but now it seems his cameo was left on the cutting room floor:

The replacement has been replaced. Liam Neeson, who stepped in to film a cameo in The Hangover 2 for a role first given to – and then taken away from – Mel Gibson, has now been replaced due to scheduling conflicts.

The scene filmed by Neeson, 58, was cut out of the movie and is now being re-shot with actor/director Nick Cassavetes playing the role – but it’s not personal, director Todd Phillips tells Variety.

Phillips says that he cut the scene immediately following Neeson’s cameo while editing The Hangover 2, creating a gap in the sequence of events. Phillips decided to re-shoot the scene – but Neeson was already busy in London shooting the follow-up to Clash of the Titans.

“We were in a complete time crunch, so I called Nick [Cassavetes] and asked if he would do the part,” Phillips says. “He came in and crushed it, and that is the scene that you will ultimately see in the film.”

With Cassavetes, 51, now teaming up onscreen with the Wolf Pack (Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms) in the role of a Bangkok tattoo artist in the Thailand-set sequel, which arrives in theaters May 26, Phillips says he’s excited for fans to see the film.

“It turned out great,” he says.

[From People]

I couldn’t pick Nick Cassavetes out of a lineup, so that makes this less of a cameo and more like “some dude coming in to play a small part.” Poor Liam! He was so pleased that he got to work on the second film. Oh, well. They’ll probably end up making a third film with the exact same premise, only this one will take place in… Africa! The North Pole! Or maybe Australia. God knows. And Liam will get a part in that one.

Here’s Nick Cassavetes:

Photos courtesy of WENN.