''They said I was too young and too tall.'': Tim Dunigan revealed why Dirk Benedict replaced him on The A-Team
He was the original Templeton "Faceman" Peck. No, we're not talking about Dirk Benedict, who fans of The A-Team see every time the show airs on H&I. We're talking about Tim Dunigan, the actor who initially played the role in the pilot.
We know what The A-Team became: a classic action-adventure series that launched Dwight Schultz, Mr. T, George Peppard (reviving his career), and Dirk Benedict into superstardom. That had to be tough for Dunigan, who revealed in a 1989 Associated Press interview what happened.
"They said I was too young and too tall. I look even younger on camera than I am. So it was difficult to accept me as a veteran of the Vietnam War, which ended when I was a sophomore in high school. It took me a while to get over it. I kept saying, 'What did I do wrong?'" he said.
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Things like this happen in show business often, but that doesn't make it easier for an actor to accept. Series creator Stephen J. Cannell and George Peppard tried to cheer Dunigan up, though.
"The producer, Stephen Cannell, said I didn't do anything wrong, but I still felt it was my fault. George Peppard called to cheer me up. He said he had been replaced in 'Dynasty' as the original Blake Carrington."
Although this opportunity didn't go as he wanted, Dunigan still appeared in many favorite TV shows like The Fall Guy (two episodes, "Cool Hand Colt" and "Sandcastles") and JAG (episode "Head to Toe"). In 1987, the actor starred in his own series, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, as Captain Jonathan Power.