Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem has pulled out of Francis Ford Coppola's new movie Tetro - only to be replaced by Spanish actress Carmen Maura.

The legendary director originally wrote the part for a male lead, but decided to re-write the character as female when Bardem was forced to withdraw from the project. And Coppola insists he was glad he had the opportunity to give the character a sex-change.

He tells The Hollywood Reporter, "One of the important roles in the script is a mentor and teacher to Tetro (leading character played by Vincent Gallo), and I originally wrote it f...