What if Jack Nance was cast in The Elephant Man?

Question, What if Jack Nance was cast in The Elephant Man?

Apparently, Jack Nance was David Lynch's 1st choice for the lead role of John Merrick in The Elephant Man but that either 1. The Producer weren't having it with Nance or 2. Lynch saw The Naked Civil Servant with John Hurt in it and decided to cast John Hurt in the lead role.

John Hurt gives a great performance as John Merrick and only 1 of 3 actors (Other than Diane Ladd & Richard Farnsworth) to received an acting nomination from a David Lynch's film. Though, I wonder if David Lynch decided to go through and cast Jack Nance in the lead role.

Jack Nance, is a very interesting actor to me, to my surprise, he was considered for lead roles in The Graduate & In Cold Blood and apparently, he actually almost got the role in The Graduate before they went with Dustin Hoffman. then his career really didn't gain notice until David Lynch casted him in Eraserhead. Nance also had a rough life, it still boggles my mind that this was the same guy in Eraserhead then 8 years later, he is so unrecognizable that you wonder if it's the same guy. It's also a shame that he died young and how he died.

All in All, What if Jack Nance was cast in The Elephant Man?