A Change: Jonathan Brandis

I grew up on Free Willy, all 3 of them for that matter. And I love every one of them. They are truly touching films & I adore them.
However, I haven't watched them in a while but got the sudden urge to watch the first one today...& while I love Jason James Ricthers performance, I kept picturing a young(between 12 & 14 year old) Jonathan Brandis in the part of Jesse. And again while I love Jasons performance, I fully believe Jonathan would've done the part justice as well & brought just as much heart to it. Does anyone else agree? Or know if Jonathan may have auditioned for the role? Since the movie was released in 1993, young Mr. Brandis would've been around the right age for the role, & as I just found out his friend, Danielle Harris, happens to be in the film. Also, a sad sort of coincidence. Kieko(Willy) died Dec. 12th 2003(which I knew), but that happens to be the same year...that we tragically lost Jonathan Brandis at his own hand.