Why would you ever put this person in THAT role? Can they even act their way out of a paper bag? Well, hopefully we can all learn from the casting director's mistake.
u/judgejb63 asked:
What is the worst casting decision in the history of film or tv?
Here were some of the answers.
Ah, Racism
Imagine this. It's the mid-'80s. You're making a badass action movie about an immortal Scottish warrior who has spent 4 centuries defeating others of his kind in single combat. You sign Sean Connery...
...And cast him as a f*cking Egyptian pretending to be a Spaniard, then cast Christopher Lambert as the f*cking Highlander.
Red Dawn (2012)
Remember that movie where Josh Peck and Chris Hemsworth were supposed to be brothers?
Okay this is probably the ONLY time in history I'll EVER be able to tell this story so here it goes!
I was in high school when Red Dawn was filming. They decided to do the airplane blowing up and the home town house shots in my neighborhood in Mount Clemens MI. Cue me being psyched because I was a big Drake and Josh fan (that nickelodeon show).
So I stop by one day and they have the caution tape up so you can't just walk right in. There's this huge line of young girls trying to see pretty much any actor but they're all busy. I squeeze my way to the front and ask the person (idk someone who worked on the film back end, keeping the crowds back) if we could come back and see some filming. He said yes, they're done for today but will be filming a car chase scene tonight at 3am.
I asked my mom, "if I wake up will you come with me to go watch the scene being filmed" she didn't think I would do it and said yes. I set an alarm, woke her disbelieving a** up (but she held her promise!) and we walked over there (a few blocks away). Walked right up to that same person from earlier in the day by the caution tape. I reveal how big of a fan I am for Josh Peck and he says, "just a moment, let me check".
All the sudden JOSH PECK WALKS UP with cheese and crackers in his mouth because he's on break. He looks hella tired because it's f*cking 3am and he's probably wondering what weird *ss fan is coming by at this time to get a pic. We got a photo with my old crappy point and shoot (which I'm super sad about because that photo has been lost to time somewhere). I had forgotten to bring something for him to sign! So I had him sign some random receipt for a movie ticket (lol, not his movie either).
I REALLY wish I was more prepared because that's the one and only time in my life I've ever met someone famous. And it just felt so goddamn cool! I was riding that high for months! And then the movie came out, and we all went to see it opening night in the local theater (AMC on Gratiot for you MI folks). It was an all around blast.
Dear Josh Peck, if you're reading this, I'm still a huge fan. I really looked up to you growing up and you were soooo cool! I hope you get to read this and maybe I can have a real photo and autograph when I'm more prepared and it's not 3am.
She Has The Range
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in Fifty Shades movies... painful how little chemistry those two had!
There were a lot of reports that the pair had drama off-screen and that it had an impact on their performances.
I will say that Dornan is fantastic in The Fall... He plays a serial killer with a bondage fetish. Highly recommend it if you want to see his range.
I'm serious about the "range" comment. They're the same character on paper, but he works magic in his Fall role. I was actually tempted to cheer for him to get away with everything because he was so compelling.
Stop Taking Roles
Whoever was put in charge of casting Valerian. I loved the world building and the plot, it was pretty well written, but damn the leads screwed it over.
Cara Delevingne might be the worst actress alive right now that gets big parts. Hopefully after her sh*t performances in Suicide Squad and Valerian that will stop.
Must be nice being raised in a well connected rich family.
Poor Aang
Everyone in The Last Air Bender, bonus points for also having terrible screen writer and director decisions.
It still pisses me off that not only did they mispronounce Aang's name, they pronounce it differently every time they say it at all, sometimes changing pronunciation halfway through a single line.
Aged Out
Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson. IIRC, he was 17 when filming the first movie, where Percy was supposed to be 12. Casting was part of the reason that the movie was terrible compared to the books.
Don't forget about 24 year old Alexandra Daddario playing 12 year old Annabeth. Not even her hair color was right.
I'm like 90% sure they cast her just because of her eyes.
My Best Friend's Gadget
Rupert Everett as Dr Claw.
People complain about Matthew Broderick, but I can at least see why he was cast. His bumbling, over-the-top doofus shtick COULD have worked for Inspector Gadget. I mean, it didn't....but it could have. I get what they were going for.
But Dr Claw, one of the greatest children's villains of recent times, as a flamboyant gay fashion designer type??
Cock-kneed
Londoners have never forgiven Dick Van Dyke for his cockney accent in Mary Poppins.
50 years is a long time to bear a grudge, forgive him for the sequel this December.
In defense of Van Dyke-he has stated he wasn't sure he was doing it right. But the cast and crew was full of Londoners and nobody ever told him he was doing it wrong. Many Londoners might hate him for it, but apparently there was at least a handful that were ok with it.
Never Happened
Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese.
Jason Clarke as John Connor
Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor
Matt Smith as ...whatever the hell that was supposed to be.
Let's just draw a big line through Genysis, shall we?
The Nic Cage Theorem
My theory of Nic Cage is that he goes so hard in the paint with every role, completely throwing himself into it without a hint of irony, that it makes you oddly care.
It's like when you got a corny school presentation in junior high. Most kids would make an effort to act like they didn't care, to signal how dumb they thought it was. That's pretty boring to watch, and it's cringey in retrospect because those kids actually care a lot about what the class thinks and are putting so much effort into seeming nonchalant. Then there's the kid who brings in fourteen dioramas, dresses in costume, passes around his own handouts and gets HELLA into it. You might snicker a little at first but that absolute insane level of enthusiasm is contagious, and somehow crosses the threshold into cool -- because supernerd doesn't actually give a fuck what the class thinks; he LOVES this shit.
Most actors would be too cool to take roles like Ghost Rider. They'd listen to publicists telling them it was cheesy and lame. And if they did take the role, they'd play it safe or with an undercurrent of irony.
But Cage? He doesn't care if you think it's dumb or corny. He takes roles he's interested in and gives it his 100000%. That's why even if the movie is total garbage, he's weirdly compelling to watch and somehow super likable, because he's crossed the nerd-cool threshold.
Dr. Jones
Shia laBeouf as Indiana Jones Jr.
I don't dislike the guy and think his meme only status is a little undeserved.
Before 2008 he seemed to have this niche as reluctant underachieving heros. He was good in constantine, and he was good in the film adaptation of holes, despite not being overweight like in the book.
In transformers he was completely believable as a guy screaming for his life with giant robots fighting around him.
But in kingdom of the crystal skull, he's supposed to be this tough motorcycle guy spouting one liners? I remember thinking to myself that I could honestly beat this guy in a fight. I was ready to throw hands with a fictional character to prove a point.
Magical Mishap
The girl who played Lily Potter in DHII. How many times in the book does it say that Harry has Lily's green eyes...and then they cast a kid with brown eyes??? It annoys me every time I watch it.
So Lily and James Potter as adults. Wtf. They died in their 20s, yet they appear to be in their 40s. That has always annoyed the crap out of me. I get it, if Harry is a teen 20 somethings wouldn't be believable, but come on, people would figure it out.
All Was Well
GiphyBonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley. I clicked on this thread with the sole intention of finding this, and posting it if it wasn't here.
I have no doubt that Bonnie Wright can be a decent actress, but she and Dan Radcliffe had zero chemistry whatsoever on the screen. To the point that I wish movie-Harry had ended up with Luna, which was a possibility I had never considered while reading the books.
No Thanks Villain
Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. G-ddamn, everyone blames Jessie Eisenberg but he played that character like I would have expected. It's not that he's a bad actor, he shouldn't have been cast as Lex.
Geographically Incorrect
The guy that replaced Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones. The first guy was so exotic looking. He looked like he came from a different part of the seven kingdoms. The second guy was so generic looking. He looked like Jon Snow or Rob Stark. Not the actors fault but it was such a bummer.
Strangest Things
Both Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves in 'Dracula'. Without them that film would've had a real shot at becoming a true horror masterpiece.
Don't know what was up with them in that one btw; they're not usually horrible actors. Winona was fantastic in Stranger Things.
What's the worst casting decision you've ever seen in film or TV?
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