# Are There Parts You Wanted To See A Different Actor Play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032 "2004-03-13T04:09:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/1 "2004-03-13T04:09:47Z")
I Personally always thought that Malcolm McDowell could have played a sinister Captain Kirk on Star Trek. He can definitely overact as well as Shatner, as he did on the silly Fantasy Island remake. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/2 "2004-03-13T05:11:19Z")
I always wanted John Cusack to play Neo and Samuel L. Jackson to play Morpheus in The Matrix. As long as we’re doing fantasy casting, I would’ve preferred Jeanna Fine as Trinity, too. But if he had lived, Brandon Lee would have been the perfect Neo. Guy Pearce would’ve made a better Daredevil than Ben Affleck, but Pearce once said something to the effect of him being too good an actor to be in superhero movies. He wasn’t too good for The Time Machine, though! 😃 When in doubt, I’d usually cast Bruce Campbell, Christopher Walken, or Johnny Depp in anything. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/3 "2004-03-13T08:13:25Z")
In the mini-series made from _ **Shogun** _ I thought the effete Mr. Chamberlain was a poor choice for Blackthorne. When I read the novel I saw Robert Shaw in my mind’s eye. Michael Cain would have been a great choice, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/4 "2004-03-13T08:22:47Z")
I thought Mike Myers was the worst possible choice for _The Cat In The Hat_. The movie could have been good, but casting him turned it into yet another stupid Mike Myers movie, instead of a Dr. Seuss movie. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/5 "2004-03-13T08:38:17Z")
> [@](#): > > When in doubt, I’d usually cast Bruce Campbell, Christopher Walken, or Johnny Depp in anything. How 'bout Bruce Campbell, Christopher Walken, or Johnny Depp in _The Three Amigos_? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/6 "2004-03-13T08:39:20Z")
And/or, I meant… (… Tum te tum, waitin’ 60 seconds… tum te tum… nipple-nipple-a-bo-bo… la la la… time’s up! Post quickly, so I don’t look like too much of a looney!) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/7 "2004-03-13T08:52:32Z")
I would be interested to see if Johnny Depp could pull off a Western. Maybe do the Jack Lemmon role in the old Western _Cowboy_. And hey, Eastwood could do the Glenn Ford role. Might be good. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/8 "2004-03-13T09:00:00Z")
> [@TV time](#): > > I would be interested to see if Johnny Depp could pull off a Western. > > . [He already has](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112817/). Just not a _classic_ western. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/9 "2004-03-13T09:13:11Z")
I – and many others, I think – would have given the role of Lestat in “Interview With The Vampire” to Julian Sands. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/10 "2004-03-13T09:17:17Z")
I would have really liked to have seen Jodie Foster reprise her role as Agent Starling in “Hannibal”. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/11 "2004-03-13T13:23:10Z")
In my mind I pictured Patrick McGoohan as Denethor in _Return of the King_. Think of his performance as Longshanks in _Braveheart_. I also think Patrick Stewart could have been Gandalf, even though I love Ian McKellan in the part. **DesertGeezer** I really liked Robert Shaw but I think he would have been too old to be Blackthorne in _Shogun_. He would have been in his fifties when it was made, if he had lived that long. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/12 "2004-03-13T13:36:25Z")
I’m one of the few people, it seems, who actually liked Godfather III but Sofia Coppola’s performance _really really does_ have a HUGE negative effect on the film. I understand that she had to come in as a replacement at the very last minute. I understand that it is very difficult to deal with a principle actor cancelling with practically no advance notice. But as I watch the film I can’t help but think what a shame it was not to have that role cast appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/13 "2004-03-13T13:40:26Z")
At first I was appalled when I heard that Colin Firth was to play Darcy in the 1996 A&E version of _Pride and Prejudice_. I had so enjoyed David Rintoul’s stiff icy rendition (which was _so_ Darcy) from the previous miniseries (late '70s, early '80s). And I thought that Laurence Oliver did a great job in the old movie version, even though the movie itself wasn’t that great. (Didn’t follow the book.) But, I changed my mind. Colin Firth turned out to be pretty good after all. I really warmed up to him. I pretty much think that any role that Robert Taylor played would have been better with someone else. I just saw _Camille_ and he was the low point. I don’t know who I would have picked—perhaps Gary Cooper (I have such a soft spot for Gary Cooper), but anyone but Robert Taylor. What a disappointment he was. And damnit, John Garfield should have played _Golden Boy_ instead of (William Holden, was it)? The part _was_ written for him, after all. Pooh. (Not that I have anything against William Holden.) ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/14 "2004-03-13T13:44:20Z")
I spelled Olivier wrong. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![3Much](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/4af34b/32.png) [@3Much](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3Much)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/15 "2004-03-13T14:02:30Z")
Ditto on the Julian Sands as Lestat deal. Also, **ANYONE** other than Kevin Costner in every movie he has ever made. Especially Robin Hood. And, come to think about it, your average junior high school student would have done a better job as Batman than George Clooney did. And I don’t mean just the male students. And for fantasy casting? How about Jenna Jameson as Jeannie in _I Dream of Jeannie_? Just imagine… ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/16 "2004-03-13T14:09:32Z")
Years ago, when I read _Lonesome Dove_, I had it in my head that James Garner should play Gus. I was disappointed when Robert Duval got the role. I had only seen movies where Duval played the heavy and I didn’t think he could pull it off. But he did. Now Robert Duval is one of my favorite actors. Interestingly enough, I read somewhere that Larry McMurtry had James Garner in mind for the role of Gus, too. Later James Garner played Call in the sequel _Streets of Laredo_. I just couldn’t get into that book or movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/17 "2004-03-13T15:07:39Z")
He looked a lot like Gardner’s description of Burger in the original novels and he had a great voice. The producer of the original Perry Mason series wanted Raymond Burr to play Burger, but Burr insisted upon reading for the Mason role. Had Burr ended up as Burger, I’d have liked Conrad as Mason. I agree with both Ian Fleming and Raymond Chandler. Cary Grant would have made a great James Bond and/or a great Philip Marlowe. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/18 "2004-03-13T15:20:42Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I’m one of the few people, it seems, who actually liked Godfather III but Sofia Coppola’s performance _really really does_ have a HUGE negative effect on the film. > > I understand that she had to come in as a replacement at the very last minute. I understand that it is very difficult to deal with a principle actor cancelling with practically no advance notice. But as I watch the film I can’t help but think what a shame it was not to have that role cast appropriately. I agree completely. According the \*The Godfather Legacy \* by Harlan Lebo, Winona Ryder was originally selected. > [@](#): > > When Winona Ryder arrived from the United States immediately after completing another motion picture, members of the production crew noticed she did not look well; that appraisal was amplified when the production’s doctor declared she was suffering from exhaustion and was unable to play the role. > > “I was so honored to have been chosen, and then to have done that to them, I felt terrible,” said Ryder. “but it would have been worse had I stayed and either collapsed later on or done a really bad job, which would have been inevitable.” I loved GF I and II, hated III. One of several major turnoffs was Ms. Coppola’s completely inept and unbelievable acting. I’ve seen better high school drama club performances. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/19 "2004-03-13T15:25:07Z")
Steve Barton instead of Michael Crawford in “Dance of the Vampire” on Broadway. Steve became a cult idol in the German production, then the idiots that be casted Crawford on Broadway, ruined the show, and helped cause Steve’s suicide. All in one full swoop. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/20 "2004-03-13T18:39:08Z")
I’d also like to cast Mr. T, William Shatner, Adam West, and Paul Reubens (preferably in character as Pee Wee Herman) in as many cop-buddy action-comedy films as possible. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032.md?page=2)