# 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:** 2
**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, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/21 "2004-03-13T21:47:44Z")
should have gone to other actors. David Jansen and Barry Morse were both lifeless. Gerard should have been played by Peter Falk, Harry Guardino, or Lee Marvin. Nicholson and Redford were still doing TV at that time. I slightly prefer young Nicolson to young Redford, but either would have done better than David Deadpan as Kimble. Even Shatner could have done better than Jansen–a bit over-the-top but never boring, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/22 "2004-03-13T22:37:28Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > In my mind I pictured Patrick McGoohan as Denethor in _Return of the King_. Think of his performance as Longshanks in _Braveheart_. My mental Denethor always resembled Paul Scofield, largely on the grounds of his performance as the French King in Branagh’s _Henry V_… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/23 "2004-03-14T01:54:35Z")
ANYONE other than Jennifer Love Hewitt playing Audrey Hepburn. (She cast HERSELF-she bought into the project as a producer when it was still in the development stages and then cast herself.) I really think that _Titanic_ would have been much better had the part of Jack gone to someone like Christian Bale, rather than DiCaprio. ---
**Author:** ![Gwynfyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gwynfyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gwynfyd)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/24 "2004-03-14T02:09:39Z")
Anyone but Molly Ringwald in The Stand. ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/25 "2004-03-14T02:49:06Z")
If we had to suffer through a horrible Oliver Stone Doors movie, did they have to twist the knife and give us Val Kilmer? Ever since that cheesy _Clash Of The Titans_ movie I thought Harry Hamlin would have made a mighy fine Jim. Or maybe I just got carried away by the long hair and the toga 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/26 "2004-03-14T03:41:06Z")
Mongomery Cliff instead of Jose Ferer in “Molin Rouge” John Wayne instead of Ben Johnson in “The Last Picture Show” Well, maybe not, but I’d like to see his screen test. Lee Marvin instead of Brad Dexter and Paul Newman instead of Robert Vaughn in “The Magnificnet Seven.” If “A Clockwork Orange” were made with the Rolling Stones as they were once considering, Mick Jagger wouldn’t have been as good as Malcom McDowell, but the rest of the droogs would have been more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/27 "2004-03-14T04:36:57Z")
Bruce Willis rather than Tom Hanks in **Road to Perdition**. The character of Michael Sullivan was supposed to be someone who was both a devoted husband/loving father and a ruthless hitman. Hanks was able to effectively carry out the first part but, for the second part, he lacked the sufficient menace needed for someone who was also known as “The Angel of Death.” Willis, although he seems to make three or four crappy movies for every decent one, has been very good in movies like **Pulp Fiction** , **12 Monkeys** , and **The Sixth Sense** and would have been more convincing in conveying the character’s dual nature. > [@](#): > > John Wayne instead of Ben Johnson in “The Last Picture Show” Well, maybe not, but I’d like to see his screen test. Interesting tidbit: at one point, Jimmy Stewart was considered to play the role of “Sam the Lion” in **Last Picture Show** and Dorothy Malone was almost cast as Jacy’s (Cybill Shepherd’s) mother before the role was taken by a then-unknown Ellen Burstyn. ---
**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 14, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/28 "2004-03-14T04:41:51Z")
Christopher Walken as Han Solo in the Star Wars trilogy, definitely. I heard he screen-tested for the role, and came in second place to Harrison Ford. I would have loved to see that. “WHAT… you mean to TELL me you’ve never HEARD of the Millenium… FALCON?” ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/29 "2004-03-14T05:06:58Z")
Anyone other than Tom Cruise in every movie Tom Cruise has made. Except _Legend_. I’ll probably get booed out of the thread for this one, but I can’t help thinking that Sean Bean would have made a better Aragorn than Viggo Mortensen. Of course that would mean re-casting Boromir too, and I’m pretty sure Viggo wouldn’t have been convincing in that role either. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/30 "2004-03-14T05:13:36Z")
Someone who could actually sing instead of Marlon Brando in _Guys and Dolls_, say Howard Keel or Gordon McCrae. Ditto the entire cast of _Paint Your Wagon_. [sidetrack]I’ve always been annoyed that perfectly competent female singers, such as Audrey Hepburn in _My Fair Lady_, were routinely dubbed if they weren’t perfect, yet male non-singers could be cast in singing roles and have their monotonous croaking left intact. Disney continues this practice of the guys acting and singing their roles while the women get separated in _Pocahontas_, the inept vocals of male lead Mel Gibson are left intact, while the voice-acting and singing for Pocahontas were cast to an actress and singer. Would it have been too difficult to find a perfomer, such as David Ogden Stiers from the same move, who can sing and act? In _Mulan_ at least they were consistent (though in the wrong direction), having both the men and the women voiced and sung separately. C’mon, Broadway is full of people who can act _and_ sing.[/sidetrack] Pretty much anybody other than Glenn Campbell in _True Grit_. You’ve got Dennis Hopper _and_ Robert Duvall in bit parts, while a complete non-actor gets the second lead. None of the actors playing Batman has worked in the role. Batman needs to be a big guy, physically intimidating. Clooney, Kilmer, and Keaton are all perfectly competent actors, but none of them is a convincing badass. And while we’re at it, they miss with most of the villains, too. Jack Nicholson is all wrong for the Joker, and Arnie as Captain Cold leaves me, well, cold. They nailed it with Danny Devito as the Penguin, though. They really should cast the parts with actors who fit the role rather than names. Batman is a character who will draw an audience by himself; a big name is unnecessary. Look at Spider-Man for a good job of casting your superhero. ---
**Author:** ![Melanter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Melanter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melanter)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/31 "2004-03-14T05:20:32Z")
I would have liked Haily Jole Osmund (sorry if that was a butchery of the spelling of his name) play Anakin in Episode 1. ---
**Author:** ![Melanter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Melanter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melanter)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/32 "2004-03-14T05:27:44Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Christopher Walken as Han Solo in the Star Wars trilogy, definitely. I heard he screen-tested for the role, and came in second place to Harrison Ford. I would have loved to see that. > > “WHAT… you mean to TELL me you’ve never HEARD of the Millenium… FALCON?” No way, while Christopher Walken is a great actor he wouldn’t have the suave, coolness about him that Harrison Ford did, most of the great Solo lines would have been very very different. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/33 "2004-03-14T06:16:30Z")
Peter MacNichol was terribly miscast as Stingo in **Sophie’s Choice**. I don’t know who I’d choose to replace him. Maybe William L. Petersen. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/34 "2004-03-14T06:32:54Z")
Charlton Heston said he was first asked, for _Ben-Hur_, to play the role of Messala, rather than Judah. That would have been intriguing. Then, when he was cast as Judah, he lent his copy of the script to Chuck Connors, a good friend, for _him_ to try for the Messala role. I liked Steven Boyd as he was in the movie, but still, it could have been good the other ways. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/35 "2004-03-14T06:49:54Z")
> [@Legolamb](#): > > I’ll probably get booed out of the thread for this one, but I can’t help thinking that Sean Bean would have made a better Aragorn than Viggo Mortensen. Of course that would mean re-casting Boromir too, and I’m pretty sure Viggo wouldn’t have been convincing in that role either. Honestly, I could barely tell the difference between the two of them. They looked and talked and dressed virtually identically. Of course, I’m hardly a connoisseur of fine man-flesh, so there may be nuances I missed. (On the other hand, I thought Liv Tyler made a dandy Arwen. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![\_ceQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b9bd4f/32.png) [@\_ceQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ceQueen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/36 "2004-03-14T07:12:35Z")
I’d have loved to see RDA and Michael Shanks in the original Stargate movie… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/37 "2004-03-14T07:16:04Z")
The idea of a Batman movie was kicked around pretty freely through the eighties, finally resulting in the 1989 Michael Keaton version, which I don’t care for. Had the movie been made a few years earlier, Rutger Hauer would’ve been awesome. He can do the cold menacing thing (_Blade Runner_) and the sauve thing (_The Osterman Weekend_), while Keaton stumbled through both aspects, being neither scary nor smooth. In fact, if they ever make a _Dark Knight_ movie about an older Batman forced out of retirement (or a live-action _Batman Beyond_, for that matter), I’d want to see Hauer in there. ---
**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 14, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/38 "2004-03-14T08:44:04Z")
I trust you’ve heard about the new Batman movie, then, to be directed by Christopher Nolan (the director of Memento and Insomnia)? Christian Bale (American Psycho, Equilibrium) is starring as Batman this time, and I think he’ll be perfect as “scary” and “smooth.” ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/39 "2004-03-14T12:48:56Z")
Did anybody find \*Julia Roberts \* credible as a prostitute? Now, Pretty woman was a huge success nevertheless, but still. ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032/40 "2004-03-14T14:21:08Z")
There have been some TV shows that I thought could have been better. Kirstie Allie was irritating to me on cheers(or anywhere else really). I thought maybe Carol Cane could have played a more interesting character there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-parts-you-wanted-to-see-a-different-actor-play/234032.md?page=3)