# Best casting magic contrary to actor's physical type? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061 "2012-12-24T22:08:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/21 "2012-12-25T22:27:11Z")
Capote was slender when he was younger but at the time of the movie he was about average weight, and Hoffman isn’t exactly a fat guy. I thought he’d had to shrink himself to play the 5’4" Capote, but turns out it was only a few inches. Hoffman’s around 5’9". ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/22 "2012-12-25T23:01:07Z")
Cruise was also most definitely not Lestat, a lanky, blond, tall guy. Ann Rice was reportedly in a snit about his playing her pet vampire but came around once the movie was made. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/23 "2012-12-25T23:04:34Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I remember Geena Davis saying that when she was cast as a great hitter in “A League of Their Own” she could barely hit a baseball. Director Penny Marshall had her take all kinds of swings while Marshall kept pacing, chain smoking and muttering “C’mon Geena, one lousy home run, just hit one”. Then when Davis finally connected and hit one over the fence, Marshall said she couldn’t use the shot because Davis looked so surprised and this was suppose to be routine for her. On a related note, one minor problem I had with Geena Davis in **A League of Their Own** is that fact she played a catcher and people with her body type–tall and lanky–rarely play that position. It would’ve been more believable if Davis’ character was a pitcher, outfielder, or at first base since those are are the positions the taller players on a baseball team usually play. (However, it should be mentioned that Debra Winger–who would physically be believable as a catcher–was originally cast in Davis’ role.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/24 "2012-12-26T00:12:25Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > On a related note, one minor problem I had with Geena Davis in **A League of Their Own** is that fact she played a catcher and people with her body type–tall and lanky–rarely play that position. It would’ve been more believable if Davis’ character was a pitcher, outfielder, or at first base since those are are the positions the taller players on a baseball team usually play. (However, it should be mentioned that Debra Winger–who would physically be believable as a catcher–was originally cast in Davis’ role.) True but I had more trouble with her swing. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/25 "2012-12-26T00:34:11Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I don’t think “race” is going to make it–there are plenty of implausible caucasians cast in ethnically-absurd roles, which are mostly for economic reasons. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/26 "2012-12-26T00:53:46Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > :rolleyes: What? You don’t think it was economic reasons behind casting Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington as brothers in Much Ado About Nothing? Or John Wayne as Genghis Khan? How about, oh, I dunno, Tom Cruise as Jack Preacher? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/27 "2012-12-26T00:56:42Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > :rolleyes: Why the rolleyes? Seems like a reasonable enough opinion. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/28 "2012-12-26T03:16:53Z")
Jose Ferrer as Toulouse Lautrec in Molin Rouge. He sometimes walked on his knees to play the diminutive artist. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/29 "2012-12-27T21:01:54Z")
Morgan Freeman as the middle-aged Caucasin Irish redheaded Ellis “Red” Redding in The Shawshank Redemption. When I tell people who haven’t read the Stephen King novella his description of the character, their mouths literally fall open. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/30 "2012-12-27T21:04:15Z")
Paulina Porizkova played Golda Meir in an sketch on SNL. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/31 "2012-12-27T21:46:36Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Dude’s 6’2". Wolverine’s supposed to be a runt. About 5’4"-5’5" (depends on who you ask). So, a difference of almost 1’… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/32 "2012-12-27T21:53:46Z")
Randle Patrick McMurphy was a burly, ruddy, red-haired Irishman, but somehow the lanky, dark-haired Jack Nicholson was able to breathe life into the character on his own. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/33 "2012-12-27T21:57:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Morgan Freeman as the middle-aged Caucasin Irish redheaded Ellis “Red” Redding in The Shawshank Redemption. When I tell people who haven’t read the Stephen King novella his description of the character, their mouths literally fall open. Similarly, tall, blond, handsome Paul Bettany as small, dark, “reptilian”-looking Stephen Maturin in _Master and Commander_. I enjoyed his performance, mainly because I’ve always just ignored O’Brien’s description of Stephen, and I think Bettany got the tone right. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/34 "2012-12-27T22:36:57Z")
First example that springs to mind is Tim Curry as the Lord of Darkness in _Legend_. In real life Tim Curry is a normal man; in _Legend_ he is a muscular, eight-foot-tall colossus with gigantic horns. It’s a very impressive make-up/prosthetic/direction job. It would probably have been easier to cast a tall bodybuilder and dub him with Tim Curry’s voice, and although he was one of the few bright spots in that film I’m eternally puzzled as to why they cast him in the role. I mean, it’s as if they decided to have Kevin Spacey as… I dunno, Grand Admiral Thrawn in a hypothetical future Star Wars film. Although on further reflection he would probably work in the role. They’d just have to paint him blue every day. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/35 "2012-12-27T23:57:39Z")
That’s a great example, **Ashley Pomeroy**. I really enjoyed Curry’s performance, although I wonder if he suffered headaches or neck pain from wearing those horns. In [this clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3J91bPrW9A), I noticed that Curry is never shown face-to-face in the same scene with Mia Sara. I don’t know much about film making, but it seems to me that this allow each actor to alter their eye lines up/down from where they would normally be. This gives the impression that Curry is speaking down to her from his character’s eight foot height, and she likewise speaks “up” to Curry. I wonder if Curry stood on a box, or if he just spoke his lines to a spot on the floor. The camera mostly shoots Curry from below as if the audience, too, would always be looking up at him. \<\\> ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/36 "2012-12-28T00:49:59Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Dude’s 6’2". Wolverine’s supposed to be a runt. In the comics. In the movies, he’s exactly as shown. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/37 "2012-12-28T01:37:39Z")
50 Cent in All Things Fall Apart Christian Bale in The Machinist ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/38 "2012-12-28T03:59:37Z")
Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell in **Apollo 13**. Antony Quinn as Richard Nixon in **Nixon**. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/39 "2012-12-28T05:57:15Z")
Meryl Streep as the rabbi in Angels In America. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/40 "2012-12-28T06:26:30Z")
How about Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence in _Lawrence of Arabia_? The real Lawrence was not 6’2" tall, unlike the actor playing him in the film. (Lawrence was 5’5" or thereabouts, IIRC) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061.md?page=3)