# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/41 "2012-12-28T08:26:47Z")
Another Meryl Streep one - a lot of fancy camera work, heels and nifty set design in “Julie and Julia” to add the required 8 inches to bring Meryl (5’ 6") up to Julia’s level (6’2"). The CGI work to create “weedy Steve” for Captain America. ---
**Author:** ![midnight-dreary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@midnight-dreary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midnight-dreary)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/42 "2012-12-28T08:39:25Z")
Elf. All the elfs are normal sized humans. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/43 "2012-12-28T10:13:07Z")
Not quite what the OP had in mind, but…way back when, when they made _Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within_, apparently (from what I remember on the DVD commentary) they used a notably bulkier man than the character when doing the motion-capture acting for one of the villains, General Hein (the voice was done by James Woods). The result was that the rendered character ended up moving with more of a heavy swagger than expected, which actually looked _better_ than most of the other humans did. (I know, faint praise, but… 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/44 "2012-12-28T10:37:14Z")
What about Verner Ölund aka Warner Oland as [Charlie Chan](https://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&hl=en&as_q=warner+oland&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&imgsz=&imgar=&imgc=&imgcolor=&imgtype=&cr=&as_sitesearch=&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=&biw=1024&bih=645&sei=VHXdUPLBF6ak4ATDrIFY)? ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/45 "2012-12-28T12:08:19Z")
Christian Slater as WW2 Winston Churchill ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/46 "2012-12-28T21:29:26Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Antony Quinn as Richard Nixon in **Nixon**. Pretty sure you mean Anthony Hopkins. ---
**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 28, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/47 "2012-12-28T21:41:13Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > In the comics. In the movies, he’s exactly as shown. That’s kinda the whole point of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/48 "2012-12-28T21:43:19Z")
For a few people, Phillip Seymour Hoffman was casting magic as Art Howe, despite the two being physical opposites in almost every way. I wasn’t casting magic for me–I thought it was a terrible choice–but some friends have disagreed. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/49 "2012-12-28T21:50:52Z")
I never saw it but Jonathan Rhys Meyers was supposed to be mesmerising in _The Tudors_ as Henry VIII. He didn’t look even a little bit like Henry VIII though. How about Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford in those early SNL years? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/50 "2012-12-28T22:17:10Z")
Alan Ladd was 5’6". Pretty much every male actor he played against was taller than him (Jack Palance was 6’4" in _Shane_, Robert Preston was 5’10" in _Whispering Smith_, etc.) It’s a good thing Ladd had the 4’11" Veronica Lake to be a leading lady. ---
**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, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/51 "2012-12-28T22:23:32Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That’s kinda the whole point of the thread. It is? Nothing about Wolverine in the X-Men movies called for a short guy. The character has historically been portrayed as short (but the 90s X-Men cartoon ignored this trait long before the movies were conceived), but that’s the comics. The rest of this thread has been X (who is tall) played Y (who is shown to be short) or vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/52 "2012-12-28T22:26:13Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Conversely, I remember seeing an interview with Julia Roberts in which she was suitably impressed by the enhancement provided by the costume department when she played Erin Brokovich. A friend of mine worked as a stuntwoman on _GalaxyQuest_. She said that the flat-chested Sigourney Weaver was utterly amused, and thrilled, to finally have breasts, thanks to cunning wardrobe tricks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/53 "2012-12-28T22:36:18Z")
Gary Sinise, of course, has two legs in real life. But he played a double amputee in _Forrest Gump_. It was done mostly with CGI - Sinise wore green leggings on his lower legs and they were editing out of the shots. But there was one shot that was subtle enough most people didn’t even think about it. Sinise was sitting on a railing and he spun around 180 degrees. On screen, Sinise’s knees passed over the top railing but in real life, his lower legs would have hit the fence. The shot was done with CGI. They cut out the section of the fence and Sinise spun around and his legs passed through the gap. They then edited out his legs and edited in the missing section of the fence for the on-screen shot. ---
**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 28, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/54 "2012-12-28T23:21:03Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > 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. In that clip I noticed Mia Sara. Who was eighteen at the time, phew. ---
**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 28, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/55 "2012-12-28T23:38:58Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > It is? Nothing about Wolverine in the X-Men movies called for a short guy. **The character has historically been portrayed as short** (but the 90s X-Men cartoon ignored this trait long before the movies were conceived), but that’s the comics. > > The rest of this thread has been X (who is tall) played Y (who is shown to be short) or vice versa. From Marvel’s page on [Wolverine](http://marvel.com/characters/bio/1009718/wolverine): > [@Marvel](#): > > Height: 5’3" From the OP: > [@PRR](#): > > But I’m hard-pressed for an example of a movie casting a short actor in a role calling for a tall guy (or vice versa)… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/56 "2012-12-29T00:23:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Alan Ladd was 5’6". Pretty much every male actor he played against was taller than him (Jack Palance was 6’4" in _Shane_, Robert Preston was 5’10" in _Whispering Smith_, etc.) It’s a good thing Ladd had the 4’11" Veronica Lake to be a leading lady. OK, so I just Googled up a story I was vaguely remembering. In the 1957 movie [Boy on a Dolphin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_on_a_Dolphin), the diminutive Ladd starred alongside the taller Sophia Loren. Apparently, to avoid having her tower over him, some tricks were required during filming: [QUOTE=Wiki] The disparity in heights between the 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Loren and 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Ladd led to complications in filming. Some of their scenes together required him to stand on a box, while another forced a trench to be dug for Loren when the pair walked along the beach. [/QUOTE] I don’t know why I find that mental image so funny… ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/57 "2012-12-29T00:59:05Z")
Assuming that cases where the size of the character was changed to match the actor (e.g., Wolverine) count, then Brian Dennehy winning an Tony for playing Willy Loman is a great example. The character’s name even hints at his size in stature and life. However, I think the spirit of the op are cases like Gimli or Aileen Wuornos where the apparent size/looks of the actor were made to match the character. There are also cases Benjamin Buttons and the Nutty Professor where the character goes through drastic physical changes while being played by the same actor. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/58 "2012-12-30T08:16:04Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > From Marvel’s page on [Wolverine](http://marvel.com/characters/bio/1009718/wolverine): > > From the OP: Yeah, but the rest of the OP makes it pretty clear that he’s talking about actors who actually appear taller or shorter onscreen. Not that the thread hasn’t drifted since then. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/59 "2012-12-30T08:33:29Z")
You know Vasquez, the tough muscly hispanic space marine in Aliens? Here’s[her actress](http://www.jenettebras.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061/60 "2012-12-30T08:58:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Jose Ferrer as Toulouse Lautrec in Molin Rouge. He sometimes walked on his knees to play the diminutive artist. That, of course, is the 1952 movie Moulin Rouge. In the 2001 movie of the same title, John Leguizamo played the role. (again on his knees in some scenes) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-casting-magic-contrary-to-actors-physical-type/645061.md?page=4)