# Difficult to Impossible Acting Challenges **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115 "2008-04-13T02:51:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/1 "2008-04-13T02:51:03Z")
This might go in The Game Room since it’s for laughs and kicks, but since the main idea is acting, I’ll start it here. We’ve done things like this before, but this may be a new wrinkle. Think of a role and an actor who would have The Most trouble bringing it off with anything close to the power of the original actor. A few examples: Matthew Broderick as Michael Corleone David Letterman in the Ryan Oneal role in _Love Story_ Pauly Shore as any of the Hannibal Lecters Lon Chaney in the Gene Kelly role in _Singin’ in the Rain_ Sandra Bernhard as Dorothy Gale Phyllis Diller as Norma Desmond Natalie Wood in Elizabeth Taylor’s role in _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_ Judi Dench in _Annie Get Your Gun_ ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/2 "2008-04-13T15:50:33Z")
Woody Allen as The Terminator. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/3 "2008-04-13T15:54:36Z")
Ah-nuld in \*any \* Woody Allen role. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/4 "2008-04-13T16:01:47Z")
Adam Sandler as Will Munny (_Unforgiven_) Tom Arnold as Gandhi Ben Kingsley as Tarzan Salma Hayek as _The Wicked Witch of the West_ Grace Kelly as Gypsy Rose Lee Peter O’Toole in a biopic on Ed Sullivan Rodney Dangerfield as Hitler ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/5 "2008-04-13T16:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Adam Sandler as Will Munny (_Unforgiven_) [/quote] Believe it or not, I can see it. > [@](#): > > Ben Kingsley as Tarzan I can see it. > [@](#): > > Salma Hayek as _The Wicked Witch of the West_ I can see it. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/6 "2008-04-13T16:25:31Z")
Haley Joel Osment as Walter Lee Younger (A Raisin in the Sun) ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/7 "2008-04-13T16:25:52Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Salma Hayek as _The Wicked Witch of the West_ [/QUOTE] Not only can I see it, I have some wardrobe suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/8 "2008-04-13T16:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] Not only can I see it, I have some wardrobe suggestions. [/QUOTE] My eyes are opening a tad toward the garments she almost had on in _Dusk to Dawn_ (whatever the actual title is) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/9 "2008-04-13T16:32:50Z")
How about Charlton Heston as a Mexican? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/10 "2008-04-13T16:36:53Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] How about Charlton Heston as a Mexican? [/QUOTE] Well, of course, _now_: Charleton Heston in just about anything except _Weekend at Bernie’s_. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/11 "2008-04-13T18:34:29Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] How about Charlton Heston as a Mexican? [/QUOTE] Or John Wayne as Genghis Khan. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/12 "2008-04-13T23:19:48Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] How about Charlton Heston as a Mexican? [/QUOTE] Uhh, not an Orson Welles fan, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Sanity\_Challenged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Sanity\_Challenged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanity_Challenged)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/13 "2008-04-13T23:22:51Z")
Samuel L. Jackson as the cowardly lion in the _Wizard of Oz_ ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/14 "2008-04-13T23:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Uhh, not an Orson Welles fan, are you? [/QUOTE] Do you think that casting choice was Welles’s idea? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/15 "2008-04-13T23:35:59Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Do you think that casting choice was Welles’s idea? [/QUOTE] I have no idea - why? I was just alluding to the fact the Charlton Heston has already played a Mexican. On Edit: Knowing what I know about Welles, the smart money would be on ‘yes’. _Everything_ was his choice when he was allowed a choice. Still curious why you ask. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/16 "2008-04-13T23:49:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] I have no idea - why? I was just alluding to the fact the Charlton Heston has already played a Mexican. On Edit: Knowing what I know about Welles, the smart money would be on ‘yes’. _Everything_ was his choice when he was allowed a choice. Still curious why you ask. [/QUOTE] The casting of Heston in _Touch of Evil_ is a famous (but untrue) Hollywood story. Short reversion: it was not Welles’s idea; he was not happy about it. This story is the basis of jokes in _Ed Wood_ and _Get Shorty_. In actuality, Heston was attached before Welles. And at this point in his career, Welles had no control. _Touch of Evil_ was re-cut and scenes were re-shot without the approval of Welles. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/17 "2008-04-13T23:53:52Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] The casting of Heston in _Touch of Evil_ is a famous (but untrue) Hollywood story. Short reversion: it was not Welles’s idea; he was not happy about it. This story is the basis of jokes in _Ed Wood_ and _Get Shorty_. In actuality, Heston was attached before Welles. And at this point in his career, Welles had no control. _Touch of Evil_ was re-cut and scenes were re-shot without the approval of Welles. [/QUOTE] If you already knew all this then what was post #9 all about? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/18 "2008-04-13T23:56:16Z")
It was a joke - just like the response in post 11. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-to-impossible-acting-challenges/445115/19 "2008-04-14T04:34:33Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] The casting of Heston in _Touch of Evil_ is a famous (but untrue) Hollywood story. Short reversion: it was not Welles’s idea; he was not happy about it. This story is the basis of jokes in _Ed Wood_ and _Get Shorty_. In actuality, Heston was attached before Welles. And at this point in his career, Welles had no control. _Touch of Evil_ was re-cut and scenes were re-shot without the approval of Welles. [/QUOTE] Heston was also the one who got the producers and the studio to have Welles direct the movie. Welles had been originally hired only as an actor.