# How much emphasis do casting directors give wrt to resemblance between puported family **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464 "2012-10-02T11:42:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/41 "2012-10-04T03:58:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Dendarii Dame** : > > When the Good Fairy did show up, there was hysterical laughter from the audience, which I did not understand at the time. She was played by an African-American, whereas I am Caucasian. Hey, that’s nothing. When I was in 7th grade, I was Scrooge in _A Christmas Carol_, and Young Scrooge was a different race from me. The audience took it in stride, though, since they all knew it was a pretty diverse school. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/42 "2012-10-04T06:11:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Hey, that’s nothing. When I was in 7th grade, I was Scrooge in _A Christmas Carol_, and Young Scrooge was a different race from me. The audience took it in stride, though, since they all knew it was a pretty diverse school. In one of my grade school plays the role of Martin Luther King was played by a white boy in blackface. It wasn’t minstrely blackface; they did try to actually make him look like a real black person, but the effect left alot to be desired. I still don’t understand how anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/43 "2012-10-04T06:50:48Z")
The DVD I have of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” has a rather assorted bunch of actors playing the twelve sons of Jacob, with brothers who were born to the same mother (per Genesis) of (apparently) differing racial heritage. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/44 "2012-10-07T00:39:29Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I remember being amused at Joey’s herd of nearly identical sisters in _Friends_. So that casting agent, at least, paid some attention. And, casting Teri Garr as Phoebe’s mother was brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/45 "2012-10-07T01:09:03Z")
In [Suture](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Z62EXptcU), Dennis Haysbert’s character is repeatedly mistaken for his half brother, played by the very pale Michael Harris. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/46 "2012-10-07T12:57:45Z")
One of the worst cases of miscasting IME was a mockumentary about the building of the Pyramids where everyone was obviously Egyptian except the non speaking star of the programme who was so obviously European. Just to make things worse, his style of acting reminded me of someone on amphetamines who had just had half of a soldier ant colony walk up his trouser legs . ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/47 "2012-10-07T17:52:09Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > One of the worst cases of miscasting IME was a mockumentary about the building of the Pyramids where everyone was obviously Egyptian except the non speaking star of the programme who was so obviously European. > > Just to make things worse, his style of acting reminded me of someone on amphetamines who had just had half of a soldier ant colony walk up his trouser legs . Confused. Was it a mockumentary or a docudrama? Also, I don’t get how somebody is a non-speaking star of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/48 "2012-10-07T18:04:48Z")
On _Raising Hope_, Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith were cast as mother and daughter, which they are in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/49 "2012-10-07T20:31:20Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Well in Doctor Who, the younger Amy Pond was played by her actresses cousin. Ralph Finnes nephew played the younger Lord Voldemort. But, this is one area I agree that the casting directors misfire, persons can quite plausibly look different at different ages for reasons other than simple aging. I remember listening to a commentary of some movie and the actor says that the photos of his character as a child are of his nephew, since actual pictures of the actor at that age showed him looking too different to have plausibly grown into what his character looked. This reminds me that Matt Smith played a younger version of Ralph Fiennes’ character in _In Bruges_, although if I recall correctly that’s only in a deleted scene on the DVD. Whoever was casting that seemed to be going for acting capability and not physical resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/50 "2012-10-07T21:09:15Z")
Good choice of Mayim Bialik playing a young Bette Midler’s character in “Beaches.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/51 "2012-10-07T22:52:36Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Ewan McGregor doesn’t look that much like Alec Guinness… OTOH, I assume his casting went about like this: “Ewan, your Guinness impression is dead on. How about we give you a lorryload of money and you do it for three movies?” ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/52 "2012-10-07T23:06:26Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Presented without comment: [Manly Guys Doing Manly Things » Closing the Woop](http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/1265) Is there something wrong with me that I don’t even begin to get this? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/53 "2012-10-08T00:57:55Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Is there something wrong with me that I don’t even begin to get this? Actually, it’s probably something right. Or at least, it means you live in a realm where SF action movies and Pokemon don’t intersect. The critter in the comic is called a “wooper”. The joke is that the “younger” one–presumably played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in really heavy makeup–looks so much like the older one (as indicated by the faint wrinkles around his eyes) that just appeared, which I suppose would be Bruce Willis. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/54 "2012-10-08T04:21:03Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Presented without comment: [Manly Guys Doing Manly Things » Closing the Woop](http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/1265) > > 😃 Just went through the entire thing. And got the kid to as well, the afternoon has been punctuated with cries of “woohoo, portal!” and “The Xmas chicken, ‘I was not prepared for the responsibility’. Bwahahaha!” Thanks, you magnificent bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/55 "2012-10-10T14:14:37Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > The DVD I have of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” has a rather assorted bunch of actors playing the twelve sons of Jacob, with brothers who were born to the same mother (per Genesis) of (apparently) differing racial heritage. It was not long after the Bible began; race hadn’t been invented yet. > [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Confused. Was it a mockumentary or a docudrama? Also, I don’t get how somebody is a non-speaking star of the show. _Mr Bean_? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/56 "2012-10-10T14:34:47Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > The example that always comes to my mind is **Marathon Man**. Roy Scheider and Dustin Hoffman as brothers. Right. I haven’t read the whole thread, so forgive me if this on’e been mentioned, but the 1989 film **Family Business** with Dustin Hoffman, Sean Connery, and Matthew Broderick as father, son, and grandson is even more ludicrous. I mean, LOOK: [http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;\_ylt=A0PDoKzch3VQTB8AzTeJzbkF;\_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F\_adv\_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dfamily%2Bbusiness%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D8&w=495&h=755&imgurl=images.fan-de-cinema.com%2Faffiches%2Fcomedie\_dramatique%2Ffamily\_business%2C1.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fan-de-cinema.com%2Faffiches%2Ffamily-business.html&size=51.3+KB&name=Family+business+(1989)+-+Les+affiches+du+film&p=family+business&oid=ae0cb0aa9c2c121f91ac61af59a660f9&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=Family%2Bbusiness%2B%25281989%2529%2B-%2BLes%2Baffiches%2Bdu%2Bfilm&b=0&ni=21&no=8&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11qff9bsv&sigb=13dcorhga&sigi=12arqedog&.crumb=G.kSrW0OssH](http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoKzch3VQTB8AzTeJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dfamily%2Bbusiness%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D8&w=495&h=755&imgurl=images.fan-de-cinema.com%2Faffiches%2Fcomedie_dramatique%2Ffamily_business%2C1.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fan-de-cinema.com%2Faffiches%2Ffamily-business.html&size=51.3+KB&name=Family+business+%281989%29+-+Les+affiches+du+film&p=family+business&oid=ae0cb0aa9c2c121f91ac61af59a660f9&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=Family%2Bbusiness%2B%25281989%2529%2B-%2BLes%2Baffiches%2Bdu%2Bfilm&b=0&ni=21&no=8&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11qff9bsv&sigb=13dcorhga&sigi=12arqedog&.crumb=G.kSrW0OssH) > **[File:Family Business (movie poster).jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Family_Business.jpg)** > > Family\_Business\_(movie\_poster).jpg (251 × 395 pixels, file size: 17 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) > Film poster for Family Business (1989 film) - Copyright 1989, Tri Star Pictures > Impawards > May 19, 2006 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/57 "2012-10-10T15:23:30Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > It was not long after the Bible began; race hadn’t been invented yet. > > _Mr Bean_? No, Rowan is my brother; we’re commonly mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464/58 "2012-10-10T15:25:46Z")
I thought they did a stellar job in _The Master_ of choosing [Jesse Plemons](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0687146/) to play [Philip Seymour Hoffman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000450/)’s son. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-emphasis-do-casting-directors-give-wrt-to-resemblance-between-puported-family/636464.md?page=2)