# Ideal Roles For Actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649 "2012-12-31T08:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [January 3, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/61 "2013-01-03T20:49:48Z")
Malcom Clarke Duncan as John Coffey. NOBODY else could have pulled off that role. And try to image anyone else as House but Hugh Laurie. Which is strange, because he was a British song-and-dance comedy prior to the role. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/62 "2013-01-03T23:54:36Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And try to image anyone else as House but Hugh Laurie. Which is strange, because he was a British song-and-dance comedy prior to the role. It’s still mind boggling to watch Laurie in _Blackadder_ or _Jeeves and Wooster_, even though I saw him in these roles before I ever saw him in _House_. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/63 "2013-01-04T03:12:26Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I still have an issue with the Harry Potter casting. I thought Adrian Paul would have made a good Sirius Black. I have a lot of issues with Harry Potter casting, especially Sirius and Lupin (Sirius was supposed to be drop-dead gorgeous, and he did _not_ have a porn-stache! However, that said, Alan Rickman was perfect for Snape. Also, Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. And I’ll second Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/64 "2013-01-04T08:23:51Z")
You know who my Tony Stark would have been? Tom Skerritt. Looks a lot like the Marvel with his mustache. And he looks like he’s about to have a cardiac arrest, which is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/65 "2013-01-04T18:36:10Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > You know who my Tony Stark would have been? Tom Skerritt. I was going to say Tom Cruise. That said, think back to how Tommy Lee Jones deservedly won the Academy Award for his role in THE FUGITIVE, and make sure to fondly recall how he delivered any and all of your favorite lines. And now – swap in Samuel L. Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/66 "2013-01-04T18:43:59Z")
Maybe not right for the thread, since it’s a past role not a future one, but I caught “Jerry Maguire” on TV the other night and had forgotten how absolutely fantastic Cuba Gooding, Jr was as Rod Tidwell. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/67 "2013-01-04T18:50:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I was going to say Tom Cruise. But then Iron Man wouldn’t have been a superhero, he’d have been an action figure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/68 "2013-01-04T19:01:54Z")
Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes Colin Firth as Fitzwilliam Darcy Alec Guinness as Colonel Nicholson (second choice after Charles Laughton turned down the role!) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/69 "2013-01-04T19:06:08Z")
(I think I mentioned this one in the earlier thread, too lazy to check) Kevin Costner was perfect as Alex in **The Big Chill**. ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/70 "2013-01-04T19:15:00Z")
Has anyone else ever seen the… 1998, I think? miniseries about Merlin, with Sam Neill? I thought Miranda Richardson was absolutely brilliant as the evil fairy queen, Mab. When I heard about this new Sleeping Beauty film being made, I thought, damn, Miranda Richardson would awesome as Maleficent. And it turns out she’s actually in the movie… but as Maleficent’s aunt. We’ll see how that works out. Oh, Kate Mulgrew made a fantastic evil fairy/witch/whatever the hell Flemeth is in Dragon Age too. She’d be great as Maleficent. But we got Angelina Jolie. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/71 "2013-01-06T02:40:34Z")
Does anyone doubt that Barack Obama will be portrayed by Will Smith? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/72 "2013-01-06T02:52:27Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > Has anyone else ever seen the… 1998, I think? miniseries about Merlin, with Sam Neill? I thought Miranda Richardson was absolutely brilliant as the evil fairy queen, Mab. When I heard about this new Sleeping Beauty film being made, I thought, damn, Miranda Richardson would awesome as Maleficent. And it turns out she’s actually in the movie… but as Maleficent’s aunt. We’ll see how that works out. > > Oh, Kate Mulgrew made a fantastic evil fairy/witch/whatever the hell Flemeth is in Dragon Age too. She’d be great as Maleficent. But we got Angelina Jolie. Sigh. OMG I can’t wait, srsly. I LOVE the Merlin miniseries so much, I wore out the VHS tapes. Martin Short was pretty good in it, too. I think everyone was good. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/73 "2013-01-06T03:06:27Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > But then Iron Man wouldn’t have been a superhero, he’d have been an action figure. 😃 …and he’d have been called LRon Man ---
**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:** [January 6, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/74 "2013-01-06T18:19:35Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Does anyone doubt that Barack Obama will be portrayed by Will Smith? Now I don’t Powers Booth won an Emmy for his portrayal of Jim Jones. Absolute perfection. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649/75 "2013-01-11T00:45:42Z")
Remember when they made a big-screen version of BEWITCHED without Jim Carrey as the one true Durwood? I still don’t understand how that happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideal-roles-for-actors/645649.md?page=3)