# Mind Blowing Bad Casting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663 "2007-05-03T20:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/61 "2007-05-04T05:14:13Z")
And no one’s brought up casting a milkshake, a box of french fries, and a meatball as a team of superheroes? ---
**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:** [May 4, 2007, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/62 "2007-05-04T10:10:48Z")
[QUOTE=bigbabysweets2000] And no one’s brought up casting a milkshake, a box of french fries, and a meatball as a team of superheroes? [/QUOTE] You really shouldn’t talk that way about Lynda Carter, Adam West, and Lou Ferrigno. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/63 "2007-05-04T10:50:09Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] OK, so the thread consensus so far appears to be that Keanu Reeves in _any_ role he’s\* ever\* played, other than a surfer or metalhead, is an appallingly bad casting choice. [/QUOTE] I actually thought he was just right for _The Matrix_ - not sure about the sequels though. But yes, he really, really, sucked in _Much Ado About Nothing_. I’m still hoping they might release a ‘special edition’ with him digitally edited out and replaced by, I dunno, _anyone else_. Flat Eric would have been a better choice. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/64 "2007-05-04T12:03:14Z")
Keanu Reeves in—well, anything, but especially as Harker in _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_. My sister is of the opinion that there would have been better casting choices even among the rest of the Dracula cast. Including, but not limited to, Anthony Hopkins or Wynona Rider in drag. [p.s…heh, just finished reading the rest of the thread. I see I’m beaten to the punch.] I can’t tell if Katie Holmes ruined the character of Rachel Dawes in _Batman Begins_, or if she just did a masterful job at playing a smug, holier-than-thou harpie. Actually, I’m leaning towards the latter. Jessica Alba in _Fantastic Four_. I mean…_Jesus._ She looked like Roy Batty, only without the charisma. Hayden Christiansen would have been perfect as Anakin/Vader. If they’d dubbed him. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/65 "2007-05-04T13:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Speaking of looking too old, how about William Holden in Picnic? He looked 40, but I think he was supposed to be in his early 20’s. [/QUOTE] This a perfect example- it ruined what would have been a classic film. I spent the whole time thinking ‘why is this hot youg chick in love with this 50 year old drifter?’ One example of an non-Asian playing an Asian that was not a total disgrace, Ona Munson in The Shanghai Gesture. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/66 "2007-05-04T13:02:35Z")
I still cringe at Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith in _Dead Zone_. The movie is pretty sad compared to the book but crazy-evil Walken as the gentle-teacher-come-victim-of-tragic-destiny is just jaw dropping. What **WERE** they thinking?!? ---
**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:** [May 4, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/67 "2007-05-04T13:09:21Z")
There’s a whole sub-category of Bad Casting Because the Hollywood Version Completely Rewrote the Story. It’s not the actor’s fault. Arnold Schwarteneggar should ever have played Quaid\* in **Total Recall** – the original story calls for a Woody Allen-like nebbish. Or Whoopi Goldberg in **Burglar** ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/68 "2007-05-04T13:34:10Z")
I’m surprised we got this far and no one has mentioned David Carradine as Kwi Ciang Cain in the Kung Fu series. It’s bad enough they cast a white guy as an asian, but Bruce Fucking Lee was involved in the development of the series, and they decided not to cast him as the lead. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/69 "2007-05-04T13:41:42Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] **Keanu Reeves** as Don John in _Much Ado About Nothing_. I kept expecting to hear him say “duuuude” at the end of each line. [/QUOTE] Replace “duuuuude” with “whoa” in the above quote and you have what I came in here to say. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/70 "2007-05-04T13:42:47Z")
I don’t know if it was on in the States but how about Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael in the TV series? Derek Jacobi is a great actor and was brilliant as C’C’Claudius but not as Cadfael - in fact he played them as the same character :smack: . Cadfael is a stocky, powerful, ex-sailor, ex-Crusader, Welshman who has spend most of his life knocking round the Eastern Mediterranean, not a slight, stuttering Englishman who looks like he has hardly stepped out of the library. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/71 "2007-05-04T13:43:13Z")
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes-too old, too ugly, and way too wooden. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/72 "2007-05-04T13:43:29Z")
[QUOTE=crazyjoe] I’m surprised we got this far and no one has mentioned David Carradine as Kwi Ciang Cain in the Kung Fu series. It’s bad enough they cast a white guy as an asian, but Bruce Fucking Lee was involved in the development of the series, and they decided not to cast him as the lead. [/QUOTE] Or for that matter David Carradine in Kill Bill 2. He was so anti-menacing I can’t even watch the scenes with him because because it ruins the “revenge” mood the movie is supposed to have. They might as well have cast Woody Allen. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/73 "2007-05-04T13:44:39Z")
[QUOTE=crazyjoe] I’m surprised we got this far and no one has mentioned David Carradine as Kwi Ciang Cain in the Kung Fu series. It’s bad enough they cast a white guy as an asian, but Bruce Fucking Lee was involved in the development of the series, and they decided not to cast him as the lead. [/QUOTE] It’s the Jonathan Pryce defense. The character is half Asian/half caucasian. If you are not going to cast a half and half actor does it make a difference if the actor is white or Asian? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/74 "2007-05-04T13:57:23Z")
[QUOTE=MarcusF] I don’t know if it was on in the States but how about Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael in the TV series? Derek Jacobi is a great actor and was brilliant as C’C’Claudius but not as Cadfael - in fact he played them as the same character :smack: . Cadfael is a stocky, powerful, ex-sailor, ex-Crusader, Welshman who has spend most of his life knocking round the Eastern Mediterranean, not a slight, stuttering Englishman who looks like he has hardly stepped out of the library. [/QUOTE] Hey, now! I thought Jacobi made a great Cadfael. I don’t think he stuttered in that role. In the threads on **The Tudors** many of us have been complaining about the casting of Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/75 "2007-05-04T14:02:51Z")
Nobody thought of this one? He mumbled a lot-and that scene (when they unload Sonny’s bullet-riddled corpse at the undertaker)-and the undertaker is afraid that he’ll be dragged in to some Mafia burial scheme…“I donna wanna haava his mothutha to se himm lika thiss…looka how theyya massacurred my boy”-the fake tears were classic! Brando looke dlike he was going to burst out laughing! ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/76 "2007-05-04T14:23:57Z")
**Meg Ryan** as Pamela Morrison in _The Doors_. When she talks about doing acid, I laugh my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![Kokopilau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Kokopilau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kokopilau)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/77 "2007-05-04T14:25:53Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] There is a large segment of the Japanese population that felt that the casting of Sakamoto Maaya as the voice of the lead character of The Vision of Escaflowne was a major mistake: Fifteen year olds shouldn’t be providing the voices of fifteen year old characters in anime. (Personally, I’d always liked her voice, but that’s simply a judgement of vox humana, rather than her speaking ability - since my Japanese is rudimentary, at best.) [/QUOTE] I hope they changed their minds after seeing (hearing?) her performance, because Maaya was brilliant as Hitomi. I loved it, personally…finally, a Japanese schoolgirl heroine who ISN’T all squeaky-voiced! She sounds _authentic_, rather than being a “celebrity seiyuu”, and it really helped the character and the impact of what she went through, to have her be that real. Now, for odd casting in anime, how about Megumi “Lina Inverse” Hayashibara as the laconic and emotionally isolated Rei Ayanami in Evangelion? ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/78 "2007-05-04T14:34:49Z")
John Wayne in **The Quiet Man**. Fabulous movie, wonderful acting all around (even from John, I’ll admit), beautiful scenery. But casting him as the titular character… no. Maybe it only bothers me because I actually read the story in class before seeing the movie, but I just can’t see him as an Irishman returning to his home town. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/79 "2007-05-04T14:37:11Z")
Halle Berry as Storm in the XMen series. Halle Berry as Catwoman. Angela Basset would have been great in either one. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/80 "2007-05-04T14:57:14Z")
Angela Basset is a beautiful woman, but she is too old for those roles. Heck, Halle is too old for those roles. Congrats to Hollywood for choosing mature women for young roles (like they’ve done for men for years), but I would prefer they use more age-appropriate thespians all around (and not do stupid shit like having Zeta Jones fawn over Connery). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663.md?page=5)