# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/101 "2007-05-04T18:21:00Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Harry J. Lennix didn’t play Coleman as a young man, the very white Wentworth Miller did. [/QUOTE] “My father is black and my mother is white. Therefore, I could answer to either, which kind of makes me a racial Lone Ranger, caught between two communities.” --from the “quotes” section of [Wentworth Miller’s imdb page.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0589505/bio) ---
**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:** [May 4, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/102 "2007-05-04T18:32:41Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I didn’t think that Ringwald was that terrible but SanGiacomo was awful casting. Corin Nemec was also completely miscast. Jamie Sheridan did not fit the description in the book but when I saw him in the role I thought he did a great job. [/QUOTE] How did Jamie Sheridan not fit Flagg? He is exactly what I thought Flagg should look like after reading the book. I thought it was perfect casting. I also slightly disagree with Corin Nemec. It wasn’t the same Harold from the book, but it was still a good Harold. And someone once told me his theory for why Laura San Giacomo was cast as Nadine: “She didn’t get the part, her fantastic rack did.” ---
**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, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/103 "2007-05-04T18:33:54Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] “My father is black and my mother is white. Therefore, I could answer to either, which kind of makes me a racial Lone Ranger, caught between two communities.” --from the “quotes” section of [Wentworth Miller’s imdb page.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0589505/bio) [/QUOTE] He seems to have simplified it for that quote but that your point is just as valid. > [@](#): > > He is of African, Jamaican, English, German Jewish and Cherokee, descent on his father’s side, and of Russian, French, Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese descent on his mother’s side. ---
**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, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/104 "2007-05-04T18:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] How did Jamie Sheridan not fit Flagg? He is exactly what I thought Flagg should look like after reading the book. I thought it was perfect casting. I also slightly disagree with Corin Nemec. It wasn’t the same Harold from the book, but it was still a good Harold. And someone once told me his theory for why Laura San Giacomo was cast as Nadine: “She didn’t get the part, her fantastic rack did.” [/QUOTE] Harold has to be fat and then slowly transform. If he doesn’t that takes away a large part of his character and development. Flagg was not a white guy. He wasn’t necessarily black either. He was the Dark Man. After I saw Sheridan play him I thought he was perfect. In all I thought most of the casting was great. San Giacomo almost ruined the entire miniseries. I thought the guy who played Teddy Weizak was the worst. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/105 "2007-05-04T18:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Has Matt Damon in **The Bourne Identity** already been mentioned? Way too young… [/QUOTE] I thought Damon was sensational in the Bourne films. Who cares if he was “too young”? I think there’s a difference between “bad casting” and “casting a person who wasn’t the way I pictured it in the book.” John Wayne as Genghis Khan, now, that’s some bad casting. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/106 "2007-05-04T18:49:17Z")
What I can’t believe is that no one yet mentioned George Clooney as Batman. What I can believe is that no one mentioned Burgess Meredith as a Chinese acupuncturist in The Yin and Yang of Mister Go. ---
**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, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/107 "2007-05-04T18:51:19Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] I think there’s a difference between “bad casting” and “casting a person who wasn’t the way I pictured it in the book.” John Wayne as Genghis Khan, now, that’s some bad casting. [/QUOTE] I think it has to rise to the level of the casting completely changing the character (in a bad way) for it to be bad casting. I don’t think having a slightly younger actor is enough to call it bad casting. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/108 "2007-05-04T18:53:12Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] “My father is black and my mother is white. Therefore, I could answer to either, which kind of makes me a racial Lone Ranger, caught between two communities.” --from the “quotes” section of [Wentworth Miller’s imdb page.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0589505/bio) [/QUOTE] Ah-ha! Serves me right for making assumptions (but still several degrees lighter than Lennix). :o Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/109 "2007-05-04T18:56:21Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] \And someone once told me his theory for why Laura San Giacomo was cast as Nadine: “She didn’t get the part, her fantastic rack did.” [/QUOTE] Well, that explains a lot. :rolleyes: at the producers. Nadine was supposed to be, well, the exact opposite of everything Laura SanG. was. I think Jamie Sheridan did a fantastic job, too, but he was supposed to be the Dark Man, the Walking Dude. They could have at least dyed his hair black. I must take exception with the horse-teethed Julia Roberts being put forward as the solution to Andie MacDowell mis-casting, but then again, I don’t like Julia Roberts much. ---
**Author:** ![Potato\_Pancakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Potato\_Pancakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Potato_Pancakes)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/110 "2007-05-04T19:17:00Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] What I can’t believe is that no one yet mentioned George Clooney as Batman. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that really sucked. The fact that the batsuit had nipples really pushed it over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/111 "2007-05-04T19:36:11Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Billy Boyd, “Sam” from LOTR, playing Barret Bonden in _Master and Commander_. The Coxswain who was a prize fighter, and who pulled the stout Jack out of the water. [/QUOTE] I believe you meant “Pippin” from LOTR. Sam was played by Sean Astin. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/112 "2007-05-04T19:42:18Z")
Tom Hanks as Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan. From start to stop, nothing about his portrayal suggests that Mr. Everyman was assembled out of spare body parts and dead GIs. The script was clearly written for a Rutger Hauer/Tom Berenger-type hardcase, instead there was…Tom Hanks. The movie was good enough that the miscasting wasn’t a distraction, but I don’t think the audience was remotely surprised to learn that Hanks’ character taught English composition at Thomas Alva Edison High School. ---
**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, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/113 "2007-05-04T19:57:38Z")
**Shirley Ujest** , Lupin was a werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![el\_nombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9dc877/32.png) [@el\_nombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/el_nombre)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/114 "2007-05-04T20:00:21Z")
The guy who played Bennet in **Commando** was way too flabby and a bit too dainty to be a hardened military rival worthy to go up against Arnold. And on top of that his performance was terrible(not that that movie had any “good” acting, but you know what I mean) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/115 "2007-05-04T20:26:59Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] What I can’t believe is that no one yet mentioned George Clooney as Batman. [/QUOTE] That’s because we prefer not to think about it. Thanks for reminding me. Another 4 years of therapy, here I come. > [@Grossbottom](#): > > Tom Hanks as Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan. From start to stop, nothing about his portrayal suggests that Mr. Everyman was assembled out of spare body parts and dead GIs. The script was clearly written for a Rutger Hauer/Tom Berenger-type hardcase, instead there was…Tom Hanks. The movie was good enough that the miscasting wasn’t a distraction, but I don’t think the audience was remotely surprised to learn that Hanks’ character taught English composition at Thomas Alva Edison High School. I can’t get behind this at all. The people over there making sacrifices for freedom were not superheros or action heroes, they were “average Americans” doing a job and surviving the horrors of war as best they could. Tom Hanks is absolutely perfect for that role. imho. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/116 "2007-05-04T20:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I thought the guy who played Teddy Weizak was the worst. [/QUOTE] Ha ha very funny. I thought Molly Ringwald and Gary Sinise had zero chemistry. Regarding Scarlett (and that could be a whole 'nuther thread) she realizes at the end she never loved Ashley. He was the one beau from her childhood who wasn’t falling all over her, so of course she was interested in him. He truly loved Melanie, and only lusted after Scarlett, whereas Rhett got Scarlett’s number from the first time he laid eyes on her, and if she’d only him a reason, he would have put her on a pedastel and never let her down. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/117 "2007-05-04T20:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] I can’t get behind this at all. The people over there making sacrifices for freedom were not superheros or action heroes, they were “average Americans” doing a job and surviving the horrors of war as best they could. Tom Hanks is absolutely perfect for that role. imho. [/QUOTE] Exactly. His guys weren’t surprised at his profession because he was a superhuman killing machine, they were surprised he was an English teacher because of all the things he has to do as a Captain - like sending teenagers charging machinegun nests. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/118 "2007-05-04T21:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=el\_nombre] The guy who played Bennet in **Commando** was way too flabby and a bit too dainty to be a hardened military rival worthy to go up against Arnold. And on top of that his performance was terrible(not that that movie had any “good” acting, but you know what I mean) [/QUOTE] Yeah but he was great in **The Road Warrior** so I gave him a pass. As long as I’m here I’ll throw out another one, and this may be unpopular, but I always thought the worst thing about **Saturday Night Fever** was his love interest. Ugh. And checking IMDb I see she wrote her own biography blurb. I’m not sure why that bothers me but it does. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/119 "2007-05-04T21:35:32Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] Yeah but he was great in **The Road Warrior** so I gave him a pass. [/QUOTE] Not only that, he really was a special forces guy at one point according to [IMDB](http://imdb.com/name/nm0920460/bio) > [@](#): > > Former S.A.S. Commando (Special Air Services, one the best counter-terrorism units in the world). > > Refers to “Captain Bennett,” his Commando (1985) character, as “Freddie Mercury on steroids.” Apparently he has a sense of humor about that role too. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663/120 "2007-05-04T21:49:47Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] And checking IMDb I see she wrote her own biography blurb. I’m not sure why that bothers me but it does. [/QUOTE] It’s a little pathetic–she brags she has “5 new films in the can”, but that was over a year ago and I’ve never heard of any of the 5 (not one has more than 60 votes). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-blowing-bad-casting/402663.md?page=7)