# Name the most horribly mis-cast actors(or actresses) here! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530 "2001-06-04T15:47:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/61 "2001-06-06T15:40:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monster \* > \*\*Sorry, for the slight hijack, but I’ve got the book right here, and while I can’t find an exact quote of his age (it **is** a long book), I don’t think Stu was an “old fart”. > > In one description of Stu, his wife had passed away 4 years prior to the current events. She was only 27 when she died, and I think it is safe to assume they were close in age. That puts Stu at 31 or 32 years old. > > Also, Frannie is 21 or 22 years old, and someone describes Stu as being 10 years older than her. That also makes Stu 31 or 32 years old. > > Now, I don’t know how old you are, but if 32 years old is “old fart” material, I’m in big trouble!! 😉 > > \*\* Humm… Well, I’d need to see quotes, but my impression certainly was that he was a much older guy. Perhaps I had this impression because of the gang of old farts he hung out with at Cap’s gas station? Honestly, I coulda sworn he was much older. I’m not at home, but if I get a chance I’ll check the book later. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/62 "2001-06-06T15:56:15Z")
Bo Derek as Jane Porter in _Tarzan_ ick! **This** from the Book of Lists: Worst Mis-cast Actress: Diana Ross as a 12 year old white girl in The Wiz. Best Acting: Diana Ross as a 12 year old white girl in The Wiz 🙂 I thought Sting made a great villian in _Dune_ ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/63 "2001-06-06T15:59:33Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by dantheman \* \*\* > [@](#): > > Humm… Well, I’d need to see quotes, …\*\* Damn you, now I’ve got to find them again!! 😉 Page 5…“The marriage had been the best time, and it had only last 18 months…That had been four years ago” Page 62…“Four years ago his wife had died of cancer at the age of 27…” Page 12…“He was Jess Rider, age twenty, one year younger that Our Heroine, Little Fran.” I can’t find the 10 year age difference quote, but I’m still looking. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/64 "2001-06-06T16:06:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monster \* > \*\*Damn you, now I’ve got to find them again!! 😉 > > Page 5…“The marriage had been the best time, and it had only last 18 months…That had been four years ago” > > Page 62…“Four years ago his wife had died of cancer at the age of 27…” > > Page 12…“He was Jess Rider, age twenty, one year younger that Our Heroine, Little Fran.” > > I can’t find the 10 year age difference quote, but I’m still looking. \*\* Well, that certainly bears you out, at least to a degree. I guess the reason I had him pegged as such an old guy was simply that he was hanging out with old guys. I know, I know, guilt by association. But ya gotta admit, it’s unusual for a relative youngster to hang with fogeys! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/65 "2001-06-06T16:23:45Z")
Nick is 22 years old. Page 136…Said to Nick, “You’ve been on your own, since you were 16? For 6 years?” Later, on page 655, Ralph is describing Larry Underwood to Nick, “He’s 6 or 7 years older’n you, I think, and maybe 8 or 9 years younger than Redman.” Which would put Stu at about 37 or 38 years old. Still not what I’d call an “old fart”. And Ralph was just guessing. Maybe that Texas sun weathered Stu a little and made him look a little older. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/66 "2001-06-06T17:07:37Z")
I’m so glad to see the Keanu Reeves is getting all of the grief that he so rightly deserves. Someone mentioned that he should be cast in anything that requires more of him than to stand there and breathe - I’ll suggest that he would find a way to ruin that as well. My nomination for the Most Horribly Mis-Cast Actress goes to Shelley Duval in “The Shining.” I stayed up all night with the lights on when I read the book, it was that gripping and that terrifying. Ms. Duval was as wooden as a post and not even Jack Nicholson’s performance could save the film. The scene where he talks to Lyle the Bartender about breaking his son’s arm is chilling. Ms. Duval’s scenes are stupefying. Nearly anyone else would have been better casting. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/67 "2001-06-06T18:41:28Z")
Yes, John Wayne as Genghis Khan was the worst casting ever. Others worthy of note, however; Glen Campbell as a tough Texas Ranger in “True Grit.” Watch the movie and imagine Clint Eastwood in the role. And imagine the thrill of seeing one generation of movie legend passing the torch to the next. The middle aged Steve McQueen as a teenager in “The Revers.” As I remember he was also the producer. The producer should have known better. Sean Connery as an American Cowboy in the western “Shalako”. I love to watch the film just to watch him “post” as he rides his Arabian stallion in the film. Much has been said correctly about the miscast Mrs. Peel in “The Avengers,” but I was not overly impressed with John Steed either. I think Whoopie Goldberg is a wonderfully talented actress, but she was totaly miscast in “Burgler”. I neither believed her as a bookstore owner nor as burgler-the two different sides of the character. I think Paulie Shore and Tom Green being cast as anything but murder victims in the first scene of a film would be complete miscasting. Now a couple mentioned earlier I disagree with; I thought Bill Murry in Razor’s Edge was wonderful and I felt that Leslie Howard was good in Gone With the Wind. He was a good counter point to Gable. His gentleness and refinement fit well. TV ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/68 "2001-06-07T00:35:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DRY \* > \*\*Yep. Incredibly wooden performance. Then again, Richard Chamerlain as Octavian didn’t do much, and Richard Johnson as Brutus, Robert Vaughn as Casca and even John Gielgud as Caesar weren’t great, either. Heston was OK as Antony, but even he wasn’t inspiring. > \*\* Yeah, that was just a crappy movie all around. More miscasting… Robert Downey Jr. as the Rivers/Grey/Vaughan conglomerate in _Richard III._ Frank Finlay as Porthos in _The Three Musketeers_ (the 1970s version with Michael York and Oliver Reed). Also, the entire cast of the '93 Disney version, especially Charlie Sheen as Aramis. (Well, Tim Curry wasn’t a bad choice for Richelieu.) Claire Danes as Cosette in _Les Miserables._ ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/69 "2001-06-07T00:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TV time \* > \*\* > The middle aged Steve McQueen as a teenager in “The Revers.” As I remember he was also the producer. The producer should have known better. \*\* Was his character supposed to be a teen? It’s been a while, but I thought he was supposed to be in his late twenties - okay, he was still too old for that, at age 39. I could be wrong, though. (BTW, it’s **The Reivers**.) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/70 "2001-06-07T11:24:00Z")
Sylvester Stallone as Judge Dread. One day I’ll be able to forgive those involved in that film. But it will be a long time coming. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/71 "2001-06-08T00:34:41Z")
dantheman: Sorry about the spelling on “Reivers” but it was pretty late our time when I was posting and… But as to the character’s age. I too was going by memory but when I read the book I seem to remember the character discribed as “just entering manhood,” so I assumed it was between mid and late teens. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/72 "2001-06-08T00:48:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TV time \* > \*\* > dantheman: > > Sorry about the spelling on “Reivers” but it was pretty late our time when I was posting and… > > But as to the character’s age. I too was going by memory but when I read the book I seem to remember the character discribed as “just entering manhood,” so I assumed it was between mid and late teens. \*\* Well, if you’ve read the book, you’d know more than I would. It just never entered my mind that he was all that old. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/73 "2001-06-08T03:37:29Z")
OK, this is probably suicide… Christopher Lambert in the **Highlander** films. _All_ the **Highlander** films. Don’t hurt me! Please! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/74 "2001-06-08T06:20:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*OK, this is probably suicide… > > Christopher Lambert in the **Highlander** films. _All_ the **Highlander** films. > > Don’t hurt me! Please! \*\* Actually, I agree. A European playing a Scotsman? A scotsman playing a Spaniard? There can be only one, or maybe lots? My head hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/75 "2001-06-08T09:27:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sir Rhosis \* > \*\* > To the OP: Uma Thurman as Emma Peel in “The Avengers.” Should have gone to (Branagh’s ex-wife, can’t remember her name). > > And George Lazenby was okay in some scenes in “On Her Majesty’s…” You watch the movie, you can almost tell the order in which it was filmed by the improvement (however slight) in his acting ablity. > > Jenny Agutter rules, btw. > > Sir Rhosis \*\* But, they cast too young on Steed. While I think Ralph Fiennes is a good actor, at least from the TV show, I would think that Steed has a good twenty years of Peel. I think that the role of Steed should have gone to someone a bit more mature. Perhaps Geoffery Rush. Then… to cast Peel, I would have used someone with a smart ingenue quality… say, someone with the look of Parkey Posey with a British accent. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/76 "2001-06-08T11:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miss Creant \* > \*\* > > Keanu Reeves in (i think) As You Like It. Shakespere + Keanu equals pain. I did enjoy him in the Matrix since he didn’t have to speak much, just use a variety of confused facial expressions…I think he does his best work while not speaking.\*\* But…but…I thought he looked repressed and constipated–exactly right for the part. The performance that needs a little “fixing” in that is Kenneth Branagh’s! ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/77 "2001-06-08T12:52:54Z")
After reading the book, Eastwood and Strepe (sp?) were not the ones to play the characters in the movie Bridges of Madison County. Being an avid reader of James Patterson, the detective from his books would have been played much better by Danzel Washington, Kiss the Girls and Along Came A Spider. Sometimes I think you are better off not to see a movie if you’ve read the book, or read the book once you’ve seen the movie. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/78 "2001-06-08T12:55:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultress \* > \*\*After reading the book, Eastwood and Strepe (sp?) were not the ones to play the characters in the movie Bridges of Madison County. > Being an avid reader of James Patterson, the detective from his books would have been played much better by Danzel Washington, Kiss the Girls and Along Came A Spider. > Sometimes I think you are better off not to see a movie if you’ve read the book, or read the book once you’ve seen the movie. \*\* I think you mean Morgan Freeman, who was in both **Kiss the Girls** and **Along Came a Spider**. ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/79 "2001-06-08T13:00:18Z")
Yep, I think Danzel Washington would have been better than Freeman in both movies. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530/80 "2001-06-08T13:03:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by ultress \* > > \*\*Being an avid reader of James Patterson, the detective from his books would have been played much better by Danzel Washington, Kiss the Girls and Along Came A Spider. > > Sometimes I think you are better off not to see a movie if you’ve read the book, or read the book once you’ve seen the movie. \*\* > > I think you mean Morgan Freeman, who was in both **Kiss the Girls** and **Along Came a Spider**. \*\* I thought she meant that Freeman was miscast and that Washington should have been cast in those roles instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-horribly-mis-cast-actors-or-actresses-here/67530.md?page=5)