# Perfectly cast beauties **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692 "2010-02-27T22:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/101 "2011-02-11T01:09:33Z")
Perfect: Kelly LeBrock in _Weird Science_ - hot, saucy, and authoritative. Wrong: Jessica Alba as Sue Storm in the \*Fantastic Four \*movies. Alba looked distractingly strange with the blue contacts. Wrong: Jessica Alba as Nancy in _Sin City_. She looks plenty hot, but she plays a stripper who doesn’t strip! In the comic, Nancy’s topless cowgirl routine was one of the more memorable sequences. The movie slavishly recreates the comic book imagery in live action, but they have to compromise here because they hired an actress who wouldn’t take her top off. (I have nothing against Alba. She’s not a great actress, but she’s beautiful and likeable enough in the right role.) ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/102 "2011-02-11T01:26:16Z")
> [@Hades](#): > > I’ve never read the book, but I seem to remember reading that Scarlett was not being very conventionally attractive. I’m quoting from memory, so it’s not exact, but the opening words of the book go something like this: “Scarlett O’Hara was not a beautiful woman, but men seldomed noticed that when they were as taken with her as the Tarleton twins were.” I think Scarlett was supposed to be more vivacious than drop-dead gorgeous, but I have absolutely no complaints about the casting of Vivien Leigh in that movie! … OK, just googled the actual opening line: “Scarlet O’hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.” ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/103 "2011-02-11T01:48:33Z")
Scarlett Johanson in…umm…anything\*. That woman is pure, unadulterated, beauty. I’d pay to see a movie that was just a close up of her face for two hours \*Well, I guess if the script called for an uggo, she wouldn’t fit…but then again, look at Charlize Theron in “Monster.” ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/104 "2011-02-11T01:56:22Z")
Kaitlin Olsen in “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”. Cheryl Hines in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Nichole Kidman in “To Die For” ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/105 "2011-02-11T02:00:46Z")
Karen Allen in \*Raiders of the Lost Ark \* Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront Talia Shire in any of the Rocky movies ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/106 "2011-02-11T02:22:05Z")
Michelle Pfeiffer in “Scarface.” Sharon Stone in “Casino” Katy Sagal in “Sons Of Anarchy” Jane Leeves in “Frasier” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/107 "2011-02-11T03:04:23Z")
Sigourney Weaver in just about every role, but especially as Ripley in the _Alien_ movies: [http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/files/2008/04/sigourney-weaver-aliens.jpg](http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/files/2008/04/sigourney-weaver-aliens.jpg) Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, _The Abyss_: [http://www.ugo.com/therush/images/character\_studies/lindsey-brigman-349/image\_mary-elizabeth-mastrantonio-abyss.jpg](http://www.ugo.com/therush/images/character_studies/lindsey-brigman-349/image_mary-elizabeth-mastrantonio-abyss.jpg) Uma Thurman, _Dangerous Liaisons_: [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/\_va3RgJKAs5E/Swamw8SsqDI/AAAAAAAAEzw/koKQL-QYFoQ/s1600/uma\_dangerous\_liaisons.jpg](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_va3RgJKAs5E/Swamw8SsqDI/AAAAAAAAEzw/koKQL-QYFoQ/s1600/uma_dangerous_liaisons.jpg) Rene Russo, _In the Line of Fire_: [http://img.listal.com/image/1655971/400full.jpg](http://img.listal.com/image/1655971/400full.jpg) Jeanne Tripplehorn, _Basic Instinct_: [http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsT/17323-1279.jpg](http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsT/17323-1279.jpg) ---
**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:** [February 11, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/108 "2011-02-11T03:09:41Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > but the ultimate casting of a beautiful woman in a lead role… > > **Vivien Leigh** as Scarlett in “Gone with the Wind” - She was sassy, petite, charming, but hard as nails if she wanted to. You could see why men would fall over themselves to be her beau I’m not loving the “petite”, though. She looks frail and wasp-waisted: not so much someone who _ **needs** _ to be forcefully laced into a corset, more like someone who’d get walloped by the decidedly healthier-looking Melanie. (I mean, Olivia de Havilland is _ **still** _ up and around! What the hell kind of epic miscasting was that? 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/109 "2011-02-11T04:17:40Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > I was underwhelmed by Kruger in Troy as well; Saffron Burrows as Andromache and Rose Byrne as Briseis were both, IMHO, more striking than her. She’s too blonde and Nordic for Helen, and not even the most beautiful blonde Nordic woman to play Helen. This is kind of silly. Bronze age Greeks were barbarian invaders that probably would have looked more like a modern German or Russian than a modern Greek. I agree about Kruger though. My first thought when I saw her was, “1000 ships? No way! 50…60 ships tops.” If you want to talk about somebody breathtaking, how about Barbara Carrera the way she looked when I first saw her in **Masada**. [[http://i.ebayimg.com/10/!Br4cL3wBGk~$(KGrHqIOKj4Eum,N,9w7BL1j+5He-w~~\_3.JPG](http://i.ebayimg.com/10/!Br4cL3wBGk~$(KGrHqIOKj4Eum,N,9w7BL1j+5He-w~~\_3.JPG)](http://i.ebayimg.com/10/!Br4cL3wBGk~$(KGrHqIOKj4Eum,N,9w7BL1j+5He-w~~_3.JPG%5D(http://i.ebayimg.com/10/!Br4cL3wBGk~$(KGrHqIOKj4Eum,N,9w7BL1j+5He-w~~_3.JPG)) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/110 "2011-02-11T05:43:36Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > The absolute first actress that came to mind was **Olivia Hussey** as Juliet in Zeffirelli’s 1968 _Romeo and Juliet_. God yes! She was achingly beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/111 "2011-02-11T06:30:32Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I think it’s really hard to refute that AJ is just drop dead gorgeous. And [this](http://celebritybabyscoop.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_main/pictures/FP_4742477_Jolie_Angelina_AAR_032410.jpg) is my favorite picture of her, because she’s really just that beautiful without makeup. > > (It’s guaranteed someone will say she IS wearing makeup… but she’s not. She has fantastic natural coloring, which is part of why she’s so incredibly beautiful. And we can argue about it all day, but look at the bags under her eyes - it’s a morning shot and she is in Venice where she was shooting the Tourist- she looks like she might be wearing workout clothes. if she’s wearing any makeup at all, it’s smudgy leftovers from the night before!) Oh, please. If you can’t see the black eye makeup, then try comparing it [with](http://www.popular-pics.com/Angelina_Jolie_Without_Makeup_Pictures) [these](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aXqLA6mISOA/R4tjQzzFJOI/AAAAAAAAABs/d1TJI29mBxA/s1600-h/Angelina+without+make-up.jpg) [other](http://img.ezinemark.com/imagemanager1/files/2010/4/26/star/2.jpg) [pictures](http://static.entertainmentwise.com/gallery/without_make_angelinaROUGH.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/112 "2011-02-11T07:20:29Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Oh, please. If you can’t see the black eye makeup, then try comparing it [with](http://www.popular-pics.com/Angelina_Jolie_Without_Makeup_Pictures) [these](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aXqLA6mISOA/R4tjQzzFJOI/AAAAAAAAABs/d1TJI29mBxA/s1600-h/Angelina+without+make-up.jpg) [other](http://img.ezinemark.com/imagemanager1/files/2010/4/26/star/2.jpg) [pictures](http://static.entertainmentwise.com/gallery/without_make_angelinaROUGH.jpg). You actually proved my point. Just because she’s beautiful doesn’t mean she can’t look bad or take a bad photograph, which the two “candids” are - but the coloring is there in all the pictures, the worst thing is the overplucked eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/113 "2011-02-11T07:23:05Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > God yes! She was achingly beautiful. Hussey… yeah, I’d say we have a winner there. Perfection. And Juliet needs to be perfection, since she’s a whiny little narcissistic bitch Romeo can only fall for her looks. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/114 "2011-02-11T07:54:53Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > You actually proved my point. > > Just because she’s beautiful doesn’t mean she can’t look bad or take a bad photograph, which the two “candids” are - but the coloring is there in all the pictures, the worst thing is the overplucked eyebrows. No, I didn’t “prove your point”. You claimed she was not wearing makeup and that her beauty is all natural. Did you happen to notice that her eyebrows are also darkened in your linked photo, and her eyes are rimmed by black eyeliner and darkened lashes? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/115 "2011-02-11T08:09:34Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > No, I didn’t “prove your point”. You claimed she was not wearing makeup and that her beauty is all natural. Did you happen to notice that her eyebrows are also darkened in your linked photo, and her eyes are rimmed by black eyeliner and darkened lashes? It’s remarkable to see how often people can quote someone else’s actual words, then claim the words say something they didn’t say, and completely ignore key things that the words did say. > [@Stoid](#): > > (It’s guaranteed someone will say she IS wearing makeup… but she’s not. She has fantastic natural coloring, which is part of why she’s so incredibly beautiful. And we can argue about it all day, but look at the bags under her eyes - it’s a morning shot and she is in Venice where she was shooting the Tourist- she looks like she might be wearing workout clothes. **if she’s wearing any makeup at all, it’s smudgy leftovers from the night before!** ) And you _ **did** _ prove my point. You posted pictures that are clearly labeled “no makeup” - her coloring is excellent, and she is beautiful, even though the lighting is brutal, her hair is sloppy, and she has a goofy expression. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/116 "2011-02-11T08:17:33Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > The absolute first actress that came to mind was **Olivia Hussey** as Juliet in Zeffirelli’s 1968 _Romeo and Juliet_. I’ve got to agree with Olivia as Juliet but she was horribly miscast as [Mother Theresa](http://www.excerptsofinri.com/mother-teresa.html) ;). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/117 "2011-02-11T08:29:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in _Casablanca_: [http://modazkrakowa.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/casablanca3.jpg](http://modazkrakowa.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/casablanca3.jpg) Damn straight. Best casting ever except perhaps for Bogart in the same film. That and Cybil Shepard as Martha Stewart. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/118 "2011-02-11T08:43:35Z")
Since this has been revived, I’ll mention one that’s not exactly in the same line as others in this thread, but it was a crucial part of _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_. Turns out (IMHO) Anna Popplewell and Georgie Henley were brilliant choices for Susan and Lucy Pevensie. In the movie, there’s a part where Lucy is jealous of how pretty Susan is, and wishes she could look like her. And [Anna Popplewell](http://www.listal.com/viewimage/492422) is indeed rather pretty, especially in a conventional way. In the movie, Aslan appears and tells Lucy to be herself and accept herself as she is (which she demonstrates she’s learned when she tells another girl the same). Now, in my opinion, [Georgie Henley](http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/star/pictures-454618-georgie-henley.html) is an exceptionally pretty girl herself, but not in the same way. She’ll easily be just as attractive as Ms. Popplewell when she reaches that age, but in an entirely different way. So it’s very believable that she would be jealous of exactly those qualities in Susan she thinks she lacks, while being blind to her own best features. Not only that, but I felt all the children were well-cast from the start for their characters. Someone in the early part of this thread mentioned Tilda Swinton as the White Witch, who was another perfect choice, at least as a cold and domineering temptress. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/119 "2011-02-11T11:25:27Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Helen was supposed to be blond. Helen was a man? Anyway, the [Greeks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Menelaus_Louvre_G424.jpg) didn’t think so ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692/120 "2011-02-11T11:30:11Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > This is kind of silly. Bronze age Greeks were barbarian invaders that probably would have looked more like a modern German or Russian than a modern Greek. Not…really. [This is how they looked](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mycenaean_Woman.jpg)_when they painted themselves_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfectly-cast-beauties/530692.md?page=7)