# Poor casting choices **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379 "2004-05-27T17:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/41 "2004-05-28T03:53:14Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > This one I just remembered: > > Tom Cruise as Lestat in **Interview With the Vampire**! Ack! \ Me again, **RX** - while I agree that it was decidedly odd to cast Cruise in the role, he could have done a lot worse with it. What was truly appalling about Interview was this line, from Louis, toward the beginning: “My wife had died in childbirth…” HELLO!?!?! Anne Rice wrote this screenplay her very own self, so there’s just no excuse. That one line completely diminished the entire character of Louis, who in the book blames himself for the death of his saintly brother, and assumes that he is therefore already doomed to hell. To replace that with something as plebian as a dead wife was inexcusable. \ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/42 "2004-05-28T04:12:23Z")
**Denise Richards** in The World Is Not Enough. Single-handedly she ruined this film. In fact, she sucks in everything she does. She must be pretty proficient in bj’s or something to stay in hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/43 "2004-05-28T04:19:49Z")
Speaking of Janeane Garofalo… Uma Thurman as the “good looking one” and Janeane as the “plain one” in _The Truth About Cats and Dogs_. I kept going “whaaat?” thru the whole movie. As to recent movies, Roger Ebert thought casting Anthony Hopkins in _The Human Stain_, given the “secret” needed to make the film work, was particularly horrible. I agree. Note that John Wayne, Cruise, Reeves, DiCaprio, etc. are 1-dimensional actors. Any character that involves playing someone other than themselves is almost always a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/44 "2004-05-28T04:30:16Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > Also, it’s widely reported that Kevin Smith wished he’d casted Janeane Garofalo as the lead in “Dogma.” He’s right, he should’ve. > [@ReleasetheMeat](#): > > Snape shouldnt be a senior citizen. If he was 15 years younger he would have been perfect for the part but now hes too old and jolly. That will be the first, last and only time Alan Rickman is described as “jolly.” I’ll go a step further than **Legolamb** and say that Costner is horribly, terribly miscast in any film that requires him to do an accent. ---
**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 28, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/45 "2004-05-28T12:06:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > William Shatner as _anything._ Including Twilight Zone and the Big Giant Head? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/46 "2004-05-28T15:19:59Z")
Ted McGinley in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (fill in the blank, they all work). In Married with Children, at least Steve would listen and argue back with Al. As Jefferson, Ted just nodded and grinned and could have been replaced with a parrot, which would have been just as nice to look at and much funnier (I LOL when they scratch their heads with their feet!) ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/47 "2004-05-28T15:59:06Z")
> [@Hey you!](#): > > **Red Dragon:** Ed Norton as Will Graham (mind you, I like Ed, a lot). Way too young, played way too cool (not “hip” cool, but “controlled” cool). > > This was a role for Willem Dafoe if ever there was one. Too bad they couldn’t bring back William Petersen, who played Graham in “Manhunter”. As for the OP, I would say George Clooney was all wrong as Batman in “Batman and Robin”. Of course it was a bad movie as a whole anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/48 "2004-05-28T16:01:13Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > **Denise Richards** in The World Is Not Enough. Single-handedly she ruined this film. In fact, she sucks in everything she does. She must be pretty proficient in bj’s or something to stay in hollywood. True, but see her in **Drop Dead Gorgeous** —she plays a cold, calculating, dim bitch, and she’s very good. (Not the kind of praise she’d like to hear, perhaps.) And I think the mediocre-ness of **The World Is Not Enough** can’t be laid solely at Denise Richards’ door. Anyway … Worst casting decisions I can think of: - Everyone in the last 2 Star Wars movies except Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee. - Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman. - George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman. - Winona Ryder in **Alien: Resurrection**. - Keanu Reeves in pretty much anything. - Brad Pitt in **The Devil’s Own** - Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/49 "2004-05-28T18:10:49Z")
I submit that Harrison Ford was a better Jack Ryan than Alec Baldwin or (shudder) Ben Affleck. Now on to the mis-casting: Richard Harris as Dumbledore in the _Harry Potter_ movies - isn’t the good Prof supposed to have a powerful presence? Harris was too obviously feeble - I’m afraid I wasn’t surprised by the news of his death. Saddened, yes, but surprised? Roger Moore as James Bond - yeah, the first couple’a movies were ok, but they just got worse and worse until finally they got rid of “Gram’pa Bond” a good 10 years too late. Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod (_Highlander_). I had no idea Scots Highlanders often had Belgian accents. Sean Connery as Ramirez (_Highlander_). - the Egyptian Spaniard who was the only Scot in a movie that places half its action in the Scottish Highlands! Michael Keaton as Mr Bat-Mom. Batman should never have to look up at the Joker when they’re standing face-to-face. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/50 "2004-05-28T19:08:22Z")
Madonna as anyone in anything.\* No one should ever put that woman on the big screen, unless they can find a way to resurrect Lee Strasbourg, and then construct an Acting Boot Camp where Madonna can be imprisoned for the next 4 years (with Sargeant Strasbourg). \*[sup]Except for _Desperately Seeking Susan_ and _Evita_. Madonna playing Madonna is pure gold. [Proof](http://www.madonnalicious.com/images/1997/gg13.jpg) [/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/51 "2004-05-28T19:21:21Z")
> [@Kilt-wearin' man](#): > > Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod (_Highlander_). I had no idea Scots Highlanders often had Belgian accents. “You talk funny, Nash. Where’re you from?” “Lots of different places.” Do not dare to impugn the perfection that is _Highlander_, you mortal cad. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/52 "2004-05-28T20:57:44Z")
> [@Tiramisu](#): > > Max Von Sydow as Evil Commandant Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told! > > Sorry, couldn’t resist. Yeah, didn’t he also play the Evil Commandant older priest in “The Exorcist”? Okay, here’s mine. I swear I read something a while back about a new “Superman” movie being made and they cast Beyonce as Lois Lane. WTF??? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/53 "2004-05-28T21:07:13Z")
> [@Kilt-wearin' man](#): > > Sean Connery as Ramirez (_Highlander_). - the Egyptian Spaniard who was the only Scot in a movie that places half its action in the Scottish Highlands! Of all the roles where Sean’s Scottish accent (if you can call it that) seemed horribly out of place, I think this one takes the cake. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/54 "2004-05-28T23:36:31Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > [I defecate you not](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051435/). > > It was his [big screen debut](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051435/trivia) according to the IMDB. Wow. Just wow. Remind me never to see that. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/55 "2004-05-29T00:20:05Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > William Shatner as _anything._ Oh, come on. Shatner was the perfect Captain Kirk! I can’t imagine anyone else in that role. Now, _T.J. Hooker_? That’s another story entirely… But I also thought he was perfectly cast as the narrator of _Rescue…911_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/56 "2004-08-21T04:35:22Z")
No one has mentioned Hilary Duff as Cinderella? in Cinderella Story. The “ugly” one. Right… ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/57 "2004-08-21T05:05:44Z")
I’ve always thought that Tarantino made a huge mistake casting himself as Jimmy in _Pulp Fiction_. Steve Buscemi would have been much better in that part. I might have been able to take his outrage and distress seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/58 "2004-08-21T05:25:36Z")
I am in agreement with Tom Cruise as Lestat and the miscasting in _The Truth About Cats and Dogs_. I don’t watch very many movies, though, so I usually don’t notice bad miscasting. I loved _Dangerous Liaisons_, but what in the world was Keanu Reeves doing in that movie? He looked purty in the costumes, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/59 "2004-08-21T15:24:35Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > [The Critic] > > Hath not a dude eyes? > If you prick us, do we not get bummed? > If you poison us, do we not blow chunks? > > [/The Critic] LMAO, dude!! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379/60 "2004-08-21T16:31:16Z")
> [@ReleaseTheMeat](#): > > The casting in Harry Potter has ruined the movies for me. > The kids are perfect but the adults are all so old! Snape shouldnt be a senior citizen. If he was 15 years younger he would have been perfect for the part but now hes too old and jolly. > And when I saw Sirius ands then Lupin it was devestating. I though Sirius and Lupin where perfect (Rickman is old for Snape) - but I am going on 40 with a six year old boy - so for me the idea the Harry’s parents friends (and Snape) would be in their 40s (although Rickman is older than that - and I think looks it) is believable and perfectly cast. This site [http://www.hp-lexicon.org/timelines/timeline\_main2.html#1900-2000](http://www.hp-lexicon.org/timelines/timeline_main2.html#1900-2000) gives the birthdates of James and Lilly Potter and the rest of their classmates as 1959-1960 - twenty years older than Harry. Which means that when Harry was eleven, Snape would have been 31 - 33. By the time the third movie occurs, they would be 34 or 36. Thewlis, who plays Lupin is 41 - within the margin of error for casting. Oldman is 46 - a little old, but then Black did just spend 13 years in a horror of a prison - he can be expected to look a little older than he is. Now Rickman (and Neeson) in Love Actually bothered me. They either should have cast younger men - or made the hot young things after them older. It wasn’t believable to me that a girl who looked like Rickman’s secretary would make a pass at a guy who looked like Rickman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-casting-choices/247379.md?page=4)