# Re-cast "Blazing Saddles" using today's actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689 "2014-01-25T14:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/21 "2014-01-25T23:12:00Z")
Not what I’d really want, but I could see Hollywood doing it with… Jim Carrey in all the roles. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/22 "2014-01-25T23:17:49Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Not what I’d really want, but I could see Hollywood doing it with… Jim Carrey in all the roles. Don’t say that too loud! If not Carrey, Eddie Murphy would snap that right up! Just to push this envelope over the edge: Billy Crystal! If only Alec Guinness were still alive… Wait! Hologram! Now for the _pièce de résistance_: Peter Sellers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/23 "2014-01-26T01:14:31Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I think you’ve just written an episode of Psych! Bart: Are you the Waco Kid? Or are you just an old drunk? Jim: I’ve heard it both ways. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/24 "2014-01-26T01:27:31Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Don’t say that too loud! If not Carrey, Eddie Murphy would snap that right up! I was thinking Johnny Depp, fresh from having learned nothing playing Tonto. (Speaking of which, IMHO the choice for Bart would be obvious if **Wild Wild West** hadn’t been such a disappointment…) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/25 "2014-01-26T01:31:16Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I was thinking Johnny Depp, fresh from having learned nothing playing Tonto. > > (Speaking of which, IMHO the choice for Bart would be obvious if **Wild Wild West** hadn’t been such a disappointment…) I had to look up who you must have meant. While there, I saw my pick for Lili Von Shtupp: SALMA! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/26 "2014-01-26T01:32:49Z")
Brock Lesnar … Mongo ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/27 "2014-01-26T01:39:14Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Brock Lesnar … Mongo I thought I knew his face until I looked him up. Who is/was that guy with the basic “lantern jaw”? Played villains in Bond flics or a badass in mob movies. Face was almost square. Had that vacant look. Dark hair. Might be dead. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/28 "2014-01-26T01:39:49Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > What current comedic black actors can fill a role thought for Richard Pryor? Maybe Chris Rock? Dave Chapelle? Either Key OR Peele? Definitely not Eddie Murphy… his cred as a Pryor-sized comedian died a few years back, even if he still looks young. > > Maybe go younger and get Donald Glover. Or Jay Pharoah. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/29 "2014-01-26T01:40:51Z")
Orlando Jones… Bart Andy Samberg … Jim Walt Goggins … Taggart Bruce Campbell … Hedley Lamarr Kristin Wiig … Lili Von Shtupp Darell Hammonds … Governor William J. Lepetomane / Indian Chief Will Sasso … Mongo ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/30 "2014-01-26T01:45:00Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Orlando Jones… Bart > Andy Samberg … Jim > Walt Goggins … Taggart > Bruce Campbell … Hedley Lamarr > Kristin Wiig … Lili Von Shtupp > Darell Hammonds … Governor William J. Lepetomane / Indian Chief > Will Sasso … Mongo Nice list! Love Goggins for Taggart. He’d have to be in that movie! ---
**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:** [January 26, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/31 "2014-01-26T01:52:00Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I can’t provide a cite, but in a fairly recent (within the last 10 years or so)interview Mel Brooks said _he_ couldn’t have made Blazing Saddles in the current environment. He further said that the only way he got BS made was his contract with Warner Brothers gave him complete editorial control over the film. Mel Brooks can say that (and I have nothing but respect and admiration for the man), but he’s wrong. There’s nothing in BS that goes beyond what other comedies are doing today. I mean, come on, one of the movie’s initial claims to fame was that it featured characters farting on screen. Critics hate that shit nowadays because its so cliche. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/32 "2014-01-26T02:15:10Z")
There can’t be any other person to play Buddy Bizarre (Dom Deluise) other than Richard Simmons Larry the Cable Guy as Gabby Johnson. How about TBBT Kunal Nayyar as Bart? and Melissa Rauch as Lily Von Schtupp ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/33 "2014-01-26T02:38:05Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > There can’t be any other person to play Buddy Bizarre (Dom Deluise) other than > > Richard Simmons > > Larry the Cable Guy as Gabby Johnson. > > How about TBBT Kunal Nayyar as Bart? > and Melissa Rauch as Lily Von Schtupp You got Buddy Bizarre as far as I can tell. I have yet to see the first episode of TBBT. But thanks for the names. I’m thinking I’ll collect all the names by character and give everybody a shot at picking the cast. After another day or two. Or longer if interest persists. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/34 "2014-01-26T02:50:28Z")
I have looked at every face in [Top 400 Villain Actors - The Art of Playing a Villain](http://www.imdb.com/list/ZGjvAXtewyk/?ref_=nm_rls_4) (an outstanding list as lists go) without finding Mr. Lantern Jaw. He’s a relatively minor actor/stuntman as those things go so his not appearing here is no shock. But he looks almost like a cartoon or comic strip heavy. Joe Palooka character maybe. Oh, well… ---
**Author:** ![amorali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@amorali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amorali)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/35 "2014-01-26T02:56:52Z")
Oh yes Don Cheadle! So Mel Brooks said he had a different actor as “the kid”. The first day they filmed they had the guy upside down in the cell and he started puking green stuff. And Mel thought he was a great method actor, but it turned out he was an alcoholic and got sent to rehab. He called Gene Wilder complaining about it and he said he’d be there the next day. There’s just something about the way he talks to the sheriff the first time that is so bemused and genuine. I don’t know if anyone could replicate that. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/36 "2014-01-26T03:01:46Z")
> [@amorali](#): > > Oh yes Don Cheadle! > > So Mel Brooks said he had a different actor as “the kid”. The first day they filmed they had the guy upside down in the cell and he started puking green stuff. And Mel thought he was a great method actor, but it turned out he was an alcoholic and got sent to rehab. > He called Gene Wilder complaining about it and he said he’d be there the next day. There’s just something about the way he talks to the sheriff the first time that is so bemused and genuine. I don’t know if anyone could replicate that. That’s precisely what that character needs and why Gene is so identified with him. It’s almost a Wally Cox thing. In a similar fashion Alex Karras had that little kid in a giant’s body vibe. Twinkle in the eye. Built like an ox. Just being big and burly doesn’t get there. Almost like Lenny in _Of Mice and Men_. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/37 "2014-01-26T03:22:38Z")
These threads always make me cringe, for exactly what we see above. Actors 20 years past the point where they could convincingly play the character, because people have a vision of them fixed in their head that isn’t keeping up with time. Like the constant “Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania” crap on wrestling sites. Orlando Jones is 45. Sam Jackson is 65(!) Cheadle is 49. None of them young enough for the part of a “Dashing young urbanite”. Cleavon Little was, by contrast, 35 when he played Bart. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/38 "2014-01-26T03:54:31Z")
Remake it using the cast of 12 Years A Slave. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/39 "2014-01-26T04:03:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Brock Lesnar … Mongo > [@Zeldar](#): > > I thought I knew his face until I looked him up. Who is/was that guy with the basic “lantern jaw”? Played villains in Bond flics or a badass in mob movies. Face was almost square. Had that vacant look. Dark hair. Might be dead. > [@Zeldar](#): > > I have looked at every face in [Top 400 Villain Actors - The Art of Playing a Villain](http://www.imdb.com/list/ZGjvAXtewyk/?ref_=nm_rls_4) (an outstanding list as lists go) without finding Mr. Lantern Jaw. He’s a relatively minor actor/stuntman as those things go so his not appearing here is no shock. But he looks almost like a cartoon or comic strip heavy. Joe Palooka character maybe. > > Oh, well… Found the guy! Among the list [Damn, You Ugly](http://www.imdb.com/list/i0z6Ir8co3k/?ref_=nm_rls_2) occupying Position #1 [Robert Z’Dar](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120494/) – but not who I would pick for Mongo, just who I thought Brock Lesnar might be. So, after spending over two hours poking at my memory and looking at dozens of lists at IMDb, I can think about something else. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689/40 "2014-01-26T05:16:45Z")
John Ratzenberger (Cheers) could be one of the Townspeople. (Olson Johnson)? Cloris Leachman could be old lady that that says Up Yours N\*\*\*\*\* and then brings Bart a pie. Charlie Sheen as Heddy (That Hedley) Lamarr Wayne Brady might be able to pull off Bart Colin Mochrie as Howard Johnson Ryan Stiles has Lyle Tim Tebow as Mongo D&R [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cast-blazing-saddles-using-todays-actors/679689.md?page=3)