# Roles/characters that couldn't be played by any other actor/actress **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756 "2020-01-02T01:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/81 "2020-01-14T20:36:35Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Edward Woodward as The Equalizer. Or as Breaker Morant. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/82 "2020-01-14T21:21:05Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > Marlon Brando - Don Vito Corleone (elder) > Robin Williams - Mork from Ork > Humphrey Bogart - Rick Blaine > Anthony Hopkins - Hannibal Lector Mads Mikkelsen gave an excellent, terrifying take on Hannibal - I think I even prefer it. Agreed on the others though. > [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Before we retire Tony Stark forever, let’s give Jeffrey Dean Morgan a shot at the character, or even Keanu Reaves. You’d be surprised how many Hollywood actors can credibly play a syphilitic douchebag with addiction issues. I think some other actors could do it, but not Keanu. He never comes across as particularly bright and he’s waaay too nice. > [@commasense](#): > > We haven’t mentioned many women in this thread, so I’ll highlight Audrey Tatou in _Amelie_, one of the most delightful, funny, and charming films I’ve ever seen. It’s one of my all-time favorites (I just happened to watch it again a few night ago) and she is just perfect in the role. > [@bump](#): > > The Han Solo role has to have someone with the _right_ kind of charisma. Not just handsome and rogueish looking, but the right sort of smart-assed wisecracking sang froid. > > Harrison Ford has it, Kurt Russell has it, as evidenced in “Big Trouble in Little China”. Tom Selleck, while possessing the looks and a lot of charm, doesn’t really have that same smart-ass charm. Thomas Magnum wasn’t quite the smart-ass that Solo is- he’s definitely kind of roguish, but not the same kind of rogue. > > Ryan Reynolds could probably do it, if he toned it down a bit- Deadpool is a bit TOO smart-assey Tom Selleck also would have looked really disturbing kissing Carrie Fisher. Harrison Ford was a lot older than her but was believable as a love interest, where Selleck, specially if he’d kept the tache, would have looked like an abuser. Ryan Reynolds do it though, if he weren’t already a different superhero (in a different cinematic universe, but still). > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > On this subject, I know when I heard they’d cast Elijah Wood as Frodo I said to myself, “Wow, that makes perfect sense.” Agreed, he was born for that role. > [@Mijin](#): > > Well, not really. It’s always bothered me that the whole point of sending something humanoid instead of just an overt killbot is to blend in, and yet they chose a body shape that only a handful of humans worldwide have. > (I think the fanwank is that the android skeleton is chunky enough to need a big body – but then we can ask, why not make it look like an obese human?) > > I like Schwarzeneggar, and think his character and imposing figure helped sell the film of course, but I’m not sure if that’s the same thing as saying that he’s perfect for that role. > It’s not hard to think of movies that would have sold better with Arnie at the helm, but made less sense. My fanwank for it is that it was machines deciding who would blend in, and they didn’t really understand humans well. Another Marvel actor who absolutely nailed the role was Chris Hemsworth as Thor. I expect some other actors could do it in a completely different way, but his version is now the one to beat. Tom Hiddleston initially auditioned for Thor and it’s really hard to imagine him in that role. ---
**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 14, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/83 "2020-01-14T23:32:41Z")
> [@HyacinthBucket](#): > > like the proverbial glove to the point of where I can never see anyone else in that role - Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine Well, okay, but _try_ picturing Kate Mulgrew. Yes, I know you’re still picturing Katharine Hepburn. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/84 "2020-01-15T15:20:08Z")
William Shatner as The Big Giant Head. Robin Williams in any role he played ever. That man was an acting genius in both comedy and drama. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/85 "2020-01-15T15:33:53Z")
None, really none. While there are definitely wrong actors for roles, separating the character from the actor playing it is almost impossible. RDJ is a good Iron Man because he did it well, but we don’t know what the movie would be with someone else doing it, maybe Idris Elba would’ve crushed it and we’d say “I can’t see anyone other than Idris Elba playing Iron Man, not even RDJ, c’mon, he’d be good, but no Elba good.” RDJ is very good at being RDJ in Iron Man, but we simply cannot know what Iron Man would have been with someone else if everything was the same; there is no control group. There is no Piccard that isn’t Stewart, even the actor who play young Piccard play young Stewart, not young Piccard out of the blue. ---
**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 15, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/86 "2020-01-15T16:22:07Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > None, really none. While there are definitely wrong actors for roles, separating the character from the actor playing it is almost impossible. RDJ is a good Iron Man because he did it well, but we don’t know what the movie would be with someone else doing it, maybe Idris Elba would’ve crushed it and we’d say “I can’t see anyone other than Idris Elba playing Iron Man, not even RDJ, c’mon, he’d be good, but no Elba good.” RDJ is very good at being RDJ in Iron Man, but we simply cannot know what Iron Man would have been with someone else if everything was the same; there is no control group. Heh. The closest thing to it, though, may be this: picture a movie star playing a cocky rich guy who talks women into bed in between casually running the worldwide company he inherited from his celebrity CEO father. Okay, now picture him taking a while to get the hang of a powered exoskeleton before eventually kicking ass with it. And now picture him iconically gesture-working hologram-controls for some futuristic-looking computer display. Now picture him trying his hand at being a racecar driver. Now picture him reacting to news of an alien invasion. Now picture him smugly talking down to various military officers. Now picture him tinkering with robot drones and doing astronaut stuff. And so on. That entire audition is pretty much just “Tom Cruise movies”, right? ---
**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:** [January 15, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/87 "2020-01-15T16:35:50Z")
1980 _Popeye_ I can’t see anyone but Shelley Duval as Olive Oyl. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote. ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/88 "2020-01-21T01:44:08Z")
Sorry, I can only picture Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway. Applying the word “regal” to KM just doesn’t cut it. Whereas Hepburn wears “regal” like a pair of custom-made gloves. She may be her husband’s prisoner, but she’s still every inch a queen and never lets you forget it. (Quoting post 81) ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/89 "2020-01-21T02:30:55Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Tom Cruise as Maverick. And if you don’t know he is doing that role again this summer. No. James Garner as Maverick. Brett Maverick. And Jack Carter as his brother Bart. Garner is also the only one to play Jim Rockford. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/90 "2020-01-21T02:57:02Z")
**William Munny** - John Wayne is dead so no one had the grizzled gunslinger cred to pull this role off but Clint Eastwood. Only a few years ago I would have said only Mel Gibson could be Mad Max, but Thomas Hardy crushed it out of the park. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/91 "2020-01-21T05:27:45Z")
It’s hard to judge unless somebody else has actually tried to play the character. I nominate: Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman. I thought Gal Godot was wonderful in the role, but…let’s put it this way: it took them 40 years to put WW on screen again. Hopefully it doesn’t take another 40 years, but if it does, people in 2060 are going to be judging the current WW against Lynda Carter, not Gal Godot. Same goes for Christopher Reeve as Superman. I’m not even sure who plays Superman in the more recent movies. Andrew Garfield? Or was he Spiderman? [looks it up] Whaddaya know? Bryce Larkin, Daniel Shaw, AND Colonel Casey have played Superman in one form or another. (That’s Matt Bomer, Brandon Routh, and Adam Baldwin of _Chuck_ fame). But I digress… Thinking on Tom Selleck as Indy: maybe it would have worked. He would have been a very different Indy, though. The size differential alone would have changed the whole dynamic. Tom Selleck was an imposing 6’4” slab of beefcake. Harrison Ford was more regular-sized. But the more I think about it, the more I can see why he was a finalist for the role. But it went to the right guy in the end. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/92 "2020-01-21T05:57:08Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > people in 2060 are going to be judging the current WW against Lynda Carter, not Gal Godot. You couldn’t be more wrong if you covered yourself in post-its each stamped with “I’m the Wrongest” and led a parade the wrong way down a one-way in Wrong Town. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/93 "2020-01-21T13:20:32Z")
Jerry Lundegaard - William H. Macy (Fargo) This entire movie was basically perfectly cast, but William H. Macy _is_ Jerry Lundegaard. Walter Peck - William Atherton (Ghostbusters) The 80s’ premier “jerk” actor. Also see: Die Hard, Real Genius. Johnny - William Zabka (The Karate Kid) The 80s teenage version of William Atherton. Also see: Just One of the Guys, Back to School, European Vacation. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/94 "2020-01-21T13:53:23Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Tom Cruise as Maverick. And if you don’t know he is doing that role again this summer. James Garner. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/95 "2020-01-21T20:01:34Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Leslie Howard was at least as good, but that was in a non-musical production. > > A related question might be: Who was the best Liza Doolittle? Wendy Hiller, Julie Andrews, or Audrey Hepburn? Marnie Nixon ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756/96 "2020-01-21T20:10:28Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > You couldn’t be more wrong if you covered yourself in post-its each stamped with “I’m the Wrongest” and led a parade the wrong way down a one-way in Wrong Town. Well, I guess I’m wrong, then. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-characters-that-couldnt-be-played-by-any-other-actor-actress/845756.md?page=4)