# Roles that literally could only have been played by one person **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898 "2015-05-26T19:44:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/1 "2015-05-26T19:44:15Z")
Fairly often in discussions of some movie or show, someone will say “no one else could have played that role”, or words to that effect. Ie, only Bryan Cranston could have played Walter White. Only Hugh Laurie could have played House, etc. I find this to be an odd claim. Sure some actors are brilliant fits for particular roles, but I think it’s usually a bit hyperbolic to claim that literally no other actor could have played the role. There are lots of talented actors in the world. Breaking Bad would have been a DIFFERENT show if the role of Walter White was played by one of twenty or thirty other very talented Hollywood (or stage) actors, but there’s no reason to think that literally no other actor could have made it a successful and memorable show. But there are some cases where there may in fact be literally only one person capable of playing a role (for reasons of talent or logistics or both). Two examples: - **Hugh Jackman** in Les Miserables. Obviously he’s neither the only A-list movie star, nor the only trained and experienced Broadway singer in the world, but he may be the only person who is both. And a movie that prominent, with a budget that big, needed both - **Andre the Giant** in The Princess Bride. There’s a reason he’s called Andre THE Giant. A truly unique physical specimen ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/2 "2015-05-26T19:54:00Z")
Ron Perlman comes to mind, because of his strongly pronounced features. His role in The Name of the Rose was impressive, and he was a delight in Beauty and the Beast and in the Hellboy movies. But…nah, surely there are others who could have brought a similar physical talent to any of these roles. Ultimately, I vote against the premise. Sure, we’re accustomed to certain highly iconic roles, but, in truth, any number of actors could have played Han Solo or Scarlett O’Hara. (But damn few could have played both!) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/3 "2015-05-26T19:54:34Z")
John Malkovich in **Being John Malkovich** ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/4 "2015-05-26T20:01:06Z")
Arnold: Terminator(s) Stallone: Rocky-ator(s), Rambo-ators Danny Devito: Louie De Palma ---
**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:** [May 26, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/5 "2015-05-26T20:04:26Z")
I also challenge the premise. As amazing as some actors or actresses are in their best-known roles, and as hard as it is to imagine someone else taking the part, Hollywood and its overseas equivalents are full of insanely talented people. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > John Malkovich in **Being John Malkovich** I’d read that they approached a number of quirky character actors with the concept, and he’s the one who agreed to participate. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/6 "2015-05-26T20:28:27Z")
I can’t imagine anyone else pulling off what Val Kilmer pulled off as Jim Morrison in “The Doors.” He sang all the parts himself with total believability, and the acting was spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/7 "2015-05-26T20:32:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > - **Andre the Giant** in The Princess Bride. There’s a reason he’s called Andre THE Giant. A truly unique physical specimen The first attempt at filming the book had Arnold playing the Fezzik. By the time they filmed it, Arnold was too big a star but he recommended Andre for the role. Much better choice but there are also several other wrestlers or football players who would have been good in the role. > [@](#): > > I’d read that they approached a number of quirky character actors with the concept, and he’s the one who agreed to participate. Nope, Charlie Kaufman wrote it for John Malkovich and resisted any attempt to make it with anyone else. Malkovitch liked the script but didn’t want to do the movie, Kaufman eventually wore him down. > **[Being John Malkovich (1999) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/trivia/?item=tr2140319)** > > Being John Malkovich (1999) - Charlie Kaufman had no backup actors in mind to play themselves in the title role if John Malkovich couldn't appear in the film, and every time somebody offered to produce the film on the condition that a different actor... ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/8 "2015-05-26T20:38:08Z")
**Unforgiven** - No one alive has Clint Eastwood’s western cred. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/9 "2015-05-26T20:38:21Z")
Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Lecter. It was his work on the character starting with the dentist’s outfit because as he put it, what’s scarier than visiting the dentist and the choices he made in the dialog with Jodie Foster that made him an Best Actor Oscar winner with only 14 minutes of screen time. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/10 "2015-05-26T20:38:28Z")
I disagree on _The Princess Bride_. I think [“Tiny Ron” Taylor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Ron_Taylor) or [Carel Struycken](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carel_Struycken) could have played Fezzik. In an earlier decade, Richard Kiel (Jaws) or Ted Cassidy (Lurch) could have done it. It has been said that John Wayne, Arnold the Barbarian, and Sylvester Stallone made careers out of movies written specifically for them. But some of their most famous roles were not written for them at all. Jeff Bridges played Rooster Cogburn almost as well as the Duke. Conan was created long before Arnold was born. Stallone only got the role of Rambo after half a dozen other actors turned it down. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/11 "2015-05-26T20:40:48Z")
I’m pretty sure Peter Dinklage is the only actor who could pull off Tyrion Lannister. He has both the sense of humor and gravitas the role needs. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/12 "2015-05-26T20:42:18Z")
Undoubtedly there are other actors who could pull it off, but I can’t think of anyone else besides Ben Kingsley who could play Mohandas Gandhi. I don’t think she’s done it in a movie, but onstage Kate Mulgrew played Katherine Hepburn, and I can’t see anyone else being so physically perfect for the part. I never saw him in it, but David Carradine played the Incan emperor Atahuallpa in _The Royal Hunt of the Sun_ on Broadway. He looks absolutely perfect for the part, and is the best actor for it, I think. (For the filmed version, Christopher Plummer got the part, and he looks completely _wrong_ in the part). One other one I have to list – when he was an undergrad, the MIT Musical Theater Guild got Erland van Lidthe de Jeude to come out of “retirement” to play Miles Gloriosus in _A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum_. Erland was the best Miles Gloriosus _EVER_. He’s the guy who played Grossberger in _Stir Crazy_ and Terror in _The Wanderers_. Although he shaved his head for all his film roles, Erland wasn’t bald, and he sported a beard for his role as Miles. All those lines that seem like empty boasting for any other actor (“Stand Back! I take large steps!”) – weren’t for him. (Imagine Andre the Giant in the role – but an Andre the Giant who could sing). When our Pseudolus ran around the stage at the end and Erland held out an arm, Pseudolus could do pull-ups on that arm and not budge Erland an iota. > **[Erland Van Lidth De Jeude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erland_Van_Lidth_De_Jeude)** > > Erland Philip Peter Van Lidth De Jeude (June 3, 1953 – September 23, 1987) was a Dutch-American actor, opera singer, and amateur wrestler. > Van Lidth De Jeude was born in Hilversum, the Netherlands, and came to the United States with his family in 1958, where they resided in Orange, New Jersey (until 1960), then Stamford, Connecticut (1960–1962), Ridgefield, Connecticut (1962–1970) where he attended Ridgefield High School,\[citation needed\] and moved to Mont Vernon, New Hampshire in 1970 where ... ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/13 "2015-05-26T20:43:40Z")
The character of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is based on the Ultimate Nick Fury character, whose physical appearance and mannerisms are based on Samuel L. Jackson – who plays Nick Fury in the MCU. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/14 "2015-05-26T20:47:21Z")
I have to add Jack Nicholsen in The Shining. He was perfection first as the jumpy on-the-wagon alcoholic, then sinking into a terrifying madness. I just can’t imagine anyone else doing the role as well. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/15 "2015-05-26T20:48:13Z")
Not to mention the required (lack of) height. Although I have a sister who gets very upset in discussions about the TV show version of _Game of Thrones_ because she thinks Peter Dinklage isn’t ugly/crippled enough for Tyrion Lannister. I keep pointing out that no actor will consent to getting his nose sawed off for a role. Ah, relatives… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/16 "2015-05-26T20:50:01Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Lecter. I can see Hugo Weaving being just as good, if not better. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/17 "2015-05-26T20:51:15Z")
It’s my understanding that when David Benioff and Dan Weiss (with help from George R.R. Martin) were casting Game of Thrones, Peter Dinklage was the one and only person that they considered to play Tyrion Lannister…and given his performance I think there may literally be nobody else who could have filled the role. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/18 "2015-05-26T20:58:51Z")
Wow, a lot of people in this thread clearly did not actually read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/19 "2015-05-26T20:59:03Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > **Unforgiven** - No one alive has Clint Eastwood’s western cred. _Unforgiven_ was Eastwood passing a harsh judgement on The Man With No Name. If it had been Dustin Hoffman passing judgement on Little Big Man, or Terence Hill passing judgement on Trinity, it would have been a vastly different movie, but I think it could have worked. Now that I think about it, Robert Duvall or Sam Elliot could have played it as written, and made it work. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898/20 "2015-05-26T20:59:49Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > - **Hugh Jackman** in Les Miserables. Obviously he’s neither the only A-list movie star, nor the only trained and experienced Broadway singer in the world, but he may be the only person who is both. And a movie that prominent, with a budget that big, needed both I’ll grant that he sung better than Russell Crowe did…but they still would have done better to get a lesser known actor. Or just forego being a musical. The movie made me want to cringe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-literally-could-only-have-been-played-by-one-person/720898.md?page=2)