# The best casted role TV or film or biggest casting mistake **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2013, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139 "2013-04-08T07:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/241 "2013-08-21T16:02:37Z")
Good: Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. A whimsical smartass. Loved it. Ah-nuld in Predator. Maybe the manliest movie ever, and he was the centerpiece. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 Bad: Adrien Brody in Predators. Giving an actor a personal trainer and pumping him full of HGH doesn’t make him a badass, Hollywood. Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3. Eddie Brock was a brick shithouse in the comics. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/242 "2013-08-21T17:26:49Z")
Bad: Matthew Broderick in _Godzilla_. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/243 "2013-08-21T18:49:38Z")
Good: Sean Connery as Captain Ramius in The Hunt for Red October _(and because I rewatched it a few days ago)_ Wesley Snipes as Blade. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/244 "2013-08-21T19:24:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Bad: Matthew Broderick in _Godzilla_. Yeah, I kept waiting for him for climb on top of a float and sing Danke Schoen ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/245 "2013-08-21T19:42:12Z")
Good: Peter Stormare as Satan in Constantine. Is there a better Satan? I can’t think of one. Bad: Ed Norton as Bruce Banner. I don’t get this one at all. (Not that Eric Bana and Mark Ruffalo are any better.) It’s like they’re picking actors at random. I really want to see Guy Pierce or Giovanni Ribisi in that role. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/246 "2013-08-21T20:19:09Z")
John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd as Jake & Elwood Blues. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/247 "2013-08-21T20:27:35Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > _Third Rock from the Sun_ was brilliantly cast, especially Sally (Kristen Johnston), Harry (French Stewart), and Officer Don (Wayne Knight). > > Wayne Knight was also the perfect Newman. And Michael Richards was the perfect Kramer. > > The casting of _Barney Miller_ was inspired. Roles and actors are inseparable. Abe Vigoda _is_ Fish, Jack Soo _is_ Yemana, Max Gael _is_ Wojciehowicz, etc. And none other than James Gregory could play Inspector Luger. Also, James Arness as Matt Dillon. A strong authority figure tempered with a sense of fair play. The perfect John Wayne-esque figure for that genre. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/248 "2013-08-21T20:42:01Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > Michael J Fox vs Eric Stoltz for _Back to the Future_. He was so mis-cast they abandoned five weeks of shooting for Michael. Fox was the first choice for BTTF, but the producers of “Family Ties” wouldn’t make him available. After giving Stoltz up as a lost cause, Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale went back to Gary David Goldberg and worked out an arrangement where Fox would shoot “Family Ties” during the day as usual, then work his nights and weekends on the set of BTTF. This often involved 20 hour workdays for Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/249 "2013-08-21T20:44:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Kevin Costner in just about everything is an abomination. Nonsense. Some good Costner roles off the top of my head: Clark’s dad in Man Of Steel Tin Cup Field Of Dreams Bull Durham The Untouchables Open Range (“Men are gonna get killed here today, Sue, and I’m gonna kill 'em.”) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/250 "2013-08-21T22:10:55Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Nonsense. Some good Costner roles off the top of my head: > > Clark’s dad in Man Of Steel > Tin Cup > Field Of Dreams > Bull Durham > The Untouchables > Open Range (“Men are gonna get killed here today, Sue, and I’m gonna kill 'em.”) As far as I’m concerned, _ **The Untouchables** _ was one of the worst movies of the last 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/251 "2013-08-21T22:38:22Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > _(and because I rewatched it a few days ago)_ Wesley Snipes as Blade. Some muthafuckas always gotta be tryin’ to iceskate uphill. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/252 "2013-08-21T22:42:20Z")
Too late to offer anything original, but I’ll agree for best casting with: James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker Jason Alexander as George Costanza Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon Bryan Cranston as Walter White Sorry if these have already been mentioned (I skimmed the thread), but some more best casting picks from a couple other TV shows: Ed Asner and Ted Knight on _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ Phil Hartman on _NewsRadio_ Richard Mulligan on _Soap_ Donald Glover on _Community_ ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/253 "2013-08-21T23:02:04Z")
Perfect casting: Silence of the Lambs Full Metal Jacket ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/254 "2013-08-21T23:17:24Z")
Patrick Mcgoohan as The Prisoner - amazing energy and he just gets it. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/255 "2013-08-21T23:21:57Z")
and while I’m on a 60s kick … Diana Rigg as Emma Peel: holy SHIT! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/256 "2013-08-21T23:44:18Z")
Best casting - Robert Guillaume as Benson Dubois, first in _Soap_, then in his own show. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/257 "2013-08-22T02:10:32Z")
Desmond Llewelyn as Q: talking down to an omnicompetent superhero as if a small child needed an exasperated schoolteacher to patiently explain the obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/258 "2013-08-22T03:17:49Z")
Bad: Gwyneth Paltrow in “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.” ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/259 "2013-08-22T14:41:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Some muthafuckas always gotta be tryin’ to iceskate uphill. I watched the alternate ending on the DVD _(where Blade defeats a huge blood monster god thingie)_, wow was dropping that ending a good choice. Its a decent and fun movie but on rewatching some of the special effects are really cheap looking. Actually all of the main characters in Blade were pretty good casting choices. On a semi-related side-note I had a drink-snorting moment of surprise when Danny J Jules aka The Cat from Red Dwarf appeared as a vampire/ninja/assassin in Blade 2! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/260 "2013-08-22T14:43:49Z")
I can pretty much just say that; Good Casting: The actor OWNS the role. Bad Casting: “Um, what is my motivation again? What does this character want? Why am I here? Should I be acting?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139.md?page=14)