# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/101 "2013-04-09T13:18:51Z")
All this _X-Men_ talk, and no one says how perfect both Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellan as Magneto were? Or maybe someone did and I missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/102 "2013-04-09T13:22:35Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Of course, Sian Phillips as the original Livia in **I Claudius** is the gold standard for best cast actress. Pretty well everyone in _I Claudius_ was perfectly cast. Particularly Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Patrick Stewart as Sejanus and John Hurt as Caligula. I can’t watch ST:NG without thinking to myself “Sejanus … in Space!” 😃 Some say Brian Blessed was miscast as Augustus, but I think he works 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:** [April 9, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/103 "2013-04-09T13:25:57Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > All this _X-Men_ talk, and no one says how perfect both Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellan as Magneto were? And, really, Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/104 "2013-04-09T13:39:14Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > For recent casting missteps, I gotta say: James Franco in “Oz.” He wasn’t really “The Wizard,” just…James Franco. In an old-timey suit. The point of the film, though, is that Oz really _isn’t_ the wizard, he’s just some guy, and I thought Franco pulled that off pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/105 "2013-04-09T13:44:28Z")
An easy place to find casting mistakes is in Shakespeare. Jason Robards may have been one of America’s finest actors, but in 1970’s _Julius Caesar_ he was badly miscast as Brutus. Other actors shine with the material. Watch Whedon’s _Much Ado_ next month and see how perfect Nathan Fillion is as Dogberry. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/106 "2013-04-09T14:52:42Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think that was a script problem, not an acting problem. As **Mika** said when the movie came out, Superman is not a deadbeat dad. And, even powerless, he’d have put up a better fight against those three thugs. Anyway, the worst casting in that movie was the yougn woman who played Lois. Kate Bosworth, I think. She simply looked far too young to be an award-winning reporter AND mother. She looked about fourteen, tell you the truth. I agree with you about the script, but my main problem with Routh’s performance wasn’t his looks or even, his acting, per se - it was his voice. Routh’s voice, through no fault of his own, is too high and far to nasal for the role of Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/107 "2013-04-09T15:39:44Z")
Lord of the Rings has both ends covered. The casting was marvelous. Everyone was damn near what I had envisioned them as while reading the books, with two exceptions. Hugo Weaving as Elrond- Great actor but the timing was bad. He had just come off of being Agent Smith in The Matrix and I couldn’t get past that. Elijah Wood as Frodo - no acting skills, just pretty-boy looks and he butchered the role. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/108 "2013-04-09T15:46:09Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > All this _X-Men_ talk, and no one says how perfect both Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellan as Magneto were? > > Or maybe someone did and I missed it. I actually found Ian McKellan a little bit less impressive as Magneto. I think he definitely got the acting down, and I know comic book physiques are grossly exaggerated, but I would have liked to have seen a slightly younger super-buffed 60 year old play him ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/109 "2013-04-09T16:35:56Z")
Why does Magneto need to be buff? I mean, if you can lift an airplane with the power of your mind, why the hell do you need muscles? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/110 "2013-04-09T16:45:38Z")
To keep your brain from squirting out your ears from the strain? 😛 ---
**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:** [April 9, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/111 "2013-04-09T17:14:19Z")
The entire cast of _Fargo_. They were all born for those roles, from Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare to Frances McDormand and William H. Macy. Like most of their work it’s a testament to the Coen Brothers’ skill at casting the right people and writing characters to those actors’ strengths and /or natural personalities. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/112 "2013-04-09T17:21:53Z")
I second Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Worst? Shaq as Dr. John Henry Irons/Steel. Notwithstanding the movie being a stinker, no one should be Steel but Avery Brooks. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/113 "2013-04-09T17:25:23Z")
Patrick Warburton as The Tick in the shortlived, eponymous TV series. Like Ron Perlman for Hellboy, I can’t imagine anyone else in that role. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/114 "2013-04-09T17:36:47Z")
James Franco in Oz. Stunk out the movie, but I don’t think it was his fault. He’s not a bad actor IMO. He just looks too creepy for that role. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/115 "2013-04-09T17:41:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My nom for worst casting was Molly Ringwald as Fran Goldsmith in “The Stand” mini-series. The rest of the casting was surprisingly strong - Gary Sinise as Stuart Redman, Ossie Davis as the Judge, Ruby Dee as Mother Abigail, Ray Walston as Glen Bateman, Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg - the list goes on. The glaring exception was Molly - she wasn’t right as Fran, and she wasn’t right as Stu’s lover, and she wasn’t right as one of the leaders of the new community. You misspelled “Laura San Giacomo”, but that’s all right - hers was a minor character anyway. But she turned in possibly the absolute worst recreation of a character in TV history - it’s as if she read the book, said “I don’t want to do this Nadine Cross, I want to do the opposite of her”… and did it. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/116 "2013-04-09T17:52:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > People say this all the time, but whatever character Heath Ledger was playing was _not_ the Joker. Jack Nicholson was and still is the best. Sorry, No. Jack Nicholson wasn’t the Joker, he was simply Jack Nicholson in a stupid costume doing stupid jokes. Voice wise, there is only one true Joker. Mark Hamill. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_In\_This\_Film](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_In\_This\_Film](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Not_Appearing_In_This_Film)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/117 "2013-04-09T17:52:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, I much preferred BrianCox as Lektor (the way they spelled it then) in Michael Mann’s _Manhunter_, before Hopkins ever played the role. William Peterson did a great job as Will Graham in that film as well. The quality of the first two films is so far above all the Cult of Hannibal shite that has come out since. What a pity that Thomas Harris couldn’t stop while he was ahead. HBO’s _Rome_ had many excellent casting choices, particularly James Purefoy as Mark Antony, Tobias Menzies as Brutus, and David Bamber as Cicero. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/118 "2013-04-09T17:56:11Z")
Rik Mayall as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder II. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/119 "2013-04-09T18:04:58Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m willing to give Christensen a certain amount of slack on this one, since he was having to act under the direction of George Lucas, who is pretty well-known to provide his (flesh and blood) actors with very little in the way of useful direction. > > I’m not sure that any other actor of Christensen’s age and experience level could have done much better. Before being cast as Anakin, Christensen had gotten quite a bit of acclaim (including a Golden Globe nomination) for _My Life as a House_, and he later got several award nominations for _Broken Glass_. He’s not a bad actor, but the Star Wars movies were not going to be where he got the direction to shine – for that matter, the Prequel Trilogy was filled with actors who were well-regarded for their other work, but most of them turned in fairly wooden performances in these movies. Casting mistakes, by definition, are the fault of the director, not the actor, and a miscast actor is not equivalent to a bad actor. In A New Hope he somehow cast actors who could thrive under his bad direction. Given the conflict in Anakin’s character, the right actor could have made it a stellar performance. Lucas didn’t find the right actor. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/120 "2013-04-09T18:28:29Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > The point of the film, though, is that Oz really _isn’t_ the wizard, he’s just some guy, and I thought Franco pulled that off pretty well. Yeah, but there’s a difference between “just some guy” and the (unnamed, in 1939) “Man Behind the Curtain”—you could put John Wayne or Wes Studi or someone else random in the role, and not make an especially good small-time Edwardian circus huckster magician. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139.md?page=7)