# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/141 "2013-04-10T00:14:29Z")
Darren Macgavin was every bit Karl Kolchack but only because of his acting style. Another talented actor would have done a good portrayal using a different attack. Now to diverge a bit, what can you say about first/prior choices of talent and the one who finally landed the role? Case 1: Dirty Harry. Originally desinged for John Wayne. The duke turned it down (the violence lacked creativity and romance.) It was next offered to Frank Sinatra who had to decline because of an injured hand (from punching paparazzi?) The roles were also offered to Robert Mitchum and Burt Lancaster. Case 2: The Riddler. Envisioned for actors Tom Hanks, Dan Akroyd and Robin Williams. (Williams would have made a creepy Riddler.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/142 "2013-04-10T00:27:11Z")
Two of the best cast people ever, on a single TV show. Danny Devito as Louie, and Christopher Lloyd as Reverend Jim. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/143 "2013-04-10T00:52:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. He _looks_ more like SH than any actor since Basil Rathbone, and he truly nailed the part, more than anyone I’ve seen before or since. > > It’s surprising to see that he played Freddy in _My Fair Lady_ (singing, no less!) Yes on Sherlock Holmes, but Jeremy Brett’s singing in **My Fair Lady** was dubbed by Bill Shirley. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/144 "2013-04-10T00:57:50Z")
Say what you like about The Flintstones live-action movie, John Goodman was perfectly cast as Fred. Josh Brolin was believable as a younger Kay in Men In Black III. He captured Tommy Lee Jones’ deadpan style perfectly and had the same chemistry with Will Smith that Jones had. Although I couldn’t buy him as 29 years old (Brolin was actually about 44 when it was filmed). ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/145 "2013-04-10T01:24:34Z")
Connie Britton played the wife of the football coach (Billy Bob Thornton) in the movie _Friday Night Lights_. There really wasn’t any chemistry. When casting the TV show, they got Britton to come back, and cast her husband with Kyle Chandler, a soap opera actor. Their chemistry was amazing and they became the heart of the show for five seasons. Chandler went on to star in _two_ Academy Award Best Picture nominees last year, including the winner. (Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.) Soap actor\>Friday Night Lights\>Movie Star. Pretty good progression. Connie Britton has done pretty well for herself, too, as has Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins). Great casting on that show. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/146 "2013-04-10T01:48:49Z")
> [@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. The casting was up and down for me in The Stand. Trashy was awesome, I thought Flagg was off, but the absolute best casting in the whole King 'verse to me is M-O-O-N, and that’s how you spell Tom Cullen. ---
**Author:** ![simply\_cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@simply\_cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simply_cats)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/147 "2013-04-10T01:54:33Z")
Now I need to go back and watch Little Buddha, because when it first came out I remember being knocked out by Keanu Reeves as Siddartha. I hope I feel the same on a re-watch. Completely agree that Molly Ringwald WAS NOT FRAN in The Stand. One of the single best additions to an already established cast is Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler. I agree Jim Parsons is perfectly cast… but for my money, Bialik trumps him. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/148 "2013-04-10T01:55:02Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > When casting the TV show, they got Britton to come back, and cast her husband with Kyle Chandler, a soap opera actor. I think calling Kyle Chandler a soap opera actor is a stretch. According to IMDb, he appeared on two episodes of **One Life to Live** (thirteen years apart, so the second one was probably a clip of the earlier role, not him reprising the part), and by the time **Friday Night Lights** started, he’d already had a couple successful drama series under his belt ( **Early Edition** and **Homefront** ), a role in Peter Jackson’s version of **King Kong** , and an Emmy nomination for **Grey’s Anatomy**. TV actor to roles in two Best Picture nominees is certainly impressive. But it’s not like he went right from the set of **One Life to Live** to **Friday Night Lights**. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/149 "2013-04-10T01:57:00Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Connie Britton played the wife of the football coach (Billy Bob Thornton) in the movie _Friday Night Lights_. There really wasn’t any chemistry. When casting the TV show, they got Britton to come back, and cast her husband with Kyle Chandler, a soap opera actor. Their chemistry was amazing and they became the heart of the show for five seasons. > > Chandler went on to star in _two_ Academy Award Best Picture nominees last year, including the winner. (Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.) > > Soap actor\>Friday Night Lights\>Movie Star. Pretty good progression. > > Connie Britton has done pretty well for herself, too, as has Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins). Great casting on that show. Soap opera actor? Where did you get that? Imdb shows 2 episodes of One Life to Live. Not unusual for a young actor. Before Friday Night Lights he had starred in two of his own prime time TV shows, Homefront and Inside Edition. Dammit ninja’d. Damn dog distracted me. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/150 "2013-04-10T02:13:08Z")
Leslie Howard as Henry Higgins and Wendy Hiller as Eliza Doolittle ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/151 "2013-04-10T02:16:57Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > All this _X-Men_ talk, and no one says how perfect both Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellan as Magneto were? > > Or maybe someone did and I missed it. Nope. I though David Caradine would have made a better Prof X. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/152 "2013-04-10T02:24:42Z")
Tricia Helfer as cylon Model 6 in the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Perfect mix of the sensual, the ruthless, the intellectual… and Edward Olmos and Michael Hogan, also in BSG. They worked so well together - as if made for each other. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/153 "2013-04-10T02:49:28Z")
All good: Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Leslie Nielsen as Lt Frank Drebbin. Tom Waits as Renfield. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. Orson Welles as Cardinal Wolsey. Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia (12th Night, and to be honest this is largely about how I crushed on her and I wanted to include a woman). ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/154 "2013-04-10T03:10:14Z")
Michael J Fox vs Eric Stoltz for _Back to the Future_. He was so mis-cast they abandoned five weeks of shooting for Michael. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/155 "2013-04-10T03:21:31Z")
Buddy as Buddy in Air Bud = BRILLIANT! ---
**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 10, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/156 "2013-04-10T03:21:33Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Worst? Shaq as Dr. John Henry Irons/Steel. > Notwithstanding the movie being a stinker, no one should be Steel but Avery Brooks. I wouldn’t have minded Dennis Haysbert. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/157 "2013-04-10T03:52:44Z")
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape. Robert Hardy as Siegfried Farnon in “All Creatures Great and Small”. Peter Davison as Tristan Farnon in the same. Entire cast of “A Man for All Seasons” (1966) (except John Hurt and Robert Shaw - I just didn’t care for their performances.) Peter O’Toole in “Becket”. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/158 "2013-04-10T04:03:03Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Josh Brolin was believable as a younger Kay in Men In Black III. He captured Tommy Lee Jones’ deadpan style perfectly and had the same chemistry with Will Smith that Jones had. Although I couldn’t buy him as 29 years old (Brolin was actually about 44 when it was filmed). I like how they lampshaded that: “You must have some city miles on you.” ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/159 "2013-04-10T04:49:33Z")
Love some of the replies thus far. One thing I’ve noticed is many folks go with the casting of a character they have known for literature or perhaps the comic book genre. I don’t know why, but I rarely get caught up in the casting of an actor from a written work I’ve already read through. Not sure why, as I always get a mental picture of the person I’m reading about. The only person from the top of my head that I can think of that I hated in a movie after reading the book was Trevor Howard as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind. I hated the choice, and he almost single-handedly ruins the movie for me. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’ve probably stopped watching, but they’ve turned Ecklie into a likable hero since they introduced his daughter with the china-doll face. I stopped watching when Grissom’s character left the show, so you called that. I can’t imagine liking Ecklie, so I’m kind of glad I haven’t seen the softer, more like able Ecklie. > [@standingwave](#): > > and not having read the entire thread so as not to influence my choices: > > . > > The Worst: > > John Wayne as Genghis Khan > Probably the canonical entry in the list but still… I came in to mention this one, since I hadn’t seen it posted yet, but I was happy to see someone snagging it. It is almost a cliche to mention this one, because it is so widely regarded as the absolute worst casting and acting performance, but you just can’t ignore it! > [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > I’d agree with you except for one actor who seems to be consistently miscast in QT movies… Tarantino himself. Tarantino somehow thinks he projects the impression of a badass, when he’s just an image of impotent intensity. Agree completely with QT. He basically ruins every scene he is in, and he’s a terrible actor. He’s also extremely ugly, which doesn’t help. But, his acting skills are so bad they are distracting. I wish his ego would take a break. His movies are always enjoyable and he doesn’t need a speaking cameo role to make his mark. JMHO. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Yep. He did okay in the first two seasons of _Deadwood_, and then became part of season 3’s many problems by turning into a sort of self-parody, capable of nothing but standing around looking pissed off. He carried that flawed portrayal into _Justified_, IMHO, as much as I otherwise like the latter show. Agree with this also. Timothy Olyphant always seems to play a strange, rather thin, and standing strangely erect guy who likes to stare through the other actors. He did the same thing in the fourth Die Hard movie as he did in Deadwood. Very odd, and he’s too skinny and pretty to be a believable badass. > [@montag01](#): > > Worst: > > Edward Furlong as John Connor Ed Furlong is miscast in everything. He’s a freaky looking guy, with no coordination. Something is off with him, because he gives me the jeebies in everything I’ve seen him in. Maybe he’s too effeminate or something, but he runs very oddly, (check him out in American History X), and he’s not believable in other roles (he played opposite Willem Defoe in a Prison movie that I can’t recall. Also a bad John Connor, and e also played a psychopathic reality TV star that was also a bad choice. Another Worst Actor is Nick Cage. He plays the exact same role, with the exact same facial expressions in everything he does. The fact that he has an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas is criminal. If he would only open up his eyes the whole way, maybe we’d have something! I have mentioned her before on these boards, but Lindsay Crouse is the absolute worst actress I’ve ever seen have a prolonged career in Hollywood. If you want to get a glimpse of what I’m talking about, watch House Of Games, an otherwise enjoyable thriller about the dark world of con men. She plays a 2x4 with a butch haircut. I’ll add one TV show for general props. I can’t think of a TV show with more memorable bit characters than Seinfeld. People like Newman, J. Peterman, George’s parents, tha Mandelbaums, Puddy, etc, etc, all fit their parts to perfection. The single casting error of the show (IMO) is Elaine. Julie Louis-Dreyfus was not and is still not funny, and her facial movement habits and other oddities I picked up over watching her forever on reruns have made me hate her. If anyone is interested, I could outline the, for you, but I warn you. I told my wife the things she does that drive me nuts, and now my wife can’t watch Seinfeld reruns. Keep 'em coming ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139/160 "2013-04-10T05:11:17Z")
H. Jon Benjamin’s casting as [Sterling Archer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486217/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) is the finest casting in the history of all mankind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-casted-role-tv-or-film-or-biggest-casting-mistake/655139.md?page=9)