There was a movie version of Tom Wolfe’s novel Bonfire of the Vanities. I only lasted 20 minutes into it, so all I can say is Tom Hanks and Kim Cattrall were terribly cast, but I suspect everyone else was too. The dog was good.
They not only swung out looking, but chop-blocked the encroachment, traveled the air ball, and high-sticked the icing.
Let’s see…
For a kind of strange, but perfect role, Stephen Fry as the voice of the Guide in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Game of Thrones is pretty much amazingly cast, but Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth stands out to me as being particularly spot-on the books, and does Ian McElhinney as Barristan Selmy.
I can’t think of any atrocious castings that aren’t already on here off the top of my head, but I’ll be back if I do.
and not having read the entire thread so as not to influence my choices:
The Best:
Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove
Just pitch perfect in every way. Can’t imagine anyone else including
Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia
Hard to think of any other actor in that role.
Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory
An amazing comedic actor. Can anyone else play awkward like Parsons?
David Hyde Pierce as Niles Crane on Frasier
Four Emmy’s. 'Nuff said.
Brian Cranston in Breaking Bad
He’s just so amazing in this. He handles the drama as well as the dark comedy.
The Worst:
Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones in The World is Not Enough
What were they thinking? Oh yeah, hot Bond girl. But find someone who is at least semi-credible with the dialog.
Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman
I enjoyed the film but there are plenty of other actresses that would have been more interesting/believable choices. Like Laura San Giacomo, who was in the movie.
Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four
Sue Storm is supposed to be a Nordic blond so instead of casting an actual Nordic blond they take Alba, give her a blond wig, blue contact lenses and die her skin.
John Wayne as Genghis Khan
Probably the canonical entry in the list but still…
Kevin Costner as Robin Hood
C’mon, really? Should have hired the guy from Men in Tights.
This is a bit of an obscure one, but Maria de Medeiros as Anais Nin in Henry & June was perfectly cast.
Save for being about a foot too tall. 
Don’t get me wrong, I think Jackman has been brilliant as Wolverine, but anyone who is/was a fan of the comic books knows that Wolverine is very short (5’ 3", according to the Marvel wiki). Jackman, OTOH, is listed in IMDB as 6’ 2 1/2".
That said, I don’t think height should have been a primary criterion for casting the character, anyway.
H’mmm…interesting thread. First thing that came to my mind was …
Best: John Travolta as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever - I don’t think anyone else could’ve done that part the way he did.
Also best : again, John Travolta as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction. Come to think of it, every Tarantino film is cast perfectly. Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Samuel L. Jackson, Rose McGowan…props to QT for always casting perfectly.
Best:
Alec Guinness as Colonel Nicholson in Bridge on the River Kwai.
Especially when you consider that their first choice for the role was Charles Laughton. He turned down the part because he didn’t fancy camping out in a hot steamy jungle for weeks while filming. I can’t even imagine him in the role, even though he’s one of my favorite actors.
Best - Christopher Reeves as Superman.
Worst - Patrick Swayze as the bad guy in Point Break
You halfway beat me to it, since I was going to post Ving Rhames all by himself in Pulp Fiction: who can radiate authority right after getting ass-raped while ball-gagged? And yet, he does.
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.
Another nominee for best: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in Ironman 1. He got the brashness, obnoxiousness, charm and intelligence down perfectly.
As for bad choice Hayden Christensen as Anakin/Vader. That should be a walkaway win.
Right choice (in terms of worsts), but not for the right reason. Hardcore geeks obsess about the looks of a character, but that’s not what will make or break a movie for the general public. If the character can act the part, we’ll believe it. But what the producers didn’t know was that you have to cast the leads in a superhero movie with actors who can be convincing as the secret identity. Robert Downey Jr. is great as Tony Stark, Tobey Maguire was convincing as Peter Parker, Christoper Reeve worked as Clark Kent. Anybody can put on the suit; Jessica Alba failed because she couldn’t (or the director didn’t tell her to) play an astronaut.
I believed Brandon Routh as Clark Kent. I didn’t believe him as Superman.
The same with Russell Johnson as The Professor (actuaslly Roy Hinckle, I understand) on Gilligan’s Island.
He’d only played a scientist or technician in *This Island Earth, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Space Children, * and two episodes of The Twilight Zone. (He was in It Came from Outer Space, as well, but didm’t play a tech type.)
A recent worst:
Russell Crowe in Les Miserables
I don’t know what the hell they were thinking. He acted it okay, which would have been fine had it not been a musical with 25 years of expectations as to what Javert should sound like. My theory is that he was cast by somebody who personally disliked him (which is a long list I understand) so that whenever the movie was mentioned he’d be mentioned in a sentence that began “if only they hadn’t…”.
After some thought on the matter I have to add Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth. So much so that in every subsequent role he’s had it’s hard not to see that character. Needs to be on the All-Time Top Ten list of villains.
Excellent point. Agreed, but I guess when it’s your movie you can do whatever you want. :dubious:
And I just thought of another best, this one for TV :
John Ritter as Jack Tripper on 3’s Company. No one else could’ve played that role, with all the physical comedy involved. John Ritter was very underrated IMHO.
Trying to find something not yet mentioned…
Ah! The Maltese Falcon – Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre are perfect, absolutely perfect. The only one that wasn’t right was Mary Astor.
The Thin Man – William Powell and Myrna Loy are perfect as Nick and Nora Charles, and would have done a good job in a Hammett and Hellman biopic, if anyone had made one.
Agreed. Tarantino is worse than the worst high school kid as an actor, and hurts the movies. He should take a few lessons in effective cameos from Hitchcock. Even the much-reviled M.Night does a better job of it.