# Worst Examples of Miscasting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090 "2005-02-03T01:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/1 "2005-02-03T01:37:55Z")
If Mickey Rooney had been chosen to portray Jesus Christ, some would say that it was not the right part for him to play. Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto and Warner Oland as Charley Chan are some real examples of miscasting, neither one of them being Asians. How many more examples are there? (Thousands??) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/2 "2005-02-03T01:43:41Z")
I thought we’d settled this a long time ago. For anyone who came in late… _The Conqueror_, John Wayne, Genghis Khan ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/3 "2005-02-03T01:58:57Z")
Sorry, I would have something to post here, but I’m still laughing hysterically at the thought of Mickey Rooney playing Jesus Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/4 "2005-02-03T01:59:51Z")
George Clooney as Batman Tom Cruise in nearly everything ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/5 "2005-02-03T02:09:11Z")
These seem like pretty good examples of miscasting. I’d say the worst examples of miscasting would include Anthony Hopkins in _Silence of the Lambs_ or Dustin Hoffman in _Rainman_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/6 "2005-02-03T02:09:26Z")
This might be a bit off topic, but why, in the 50s, were so many older men cast in younger roles. In other words one sees high school students who look as though they’re in their thirties and a great many husbands looking way older than their wives. Sorry I can’t cite a specific example. It just seems rather common in old movies. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/7 "2005-02-03T02:31:30Z")
Jennifer Lopez in that um… Jennifer Lopez movie ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/8 "2005-02-03T02:32:55Z")
Keanu Reeves in any portrayal of a breathing human being. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/9 "2005-02-03T02:34:54Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#): > > This might be a bit off topic, but why, in the 50s, were so many older men cast in younger roles… Sorry I can’t cite a specific example. The entire cast of Grease ??? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/10 "2005-02-03T03:04:36Z")
Sofia Coppola, _Godfather III_. Ben Affleck, c.v. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/11 "2005-02-03T03:13:42Z")
Keanu Reeves as John Constantine (should have been Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Jude Law, or if they had to go with an American, Kiefer Sutherland). Halle Berry as Catwoman. Halle Berry as Storm in the X-Men movies. Ben Affleck as Daredevil. (Notice a trend developing?) ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/12 "2005-02-03T03:20:22Z")
Maybe you should just stick to the comics 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/13 "2005-02-03T03:27:11Z")
Everyone in Daredevil was miscast… Affluck is a given, Oliver Platt ssoooOoo should have been Foggy Nelson, and Jennifer Gerner is not Elektra, and given his lackluster performance I really don’t see what the big deal with Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fiske was supposed to be… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/14 "2005-02-03T03:32:54Z")
How about all those idiot Hollywood starlets as PhD’s, from Tara Reid in _Alone in the Dark_ back through Daryl Hannah in _Roxanne_? ---
**Author:** ![VampyChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5daacb/32.png) [@VampyChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VampyChick)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/15 "2005-02-03T03:33:16Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Keanu Reeves as John Constantine (should have been Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Jude Law, or if they had to go with an American, Kiefer Sutherland). Seconded. A lot. Paul Bettany would have made a \*fantastic \*John Constantine, I think, and not only because he’s blond, British, and in possession of a working brain. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/16 "2005-02-03T03:38:44Z")
Charlton Heston as a Mexican cop in the otherwise flawless _Touch of Evil_. Charlton Heston as Moses in _The Ten Commandments_. Charlton Heston as Ben Hur in _Ben Hur_. Charlton Heston as Marc Antony in _Antony and Cleopatra_, and again in _Julius Caesar_. Charlton Heston as Michelangelo in _The Agony and The Ecstasy_. Charlton Heston as El Cid, in _El Cid_. Charlt… Actually, Charlton Heston as anything but a smug American, really. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/17 "2005-02-03T03:50:05Z")
Kyle MacLachlan - Paul Usul Muad’Dib Atreides ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/18 "2005-02-03T04:20:16Z")
Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner as Londoners in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/19 "2005-02-03T05:14:13Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Everyone in Daredevil was miscast… Affluck is a given, Oliver Platt ssoooOoo should have been Foggy Nelson, and Jennifer Gerner is not Elektra, and given his lackluster performance I really don’t see what the big deal with Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fiske was supposed to be… Personally, I thought Jon Favreau as Foggy was the best casting choice in the movie. I genuinely enjoyed every scene he appeared in, and I liked how he made us feel how much he cared about Matt, and what a loyal friend he was to him. I thought Joey Pants was an interesting pick for Ben Urich, and would have liked to see more of him as well. Also, Colin Farrell was good fun as Bullseye, but his “look” was absolutely horrible. He was having a good time and I liked his take on the character, but I cringed every time we had to look at his target-carved chrome-dome. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/20 "2005-02-03T07:06:02Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > If Mickey Rooney had been chosen to portray Jesus Christ, some would say that it was not the right part for him to play. > Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto and Warner Oland as Charley Chan are some real examples of miscasting, neither one of them being Asians. > How many more examples are there? (Thousands??) There’s also the not Asian Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffanys… although, for some reason I don’t mind the not East Indian Peter Sellers playing Hrundi V. Bakshi in The Party. Some “meh” casting… Jack Nicholson as The Joker in Batman (James Woods would have been much better). On the other hand Nicholson would have made a waaaaay better Kurtz than fatso Brando in Apocalypse Now. Sign me up as yet another that absolutely hates the idea of Keanu Reeves playing John Constantine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090.md?page=2)