# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/21 "2005-02-03T07:43:37Z")
Daredevil was the first example that sprang to mind too. Horrendous casting. The movie never had a chance. Michael Keaton as Batman was a ridiculous choice, although he was able to turn out a passable performance. Madonna in anything she’s been in since Desperately Seeking Susan. Keanu Reeves is just miscast. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/22 "2005-02-03T07:46:39Z")
Dennis Richards in that James Bond movie. Yeah, a 22-year-old nuclear physicist, or whatever she’s supposed to be. That makes sense. The one that almost happened: Arnold Schwarzenegger in _Terminator_… as Kyle Reese. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/23 "2005-02-03T07:51:59Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Charlton Heston as a Mexican cop in the otherwise flawless _Touch of Evil_. Although without Heston’s insistence Orson Welles would never have re-written and directed the movie, so the result probably would’ve been forgettable and you might not remember the casting at all. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/24 "2005-02-03T08:06:52Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] or if they had to go with an American, Kiefer Sutherland). Ah, no. I believe he’s one of ours! :dubious: Hands off! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/25 "2005-02-03T08:08:15Z")
John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. Edward G. Robinson as Dathan in The Ten Commandments (Billy Crystal’s take on this is a riot). George Clooney as the Dark Knight in Batman & Robin (essentially killed the Batman franchise for a while) ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/26 "2005-02-03T12:31:57Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > George Clooney as the Dark Knight in Batman & Robin (essentially killed the Batman franchise for a while) I think it was already dead with Val Kilmer in the same role; in fact, I thought Clooneyman was brilliant compared to Kilmerman. ---
**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, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/27 "2005-02-03T12:46:57Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > I think it was already dead with Val Kilmer in the same role; in fact, I thought Clooneyman was brilliant compared to Kilmerman. I thought Kilmer was too bland and Clooney too smugly charming, but I put all the blame for both of those travesties (and killing the Batman franchise until recently) on Akiva Goldsman and Joel Schumacher, the writer and director. ---
**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, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/28 "2005-02-03T12:49:12Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > Some “meh” casting… Jack Nicholson as The Joker in Batman (James Woods would have been much better). You know who I think would make a great Joker (although not necessarily in THAT Batman movie)? David Bowie. He’d be perfect as a sexually-androgynous unsettling freak, a la Dark Knight Returns. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/29 "2005-02-03T13:21:33Z")
Pretty much everyone in “The Runaway Jury.” ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/30 "2005-02-03T13:25:39Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > I think it was already dead with Val Kilmer in the same role; in fact, I thought Clooneyman was brilliant compared to Kilmerman. I vehemently disagree. I think the 3rd Batman is a masterpiece, with great actors (Val Kilmer, Tommee Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnel, Jim Carrey, and even a small part by Drew Barrymore) all performing extremely well, really interacting, fitting each other, and following a brilliant, brilliant script. I even loved the music. After seeing the 3rd installment (and loving it), the fourth was a horrible disappointment. I thought just about everybody was miscast, and then the story was so appaling in every way, and so subject to silly visual ideas, that the whole thing comes across like an expensive B-film. Even Chris O’Donnel and Michael Gough come off real bad here, which makes me suspect that the script and the director (maybe Joel lost his passion for it after his row with Val?). I think Arnold Schwarzenegger could possibly have pulled off his badguy part, if only he had used a standin for his voice. Uma Thurman didn’t have a convincing character to work with and/or her acting couldn’t make a difference. On the whole I felt all casting decisions were wrong in that movie, and when I saw the title of this thread Clooney as Batman was the first thing I thought of. Then by coincidence the movie was on TV yesterday night, and it was even worse than I remembered! It’s almost as bad - nay, almost worse! - as Street Fighter (probably the only good thing about that one was the casting 😃 ). \*\*Cool that someone here thought the exact same thing about Clooney’s performance. \*\* Actually there’s a comment on imdb that I agree with, even though I’m less critical than he is of the rest (I never read many comics anyway): “The bright spots of this movie? Jim Carey’s wardrobe, Val Kilmer’s performance, Drew Barrymore’s portrayal as “Sugar,” and the addition of Robin’s character. As I already stated, they were not faithless in the story line of his history and how he came to be with Bruce Wayne. It was the one thing I admired about this movie, that the character development was quite deep and actually very good.” First film I ever saw with Val Kilmer, without knowing it was him, I learnt that way after Top Gun, was Real Genius. Man that was great. Of course I had the perfect age for it when I saw it, long long ago, but I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/31 "2005-02-03T13:44:44Z")
Barbra Striesand in **All Night Long**. This isn’t a knock on Streisand – she has been quite good in other films – but the part required a timid little mousy actress, which Streisand emphatically is not. Walter Pidgeon in **Forbidden Planet**. Pidgeon thought the movie was stupid, and it shows – his performance is phoned in. They needed an actor who was willing to go with the premise. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/32 "2005-02-03T13:52:15Z")
The kid in the second _Mummy_ movie. He wasn’t bad as a kid actor (a pretty low standard), but a little blond boy for those two very dark parents–the mother was half egyptian, even! No wonder our science scores are so low… ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/33 "2005-02-03T14:24:17Z")
Dick van Dyke in _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_. His children and his father had British accents. And he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/34 "2005-02-03T14:48:01Z")
Bonnie Bedelia as Bruce Willis’s wife in “Die Hard.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/35 "2005-02-03T14:53:43Z")
I thought we were making these up. So casting Michael Clarke Duncan as Cole Sear was my suggestion. but in reality Edward G Robinson as Dathan in The Ten Commandments was pretty wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/36 "2005-02-03T14:53:43Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I thought we’d settled this a long time ago. For anyone who came in late… > > _The Conqueror_, John Wayne, Genghis Khan Really? NFW! Ok, I’m leaving the thread laughing. Seriously, what is it with American cinema, anyway? Would it \*kill \* people to use, say a real Arabic/Indian/Chinese/Mexican/what-have-you guy? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/37 "2005-02-03T14:55:26Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Ok, I’m leaving the thread laughing. Seriously, what is it with American cinema, anyway? Would it \*kill \* people to use, say a real Arabic/Indian/Chinese/Mexican/what-have-you guy? Well, back then it probably would. Today, authenticity is getting to be more important but back in those days it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/38 "2005-02-03T15:10:15Z")
Will Smith as Ford Prefect in the upcoming “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” movie. I know it normally isn’t fair to criticize a film’s casting before it’s even come out, but …did they learn nothing from that debacle that was the _the Avengers_ movie? You can’t just insert big-name American stars into a property that is distinctly British and expect it to work in the same way. Try as I might, I can’t offset my very dim expectations from this flick. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/39 "2005-02-03T15:13:04Z")
Mos Def is playing Prefect, not Will Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090/40 "2005-02-03T15:24:54Z")
Michael Keaton as Batman Val Kilmer as Batman George Clooney as Batman The wonder of that franchise is that it even existed as a franchise given that they never once properly casted the lead role. Henry Winkler as Fonzie. That part _so_ should have gone to Mickey Dolenz. Alan Ladd as Jim Bowie in **The Iron Mistress.** Rex Harrison as **Doctor Doolittle.** Eddie Albert as Pod in **The Borrowers.** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-examples-of-miscasting/288090.md?page=3)