What's your idea of the best and worst casting of a movie or tv character?

[Swede]

I think the casting of the Dude,Walter and Donny for the Big Lebowski could not have been better.

The worst,I'm gonna have to think on that a spell.

[rcrush]

1. Jake Gyllenhall for the Prince of Persia?

[NewJeffCT]

2. Replacing Robert Duvall with George Hamilton in Godfather 3

And, casting Sofia Coppola in the movie as well.

[Auggie]

11. +1 on Sofia Coppola

Hamilton had a small enough part that his presence never bothered me. Sofia Coppola made the movie much, much worse.

[LynneSin]

69. I saw that movie opening weekend - the theater stood and applauded when she was killed

But she is a talented director

[pokerfan]

42. Robert Duvall as Gus McCrae

in Lonesome Dove. Genius.

[jobycom]

50. Possibly best TV performance ever. nt

[Rob H.]

3. Best: Sean Penn as Jimmy Markum in 'Mystic River'

I read the book before I saw the movie and Sean Penn completely nailed that character.

Worst: Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. I know Reeves isn't exactly the greatest actor but he was just laughably bad, even for him.

Edit: Oops, spelling.

[Withywindle]

9. Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker was pretty bad, I agree

But not quite as bad as Keanu Reeves as, ahem, "John Constantine."


Has he been watchable in anything since the Bill & Ted movies? Those were the last ones I liked.

[Ahpook]

29. Anything Keanu portrays is fairly terrible:)

Lucky he has that pretty face. He always got carried? :)

[Withywindle]

31. He's not even that pretty, really.

I can think of a gajillion male actors I find more attractive. (most of them a little bit off-beat, but that's what "sexy" is - it is NOT the same thing as model-pretty)

I don't hate him or anything. I just have no idea how he got to be such a big-budget star.

[Ahpook]

38. I don't hate him

He is a really bad actor, though:)

I could almost say the same about Cruise, but he did well in a couple movies. The scene in Born on the Fourth of July where he flips out on his parents was very well done.

[MrScorpio]

15. I didn't this before I posted my own

Yeah, Keanu SUCKED!

[ironflange]

4. Best: Meryl Streep or Johnny Depp in anything

Worst: Will Ferrell in anything

[Orrex]

5. Best casting idea at the time? Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

Worst casting idea in retrospect? Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

:puke:

[Bucky]

35. Doesn't help that the roll of Batman was miscast in the same movie

Of course the worst "casting" choice was the director. He did a GREAT job on set design and then forgot to work a plot into it. Maybe if the big showdown in the movie had involved something other than walking up a flight of stairs the actors woulda had something more to work with.

[Orrex]

37. Amen to all of that, and I'll add Robert Wuhl to the list of complaints.

For that matter, Pat Hingle was a terrible choice for Commissioner Gordon, even though he's a fine character actor.

AFAIC, Burton's had two good films in his career, maybe three. He's the most over-praised hack in the business.

[gmoney]

66. Robert Wuhl is abhorrent in general

"Arli$$" is quite possibly the worst thing to EVER air on television. Even the occasional nudity didn't redeem it.

[AllenVanAllen]

43. You got that right.

I would have loved to see Joker played by Brad Dourif






Although Alex Ross painted a cool take on the Nicholson Joker for the comic.

[ThomCat]

79. I would have loved to have seen Dourif given a chance as the Joker.

He would have been an Amazing Joker. :)

[graywarrior]

6. Best: Alan Rickman as Snape (of course)

Worst: Tom Cruise as Lestat

[unabelladonna]

12. i went crazy with that...

but it wasn't as bad as i expected.

[GoCubsGo]

73. The "Harry Potter" series has some of the best casting in general

The young woman they got to play Luna Lovejoy was also a really good choice.

[Withywindle]

7. Best: Ian McKellen as Gandalf

Worst: John Wayne as Genghis Khan.

[wickerwoman]

24. Ouch.

From the same category: Charlton Heston goes Mexican for Touch of Evil.

Also, Charlton Heston as Henry VIII in The Prince and the Pauper.

Best would probably be Russell Crowe in L.A. Confidential or Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List or Brad Dourif in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

[Withywindle]

40. Charlton Heston in pretty much anything really.

Except 'Omega Man' and 'Planet of the Apes.'



(To his credit, even though he was a wingnut in his later years, he did march on picket lines for civil rights in the early 60s. I'll give him that. I won't argue his case as a great actor, though, 'cause he wasn't.)

[ironflange]

45. He was good in "Soylent Green"

It's PEOPLE!!

[pokerfan]

33. True

But Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen could have switched roles and they still would have been awesome.

[Withywindle]

36. Agreed to a point.

And the one thing I will never EVER forgive Peter Jackson for is cutting Lee out of the film that ultimately racked up the Oscar. (I'd take that whole scene of Saruman on the tower over however long it was of that excruciating fucking CGI bit of Legolas on the oliphaunt...WEAK!)

But I'm really not convinced that Lee could have done the early parts: the cuddly, friendly, pipeweed-smoking hobbit-friend wizard bits. He's just too regal.

[Withywindle]

41. Also:Christopher Lee's BEST ROLE EVER?

No, not Dracula.



Lord Summerisle in the original Wicker Man. Lawd yes.

[soleiri]

8. Worst, Stephen Baldwin in anything

But especially in The Usual Suspects.

Movie-ruiner.


Best: The Lord of the Rings cast.

[Mad_Dem_X]

60. I liked him in The Usual Suspects.

But, of course, I love just about everything in that movie, so... :shrug:

[Auggie]

10. Worst: Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker

Best: Ed Asner as Lou Grant

[nytemare]

17. I actually think Jake Lloyd was the worst casting for that role.

I was not impressed with Christensen, but Lloyd was awful. I don't care that he was a kid, there are plenty of kids who can act.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

13. Worst - Tom Hanks in Bonfire of the Vanities

That part clearly should have been Willaim Hurt. Melanie Griffith was also a terrible choice.

2nd worst - Kevin Costner as Robin Hood. I read that on day 2 they told him to drop any accent attempt. Speaking of BAD, I have to agree with the poster above who mentioned Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker. Unfortunately, they let him continue with the most bizarre pseudo English accent I have ever heard.

I thought the best casting I have seen in a long long time was the casting done for the last Star Trek. All the new guys almost perfectly captured the essence of the their characters. It was really well done!

[MrScorpio]

14. Worst: Keanu in Dracula

Best: Jean Reno as Leon the Professional

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Keanu in anything

Cute but not a lot of acting talent.

[BlueMTexpat]

68. I liked him in "A Walk in the Clouds." n/t

[HopeHoops]

16. George Clooney as Batman

Actually, George Clooney as ANYTHING pretty well covers it, but who the fuck thought he would make even so good as a shitty Batman. The guy can't talk without bobbing his head around like one of those stupid sports figurines. I hate to say it, but Ahnold saved what was left of that movie.

[GoCubsGo]

74. I thought he was wonderful in "Oh Brother! Where Art Thou?"

He plays a great comedic lunatic. His performance in "Burn After Reading" was hysterical, as well. George is definitely better at comedy than drama. However, I think the failure in "Batman and Robin" was as much, if not more the writing than him.

[HopeHoops]

77. Curiously, we just watched "Burn After Reading" a couple nights ago.

There are times when he's not bad, and he does manage to keep his soap-opera head bob under control for the most part, but he way over-acted the scene in Ozzy's house when he shoots Pitt and the one near the end when he flips out in the park. As poor an actor as he seems to be, that movie was far better than the pathetic job he did in Batman. I want to slap whoever cast him for that role clean upside the head.

[pscot]

18. John Wayne as Genghis Khan

It'll never show up on cable. The print was probably destroyed.

[hippywife]

19. The entire cast of West Wing

was about as perfect as I have ever seen. :hi:

[HamdenRice]

20. Toshiro Mifune as "the robber" in Rashomon was probably the best casting of all time

followed closely by Takashi Shimura as Mr. Watanabe in Ikiru.

Both films are by Kurosawa, the greatest film director of all time.

[AsahinaKimi]

25. I agree with you but

I loves me sum Shintaro Katsu

[HopeHoops]

21. Best:: Johnny Depp in Benny and Joon.

He just fit.

[GoCubsGo]

46. I loved his "Willy Wonka"

I like his dark version of the character much better than Gene Wilder's version. In fact, I'm much more partial to the remake. I love the dark humor. The Wilder version was too saccharine for my taste. Not to mention that I associate Gene with Mel Brooks films. Too much of a disconnect to see him as that version of Willy Wonka.

[HopeHoops]

49. Depp's Wonka was very close to the book, except for his father.

The father character was an invention that I think was put in to stretch the movie out. I don't feel like it added that much to the story as a whole.

[GoCubsGo]

71. I didn't like that part of the movie, either.

Wish they had left it out. But, I thought the bit in the other version where Willy wasn't going to give Charlie the prize because he "stole" some burp juice was way worse.

[HopeHoops]

76. Like I posted, I think it was just filler. The story isn't that long.

The oompa-loompa songs were really close to those in the book, and overall the story was very close. I think the "Michael Jackson look" thing was a mistake, especially while passing the sheep when he says, "I don't want to talk about that room."

Depp said he was shocked at the comparison to Jackson, but how could you not see it? It would have been better if they hadn't made him such a wimp, but that also played into the father story line.

Now the Gene Wilder movie was still quite good, but man did it deviate from the book. It almost wasn't the same story.

[AwakeAtLast]

62. I say the same thing about him in "From Hell"

Brilliant.

[kayakjohnny]

23. Well one of the worst was Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra.

I honestly and sincerely tried to watch it objectively one night, a few years back. And I couldn't for the life of me understand how that happened.

She seemed so miscast and the whole thing so contrived and labored. I felt bad for everyone involved. It was atrocious.

Script, directing... you name it - all horrific.

What's his face was ok, though only in dribs and drabs.

But she totally phoned that thing in.

[Lindsey]

26. I have several as I'm a movie fanatic:

The Best:
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest
Adrian Brody in The Pianist
Kate Winslett in Revolutionary Road & The Reader
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (and everything she does)
Sean Penn in Milk (and pretty much everything he does too)

The worst:
Tom Hanks in The Davinci Code (and I love him in most of what I see but I thought this was horribly miscast and I think he got the part because he and Ron Howard, the director, are so tight)
Andie McDowell in ANYTHING
Kneau Reeves in ANYTHING
There are many more but these are just off the top of my head...

[Withywindle]

39. I first fell for Kate Winslet in 'Heavenly Creatures'.

If Peter Jackson never does anything else for the world, there's always the fact that he introduced us to her.

On the DOWNSIDE, there's Gwyneth Paltrow in 'Possession.' Again, a director problem. Neil LaBute, it's obvious you don't understand women, books, or especially bookish women. Stay away from that theme in the future, please.

[phasma ex machina]

27. Candidate for worst casting: Jason Alexander in "Pretty Woman" nt

[Rhythm]

28. Jason Alexander in anything is a disaster...

Maybe he and Keanu should do a remake of "Ishtar"?!

[Tuvok Obama]

30. Worst: Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption

Not that he did a terrible job in the movie, but that the character described in the novella on which the movie was based was nothing like Robbins, or his portrayal of Dufrense.

Best: Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in Goodfellas. I don't want to downplay the contributions of De Niro or Pesci, but Liotta was perfect.

[pokerfan]

32. Worst: Costner as Robin Hood

Second worst: Costner as Wyatt Earp.

[Faygo Kid]

53. I'm with you on Costner.

Unwatchable.

[pokerfan]

55. But not a 'Costner in anything' rant

I think he's quite good in some things. Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves. Snarks will say that his best work was in The Big Chill but I find him quite serviceable when he's playing average Joes.

[SoxFan]

61. As long as Costner sticks to baseball movies, he's fine

"Bull Durham", "Field of Dreams", and, to a lesser degree, "For Love of the Game", are all decent movies.

[Bucky]

34. "In anything" is a stupid thing to say. You're objecting to the talent, not the casting.

John Wayne, who was pitch perfect in "The Shootist" or "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" was miscast, epically miscast, in "Genghis Khan" (as well as poorly directed) because he was not right for the part.

[AllenVanAllen]

44. Here are mine.

Best- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian



Worst - This guy as Godzilla

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

47. I always thought Brad Pitt in Troy

as Achilles was a horrible choice.

I can't remember who played the title role in Alexander (it came out around the same time), but it was pretty bad as well.

[jobycom]

54. I liked Pitt as Achilles, and Bloom played a perfectly disgustingly weasley Paris

Collin Farrel played Alexander. I'm the only one in the world who liked that movie, I guess. I didn't love it, though.

[Initech]

48. Best: Michael C. Hall as Dexter, Tony Shalhoub as Monk

[Ikonoklast]

51. Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes.

The quintessential Holmes. Genius.






Keanu Reeves as Klaatu. Gave a whole new dimension of meaning to the word 'wooden'.

[Love Bug]

78. You beat me to it: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Robert Downey Jr.? Not so much. I love him in other things, but goddammit, not as Holmes. Too short, too slovenly, too American. It takes a certain aristocratic bearing to play Holmes and RD jr ain't got it. Doesn't mean I won't go see the movie, but still...

[Faygo Kid]

52. Best: George C. Scott as Scrooge. Worst: Nana Visitor as Major Kira.

Love the George C. Scott version of "A Christmas Carol," obviously. Right off the top, it jumped to mind about how much I disliked Major Kira on one of the Star Treks.

[Bucky]

57. Just about anytime Star Trek shows cast some bland actor & pretend they're "tough"

There's nothing ex-terroristic about Nana Visitor. They should have had her play the ship's librarian. The Barbie dolls they cast for Seven of Nine and that Vulcan chick from "Enterprise" are four examples of why the show had to be rebooted. The last Star Trek female who came across as realistic was Gates McFadden, although even then her first name seems kinda sexist.

[Faygo Kid]

58. Don't forget the abysmal Ensign Ro.

What the heck was that all about? She was also terrible, and thank God has disappeared as an actress.

[Bucky]

59. My theory is that most of the early female characters were played by actors Roddenbury boinked.

But at least in the 60s he had better taste in women.

[LeftyMom]

83. She was this season's Supernatural Bad Guy on True Blood.

It took me a while to recognize her, because she wasn't scowling the whole time.

[EndersDame]

65. They are horrible at writing women roles at Star Trek

Joss Whedon on the other hand is wonderful at writing women

[valerief]

56. Best and worst of Out-of-Towners

Best: Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as George and Gwen Kellerman, 1970 version
Worst: Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin as Nancy and Henry Clark, 1999 version

[AwakeAtLast]

63. Worst: Tom Cruise in "Interview With a Vampire"

I tried to like him in role. I think Johnny Depp would have been amazing.


Um, can you tell I'm a JD fan? ;)

[EndersDame]

64. Worst Scott Bakula as Capt Archer Best Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama

Scott has no presence or air of authority where as Olmos WAS Adama and brought out many layers of the character with just a tilt of his head or a look in his eyes!

[raccoon]

67. Worst: George Hamilton as Hank Williams in "Your Cheating Heart." nt

[LynneSin]

70. Denise Richards as a Nuclear Physicist Bond Girl

The 4 movies she did before that Bond movie were all high school flicks, so suddenly I'm to believe this girl is a Nuclear Physicist? She was dreadfully awful.

[wysimdnwyg]

72. I can't believe this hasn't been said yet

Best: James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause

[Gidney N Cloyd]

75. Worst: Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Not only bad but patently offensive.

[wickerwoman]

80. That's the one I was trying to think of!

I knew there was at least one other cringe-inducing cross-racial casting example in a reasonably famous movie.

[madamesilverspurs]

82. Lawrence Olivier as "Othello."

Squirmingly uncomfortable to watch.


===

[JTG of the PRB]

81. Best: Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey/White

Worst: George Clooney as Batman.

[Graybeard]

84. Best TV - Peter Falk as Columbo

Every week the killers felt so superior to this scruffy, rambling flatfoot that they thought they would get away with the murder. Falk played that perfectly and was also convincing as someone who could do great detective work.

[applegrove]

85. Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H.

[Release The Hounds]

86. Worst: Matt Damon in The Departed