Person Online Asks “Which Actor Crushed A Role So Hard That Nobody Else Will Be Able To Live Up To It?”, 50 People Deliver
Characters in movies and TV series are often defined by the actors who play them. And while characters can have a myriad of people play them, there is always that one actor who manages to fill a character's shoes the best, and people can’t imagine anyone else playing the role.
Reddit has been discussing just that. One user asked the lovely AskReddit community which actor crushed a role so hard that nobody else will be able to live up to it? and got a slew of amazing responses.
Bored Panda has collected the best answers and turned it into a curated list that you can find below. While you’re scrolling, comment and vote on the submissions you loved the most, and tell us what character-actor combinations you think are iconic in the comment section below!
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When they inevitably recast Jack Sparrow [Johnny Depp], it'll be clear just how big a gap there is.
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape.
Honestly if they ever do reboot of the harry potter franchise i will have difficulty to get used to all the new actors and actresses.... But Snape will be the most difficult
While he is American, I think Adam Driver is a good candidate for a younger Severus Snape.
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Alan Rickman was the first person to be cast in the series and without an audition, JK wanted him so badly because she pictured him in the role as she was writing the series. Warner Bros wanted a larger cast list for the role but she shut them down. At one point they pushed for Ralph Finnes (Voldemort) to play Snape but we all know how that turned out. ;)
Hard enough when they replaced Dumbledore, but Snape? No way, always Alan Rickman for me. RIP Mr. Rickman.
If we're using their Dumbledore replacement as an example I can only hope that they never do a reboot. Sir Michael Gambon is an excellent actor but he was an awful Dumbledore in 3 and 4.
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I'd actually like to see Tim Roth play the role, since he was the first pick.
Such a complex character and Alan Rickman did an amazing job, I do not think anyone could have done better.
Alan Rickman as anyone. He was a star who started too late and ended too soon.
I think Adam Driver could do it justice. I will forever be a Alan Rickman fanboy, but Adam Driver would be amazing at it too.
Anyone else remember him in Robin Hood "with a spoon" favorite line.
Rowling actually had Alan Rickman as the only person she wanted to play Snape.
They should do a Marauders movie. Up to the point where Sirius buys this toy broom for Harry's 1. Birthday. I would kill for a movie explaining the personalities of James, Lily and all the others. Please JKR, do this!!!
If they ever do this again with new actors, I will refuse to watch it.
I'm a huge Potter fan and I do love the movies, but I think it's strange that people seem to think they were so well cast. When I first saw Rickman as Snape, I thought well, OK, and promptly compartmentalized my head canons. Don't get me wrong, I loved Rickman's performance and take on Snape, but it just wasn't the same character I'd built up in my head. He was too old, his voice was too throaty and montonous, his hair too thick and wiglike, his facial expressions more somber and deadpan than nasty and menacing.
I loved Alan Rickman as an actor, but he was too old for the role. Snape was supposed to be in his early 30s when the series started. He did a great job, but it aged all the other characters too much.
That's weird, because I always thought the cinematic Snape is nothing like the book one, but Alan Rickman managed to create such a charismatic and memorable character, that I really can't see anybody else playing Snape now.
I know it's heresy but Daniel Radclif as Harry Potter was about equal to Kristin Stewart as Bella in Twilight. He was a child, so he gets a pass but I still can't watch the movies because the child actors take me so much out of it. However, Ron was fantastic and so were many of the adult cast.
Sorry but no. How old is Snape? Think carefully now... how old is Snape? Are you shocked that he is 31 when Harry comes to Hogwarts? Snape was Lily Potter's age and she died at 20. Alan Rickman when he filmed the films was 55 years old. He was nearly TWICE AS OLD as Snape should have been. Same with many of the other adult actors.
All of the marauders were played by people older than they really should have been (Gary Oldman playing Sirius for example in his later 40's when playing Sirius in PoA) the age of the actor doesn't mean they can't play a role fantastically well, and considering Snape and Sirius have been through war and loss of loved ones etc etc, it's bound to make them look haggard and older then they really are anyway. Stress ages you.
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RDJ for Iron Man, the man WAS Tony Stark end of discussion.
Ryan Reynolds did an excellent job being Deadpool to the point where i am reading a Deadpool comic book with Reynolds' voice in my head narrating it.
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.
He’s so deeply connected to that character that I feel it would be impossible for anyone else to fill the fedora.
Robin Williams as the genie.
Robin Williams in any part he ever played. He owned all of his characters.
Ian McKellen is the both true Gandalfs.
Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean Luc Picard.
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, amazing acting.
My favorite scene was when Oberyn visited Tyrion in prison. Tyrion didn't speak a word while Oberyn was doing his dialog. His emotions spoke volumes.
Arnold Schwarzenegger - Terminator.
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
Tim Curry, Frank N Furter. Anyone else in the role knows they never live up to that sexy god of a man. ‘I can make you a man’ is the most brilliant filthy scene to appear on cinema screens while people aren’t nude :/
Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams.
I'm a fan of the sitcom and Ricci did great but in my mind she's not the only Wednesday.
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Best book to movie translation for a character I’ve ever seen.
Eh. He did good, but "best book-to-movie translation" would definitely not go there. I'd say that honor goes to Michael Sheen and David Tennant as Aziraphel and Crowley for "Good Omens".
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge.
Umbridge sucked in the books, but in the movies she turned Umbridge into a character that you just don't like into one that you hate with a burning passion.
I hated the character to begin with and was really curious as to who could possibly do such an awful person "justice". Imelda did it wonderfully (and without me hating HER for it - sometimes it's just hard to disconnect one character from another played by the same actor). But that said, I think almost every actor cast in Harry Potter was a great choice. I was also curious who Emma Thompson would play when I heard she'd be in the series, and I did NOT see her Trelawney coming. Absolutely excellent!
Jack Nicholson in the Shining.
Jim Carrey in The Mask.
This role was written for Jim. He always has a habbit of playing the same kind of character in every movie he's in. No matter what he does there ALWAYS slips a bit of Carey into his performances. The Grinch has Carey, Ace ventura has Carey, Count Olaf has Carey. But in the Mask it didn't matter, he could go out of his way to be himself.
Bryan Cranston as Walter White in Breaking Bad. He begins as sympathetic and ends up terrifying.
And in general the whole cast of Malcolm in the Middle, even the very secondary role. There have been many middle class effed up famy sitcom but zero have achieved to be crazy and relatable like this show.
I had to watch an episode of "Malcom in the Middle" to like Bryan Cranston again.
Jody Foster as Clarice Starling. I particularly love the scene where she looks at Buffalo Bill’s victim and you hear her voice crack during the first part of the description, where she is looking at tiny personal details like painted fingernails, but then go clinical and determined when she sees the wounds on the girl’s back. Playing badass women often veers either towards emotionless and stalwart, or basically aping a 80s action male role. Foster nailed the emotional vulnerability, ambition, and courage of that character in minute, but profound ways. No one compares.
Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin.
I really can't see anyone else as Hellboy. Ron Pearlman was amazing.
Joaquin Phoenix as commodus in gladiator. I have never hated a character so much till I saw him in that movie. He is so cowardly, despicable, and creepy. Phoenix did such a good job in making you loathe his character.
Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and everyone knew it would happen a decade before the first X-Men movie.
Danny Trejo as Machete.
Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds.
Steve Carrell as Michael Scott.
Let’s face it, Andy Bernard never met the expectations of Michael Scott.
[Nick Offerman as] Ron Swanson.
Kelsey Grammer, Frasier Crane.
Rainn Wilson as Dwight Scrute.
Ronald Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket.
Catherin O'Hara as Moira Rose!!
Val Kilmer in Tombstone.
Amazing Doc Holliday!
Every once in a while there's a role that it seems like the actor was born to play. There's really not another role that compares in his career.
Jessica Walter in Arrested Development (and Archer) .. her mean mom character dynamic is gold
Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine.
Maybe someone else could have been creepier but I am hard pressed to imagine it!
Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins! I love Emily Blunt but i think Mary Poppins is only one
Came down here just to say this. Julie Andrews IS Mary Poppins.
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What about Macaulay Culkin? He’s really the only Kevin there should have been.
Oh my god yes I can’t believe no one said that. He is the only true Kevin
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I disagree, the clownfish was way better, such a great actor!
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Especially Miranda Preistly in The Devil Wears Prada.
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William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray and Virgil Tibbs, Humphrey Bogart in anything, Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara, James Cagney in anything including dancing, John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, Charlie Chaplin as The Little Tramp, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as a couple in any of their movies together, and the list goes on and on. There are a load of movies that should never ever be remade, because the casting in the original is just so perfect no one would ever be able to match it, and the remake would be a big fat flop.
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. Anthony Quinn as Alexis Zorba. Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge. Maggie Smith as Jean Brodie. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Charlize Theron as Ailene Wournos. The list indeed goes on.
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Can't believe no-one mentioned Jack Black in 'School of Rock', impossible to re-cast
Weird, to me, Jack Black IS Po, the dragon warrior in Kung Fu Panda
Load More Replies... Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange in HP too -she was perfectly mad in the role. (she was also perfect as the Queen Of Hearts too imo xD )
Also Loki spoilers here that character combined with that actor just perfect
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I saw this new Cruella movie and Emma Stone did a really good role. Kind of a psycho and all.
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Bruce Campbell as "Ash Williams" (The Evil Dead) - NOBODY could ever play the role like he does
Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing. Apparently Billy Zain was next in line, but I really couldn't imagine him in it instead.
I would definitely add Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars.
Glenn Close in Fatal attraction. She was so good that it kept men from cheating in real life at the time (or so I've read).
This is an oldie but I can't imagine ANYONE else playing Scarlett O'Hara since Vivien Leigh!
Bette Davis would have been awesome, and she really wanted the part, but she had already done the Southern belle thing in Jezebel, so Selznick nixed her.
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All of these characters are great. I know of all of them even though I didn't watch all of them. In my opinion the mark of a great actor is when you make a character so great and believable that no one else could possibly play the part without being compared to the original actor.
First name I thought of was Michael Clark Duncan as John Coffey in The Green Mile. Then there is Ken Watanabe innThe Last Samarii. There is Kevin Kostner in Message in a Bottle. Ryan Gosling in the Notebook and last of all Christopher Reeves in Somewhere in Time!
The first name I thought of was Michael Clark Duncan in The Green Mile as John Coffey. Then there was Tom Cruise in The Last Samari. I don’t like him that much, but he was good in it. There was also Christopher Reeves in Somewhere in Time and last of all Kevin Kostner in Message in a Bottle
Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, he basically cast this role based on himself
Dustin Hoffman in "Little Big Man"....an amazing spread of characters!!
I can't believe this one doesn't have hundreds of upvotes!!
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Peter Sellers as Inspector Closeau in the Pink Panther series.
How is Christopher Reeve as Superman not on this list? Cavill is awful, or are most people too young to remember the real Superman? Even Dean Cain was better than HC!!
Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee; Kate Winslet in every role she's ever played, same for Judi Dench, Helen Mirren (LOVED her in R.E.D and its sequels), Maggie Smith, Emily Blunt, Rachel Weisz, and yes, the list goes on...
Gimme a minute - take a deep breath, but . . . Bill Cosby as Dr. Huxtable in his multi-award-winning show. I don't miss Cosby a bit, but I do miss Cliff Huxtable
All time favorite, but Matt Smith was a close second.
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There can never be another Scarlett O'Hara. Vivien Leigh had the original RBF.
Catherine O'Hara is a living legend who always understands the assignment.
HEATH LEDGER AS JOKER!?!?!??!?!! HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SHould have been the first one on here!
Daniel Craig as Bond, imho (sorry, sir SC) & Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler, xxx
What about Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon in Game Of Thrones? His portrayal of this slimy, sadistic character was so perfect that it had people cheering at his death! And Jason Isaacs as the evil Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series. And don't forget Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins. As the twins.
This is kind of weird cause it’s a biopic but they picked the absolute perfect woman for it. Angela Bassett as Tina Turner in What’s Love got to do with it. Absolutely amazing and I watch it every time it’s on tv. Also Laurence Fishburne as Ike turner was perfect too. Such a great movie. And on the topic of biopics Jamie Foxx in Ray was amazing too.
Peter Falk as Columbo. Linda Carter and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Jason Momoa as Aquaman. Jennifer Lopez as Selena. Mike Meyer as Sherk. Eddie Murphy as Donkey. Ellen DeGeneres as Dory.
How can you have Silence of the Lambs without mentioning Anthony Hopkins as Dr Hannibal Lecter? Also, James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb, Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, The Beast, Jade, twins Ian and Mary Reynolds, Orwell, Norma, Goddard, Luke, BT, Heinrich, Polly, Felida, Mr Pritchard, Ansel, Jalin, Samuel, Bernice, Rakel, and Kat.
It is sad for several reasons that the vast majority of these are white men.
How about Kurt Russell as Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China? Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller. Paul Rudd as Ant-Man.
Chris Evans as Captain America and Matthew McConaughey as The Lincoln Lawyer.
WHERE THE HELL IS MARK HAMILL AS LUKE SKYWALKER?!?! DID YOU ALL MISS THE POINT OF THIS CHALLENGE?!?!
Can't believe you were downvoted. Mark IS Luke Skywalker.
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Jared Leto as Niander Wallace. Or Rayon in "Dallas Buyers Club". I'm in love with both of them because of him
Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew in "One Foot in the Grave" Paul Ritter(RIP) as Martin Goodman in "Friday Night Dinner".
Oh wow! Another fan of "One Foot in the Grave." I wish I'd written down every comment he ever made. Could have used them at times.
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Nathan Fillion in everything he plays but especially firefly really the whole cast of firefly was perfect.
Kevin Spacey as PROT in K--Pax. Love him or hate him he's an incredible actor.
There’s been a bunch of people that played Sherlock Holmes great.
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Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab in Moby D**k! What fool ever thought they could best That movie?
Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins! I love Emily Blunt but i think Mary Poppins is only one
Came down here just to say this. Julie Andrews IS Mary Poppins.
Load More Replies... What about Macaulay Culkin? He’s really the only Kevin there should have been.
Oh my god yes I can’t believe no one said that. He is the only true Kevin
Load More Replies... I disagree, the clownfish was way better, such a great actor!
Load More Replies... Especially Miranda Preistly in The Devil Wears Prada.
Load More Replies... William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray and Virgil Tibbs, Humphrey Bogart in anything, Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara, James Cagney in anything including dancing, John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, Charlie Chaplin as The Little Tramp, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as a couple in any of their movies together, and the list goes on and on. There are a load of movies that should never ever be remade, because the casting in the original is just so perfect no one would ever be able to match it, and the remake would be a big fat flop.
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. Anthony Quinn as Alexis Zorba. Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge. Maggie Smith as Jean Brodie. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Charlize Theron as Ailene Wournos. The list indeed goes on.
Load More Replies... Can't believe no-one mentioned Jack Black in 'School of Rock', impossible to re-cast
Weird, to me, Jack Black IS Po, the dragon warrior in Kung Fu Panda
Load More Replies... Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange in HP too -she was perfectly mad in the role. (she was also perfect as the Queen Of Hearts too imo xD )
Also Loki spoilers here that character combined with that actor just perfect
Load More Replies... I saw this new Cruella movie and Emma Stone did a really good role. Kind of a psycho and all.
Load More Replies... Bruce Campbell as "Ash Williams" (The Evil Dead) - NOBODY could ever play the role like he does
Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing. Apparently Billy Zain was next in line, but I really couldn't imagine him in it instead.
I would definitely add Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars.
Glenn Close in Fatal attraction. She was so good that it kept men from cheating in real life at the time (or so I've read).
This is an oldie but I can't imagine ANYONE else playing Scarlett O'Hara since Vivien Leigh!
Bette Davis would have been awesome, and she really wanted the part, but she had already done the Southern belle thing in Jezebel, so Selznick nixed her.
Load More Replies... All of these characters are great. I know of all of them even though I didn't watch all of them. In my opinion the mark of a great actor is when you make a character so great and believable that no one else could possibly play the part without being compared to the original actor.
First name I thought of was Michael Clark Duncan as John Coffey in The Green Mile. Then there is Ken Watanabe innThe Last Samarii. There is Kevin Kostner in Message in a Bottle. Ryan Gosling in the Notebook and last of all Christopher Reeves in Somewhere in Time!
The first name I thought of was Michael Clark Duncan in The Green Mile as John Coffey. Then there was Tom Cruise in The Last Samari. I don’t like him that much, but he was good in it. There was also Christopher Reeves in Somewhere in Time and last of all Kevin Kostner in Message in a Bottle
Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, he basically cast this role based on himself
Dustin Hoffman in "Little Big Man"....an amazing spread of characters!!
I can't believe this one doesn't have hundreds of upvotes!!
Load More Replies... Peter Sellers as Inspector Closeau in the Pink Panther series.
How is Christopher Reeve as Superman not on this list? Cavill is awful, or are most people too young to remember the real Superman? Even Dean Cain was better than HC!!
Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee; Kate Winslet in every role she's ever played, same for Judi Dench, Helen Mirren (LOVED her in R.E.D and its sequels), Maggie Smith, Emily Blunt, Rachel Weisz, and yes, the list goes on...
Gimme a minute - take a deep breath, but . . . Bill Cosby as Dr. Huxtable in his multi-award-winning show. I don't miss Cosby a bit, but I do miss Cliff Huxtable
All time favorite, but Matt Smith was a close second.
Load More Replies... There can never be another Scarlett O'Hara. Vivien Leigh had the original RBF.
Catherine O'Hara is a living legend who always understands the assignment.
HEATH LEDGER AS JOKER!?!?!??!?!! HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SHould have been the first one on here!
Daniel Craig as Bond, imho (sorry, sir SC) & Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler, xxx
What about Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon in Game Of Thrones? His portrayal of this slimy, sadistic character was so perfect that it had people cheering at his death! And Jason Isaacs as the evil Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series. And don't forget Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins. As the twins.
This is kind of weird cause it’s a biopic but they picked the absolute perfect woman for it. Angela Bassett as Tina Turner in What’s Love got to do with it. Absolutely amazing and I watch it every time it’s on tv. Also Laurence Fishburne as Ike turner was perfect too. Such a great movie. And on the topic of biopics Jamie Foxx in Ray was amazing too.
Peter Falk as Columbo. Linda Carter and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Jason Momoa as Aquaman. Jennifer Lopez as Selena. Mike Meyer as Sherk. Eddie Murphy as Donkey. Ellen DeGeneres as Dory.
How can you have Silence of the Lambs without mentioning Anthony Hopkins as Dr Hannibal Lecter? Also, James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb, Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, The Beast, Jade, twins Ian and Mary Reynolds, Orwell, Norma, Goddard, Luke, BT, Heinrich, Polly, Felida, Mr Pritchard, Ansel, Jalin, Samuel, Bernice, Rakel, and Kat.
It is sad for several reasons that the vast majority of these are white men.
How about Kurt Russell as Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China? Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller. Paul Rudd as Ant-Man.
Chris Evans as Captain America and Matthew McConaughey as The Lincoln Lawyer.
WHERE THE HELL IS MARK HAMILL AS LUKE SKYWALKER?!?! DID YOU ALL MISS THE POINT OF THIS CHALLENGE?!?!
Can't believe you were downvoted. Mark IS Luke Skywalker.
Load More Replies... Jared Leto as Niander Wallace. Or Rayon in "Dallas Buyers Club". I'm in love with both of them because of him
Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew in "One Foot in the Grave" Paul Ritter(RIP) as Martin Goodman in "Friday Night Dinner".
Oh wow! Another fan of "One Foot in the Grave." I wish I'd written down every comment he ever made. Could have used them at times.
Load More Replies... Nathan Fillion in everything he plays but especially firefly really the whole cast of firefly was perfect.
Kevin Spacey as PROT in K--Pax. Love him or hate him he's an incredible actor.
There’s been a bunch of people that played Sherlock Holmes great.
Load More Replies... Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab in Moby D**k! What fool ever thought they could best That movie?
