There are many factors that go into creating a great film. The writing, directing, cinematography and acting must all come together to perfectly compliment the score and the film’s themes. If even one small detail is off, the entire movie can go from excellent to mediocre, and that includes the casting.
If you’ve ever watched a movie where it felt like one actor in particular was always taking you out of their character's world, it’s likely that they just weren’t the best casting choice. Cinephiles on Reddit have been discussing some of the films where questionable casting bothered them, so below, you'll some of their most insightful and controversial thoughts, as well as an interview with the person behind IMO Flicks. Enjoy reading through if you're a movie buff yourself, and be sure to upvote all of the hot takes you agree with!
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James Corden, in anything and everything he's ever been in.
Dear America, we realise that Mr Corden's talkshow has finished and you are keen to return him to us but please, please, please keep him. Thanks.
Not really a good movie, but when it comes to miscasting I immediately think of Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman.
Charlize is too good looking to be a Queen who is supposed to be jealous of a Snow White who looks like Kristen. Not saying Kristen is ugly, she’s fine, but Charlize is easily another tier.
Nonono I looooved Charlize in this movie! I'd say that Kristen is not the right beauty for SnowWhite. She should have flowing/wavy black hair and full lips. Not too full though. But Charlize was great. Definitely not too good looking, as the queen was and should be beautifull, but her aging makes her feel less pretty and she feels threatened by youth. So Charlize was a very good match. Kristen was not.
To gain more insight on this topic from a movie expert, we reached out to the team at IMO Flicks, a film review hub, to hear their thoughts on how poor casting choices can impact a movie. First, we wanted to know if they've ever been distracted by miscast actors. "The Sun is Also a Star, which starred Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, is one movie that really stands out to me for its bad casting choices," the site's representative told Bored Panda. "The female lead in the movie is a Jamaican girl from New York, and her whole family is dark-skinned and Jamaican. Yara Shahidi, on the other hand, is light-skinned, half-black, half-Iranian, with no Jamaican in sight, and it definitely hindered the authenticity that this film requires. Shahidi didn't present any Jamaican or New York culture. She was just reciting a script, not becoming a character."
"There is one scene where her character is recommended to chemically straighten her hair. As a black woman, this scene comes off as extremely unrealistic, since Shahidi would be considered to have 'good hair' in the black community," the cinephile went on to explain. "A dark-skinned woman with kinkier hair would have been more affected by this comment, but Shahidi was able to laugh it off. Moments like that which could have had a deeper cultural impact were missed opportunities because the actors chosen were not fit to embody those roles. I feel as though casting a full Korean character and a dark-skinned Jamaican character with beautiful tight-coiled Type 4 hair would have the potential to make this film more authentic and something people can actually relate to. Instead of the heartwarming story that this movie could've been, it rather resembled a superficial display of pretty people, not real characters."
ok, I'm bending the question a bit here, because The World is Not Enough still wouldn't be a good movie, but:
Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist is just the worst, y'all
Jared Leto as Joker
*he was big miscast for the joker ... but im not so sure bout the part:"in an otherwise good movie"
Heath Ledger IS the Joker, as far as I'm concerned. His performance was mind blowing! Although I have to say that Joaquin Phoenix's performance was a worthy successor.
Kevin Costner as Robin Hood.
Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman, and just about everyone else turned in outstanding performances, but Costner... Still a good movie though.
"Good casting can make or break a movie for sure," the person behind IMO Flicks noted. "Having solid characters that feel real, and make you feel, pity, empathy, anger, anything; characters that make you believe they're real is the difference between watching National Geographic and watching a movie. How many people would pay to watch the latest nature documentary in theatres versus how many people would pay to watch Chris Evan's latest movie without even knowing what the plot is about? The difference is the people, the characters, and the connection."
"There's this show I've been loving lately called Jury Duty on Freevee where showrunners cast one person, Ronald Gladden, off of Craigslist to take part in a fake trial where everyone else was actors," the cinephile continued. "The whole show relied on how cooperative, expressive, and involved this one person was. By the end of the season, I couldn't help but think how lucky the showrunners were in picking the perfect person as their subject because the success of the whole show relied solely on Gladden's reaction to the wild situations he was put in, and he didn't disappoint."
Batman vs Supeeman wasn’t a very good movie but it is nothing compared to the casting of Lex Luthor in the movie. Jesse Eisenberg can be a good actor but the chosen direction on Lex is a complete oposite of where Jesse shines as an actor. I have a hard time thinking about a worse actor for the role. Maybe Michael Cera.
Jesse eisenberg is not a good actor to start with. He has only one way of acting and does it bad.
Captain Correli's Mandolin could be a beautiful movie, if it wasn't for Nick Cage.
Because the power of casting is so strong, we also asked the film expert if there were any mediocre movies or shows that were enhanced by excellent casting choices. "The series Wednesday would be an average show lost in the noise if it wasn't for Jenna Ortega," she explained. "She truly understood who her character was and pushed the envelope to make the appropriate changes to the script. The acting across the board for other characters tended to dip into 'Disney Channel original movie' energy, but she elevated the quality of the whole narrative by being very intentional, tasteful, consistent, and believable in how her character presented herself."
Absolutely Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I love the man, but that accent is something else. If he hadn’t been in the film I’m almost certain there’d be no debate that this was the best and most faithful Dracula adaptation.
Johnny Depp in the Fantastic Beasts Franchise.
He just doesn't belong there.
His acting is good, he nailed his speech in the second film. But no Potter World Material.
No matter how much I adore Johnny Depp he was so wrong in Fantastic beasts
recently finished Queen’s Gambit and thought it was great but I could not take the baby cowboy seriously
I couldn’t concur more. This choice of actor was an absolute disaster.
We were also curious if the IMO Flicks expert could cite some of the most common mistakes casting directors make when choosing their actors. "One mistake I sometimes notice is that you may have two individuals who are great actors on their own, but when they work together, there is no chemistry there," she told Bored Panda. "I don't know if casting directors are skipping chemistry reads or if a good chemistry read was unable to transfer to the screen, but the main characters have to have a real connection or at least be really good at faking it."
"Another mistake would be to cast a popular name over someone who may not be so popular but has all of the tools needed to make a character believable," the cinephile continued. "Anyone would watch any movie with their favorite actor, so that's instant money in the creator's hands just to have a big name attached to their movie. The issue though is that the attention for the film is short-lived if the actor is not a good fit for the role. It's risky to present a movie with a not-so-familiar name, however, some truly amazing stories will pay off that risk. Oftentimes, it feels as though some movie creators will try to compensate for a bad story by casting big names, instead of fleshing out believable characters and a story that people can connect with."
Guy Pearce in Prometheus. Like good god why didn’t they just cast an older actor??
I know people here LOVE Adam Driver, but I found him to be extremely distracting in SW. he looks nothing like Ford or Fisher. More importantly he just looks weird (or unique depending on your perspective). I know it’s probably taboo to say this, but his nose was really distracting to look at, especially in RoS, where there’s a lot of his profile shots.
I know I’ll be downvotes, but I thought I’d share anyway.
I didn't understand the swooning people were doing over him, but he is a talented actor.
Cameron Diaz in gangs of New York. Anytime I start watching that movie I always forget that she’s in it and then she pops up on screen and I just get disappointed.
I dunno about this one. Her character needed that charismatic, chaotic, slightly trashy energy that Cameron Diaz can bring. Thinking back to 2002, I’m not sure who else would have fit.
"Movies are make-believe," the film expert added. "If the people being cast are not making you believe the story that they're telling, then it's really difficult to become invested in a movie and to actually enjoy it. Great casting is essential to a great movie."
If you'd like to hear more of this cinephile's thoughts or learn how to start writing reviews of your own, be sure to check out IMO Flicks' website right here!
Mila Kunis as the Wicked Witch in Oz the Great and Powerful.
Actors are hired for their bankability. Unfortunately, suitability for a role is usually a very minor factor in the film producers' eyes.
Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
Cara delevingne is a scam and an enigma. How did she get there without a single drop of talent in anything?
Andie McDowell just seems so out of place in *Four Weddings and a Funeral*.
Mickey Rooney in *Breakfast at Tiffany's*? What the hell was that?
Oh, Mickey Rooney and his racist-as-hell caricature Mr. Yunioshi "Missus Golightly! I mushh PRO-TESHT!" His scenes are cringy and take you out of the movie.
Russell Crowe in Les Miserables
Katie Holmes in Batman Begins
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Adrien Brody Predators, not as good as the first 2 films but a decent sequel i find entertaining. I just dont buy him as the badass action star that goes toe to toe with a Predator
Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3. I really believe it would’ve been much better if Tom Hardy was given Venom.
Sofia Coppola in Godfather Part 3. Broke the movie in a few scenes
So good she was able to bounce back from the drubbing she received in that and become an accomplished director instead
Ben Affleck in Daredevil.... He's a great actor, the role sucked, the movie was fun to watch though.
Just about everyone in Batman and Robin.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze is probably top of the list though. As someone who grew up on Batman: The Animated Series and was blown away by Heart of Ice I couldn't wait for a big screen version. Then we got, well, what we got.
Just imagine what a late 90s Patrick Stewart could have done in that role. With a completely different script and director of course.
Brad Pitt in Troy. He's not terrible or anything. It's just funny to listen to him attempt to dial in a british accent. Or better yet, the guy who plays his cousin is really corny. Fun movie, fun cast when it comes down to it. I just roll my eyes every time he shows up lol
A lot was wrong with that film. But it was meant to be purely entertaining, and never claimed to be fully accurate to its source material. Brad Pitt was one of the most bankable actors at the time, so there you go. For example, I was quite disappointed that they did not integrate a small role for Cassandra.
Whatever horrific creature they got to dub the voice of Bob in Lucio Fulci's House By the Cemetery.
Topher Grace as Venom.
Russell Crowe in the 2011 Robin Hood movie.
David Thewlis as Ares.
Ezra Miller as The Flash.
Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck.
Matthew Broderick as Simba. (Never thought his voice fit the character IMO. Even when I was a kid, I never heard "Simba" - I only ever heard an actor trying to play "Simba".)
I will never understand why WB let go of Johnny for the "allegations" that weren't even true, yet they keep Ezra miller after that bastard has literally been on a crime spree beating people up, grooming kids, etc, and there's proof of it because he literally taunted the police. WTF.
Jack Black in The Holiday. It would’ve been an okay romcom with someone else but he just stood out like a sore thumb. If he would’ve been funny it might’ve worked, but it was like they made him a neutered version of himself.
NPH in Gone Girl is always my go to
I thought he was fine. Just another poor sod who trusted that psycho nut. (If the reference is to him being gay, boy you are not ready to watch any mini-series that had Richard Chamberlain in it.)
Unpopular opinion: Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate.
Now, of course he was brilliant - made his name in that movie. And he made the movie with his performance.
But that character was supposed to be a WASP college athlete - handsome & vigorous, which is why Mrs Robinson wanted to get him in the sack. DH was none of those things.
The role should have gone to Richard Benjamin (who appeared in a minor part in the movie), but it would have been a forgettable romcom. DH made it a classic.
Emma Watson as belle
Note: this post originally had 35 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Any film where a North American actor plays a British person and can't do the accent. Britain has many different accents so it's annoying when American actors immediately try to play the role with a sterotypical 'cor blimey guv'ner' type accent. No one talks like that anywhere in Britain. Not even in East London. Stop it. Just no. Don Cheadle in Ocean's. D**k Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. We've already had Keanu. Some American actors can do good British accents. Renee Zellwegger in Bridget Jones, for example. Our accent is a big part of our identity in the UK and are important to us, because as I said our accents differ so much in such a small area. I'm from Birmingham but my accent is very different from say Liverpool, but they're just a couple of hours drive from each other.
Any actor that can't do the accent. Why not just hire a local actor? (I know, bankability over authenticity....) For example, there are dozens of web pages about the best and worst fake Irish accent in a film.
I see your Irish accent and raise you New Orleans accent. It's bad.
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Any film where a North American actor plays a British person and can't do the accent. Britain has many different accents so it's annoying when American actors immediately try to play the role with a sterotypical 'cor blimey guv'ner' type accent. No one talks like that anywhere in Britain. Not even in East London. Stop it. Just no. Don Cheadle in Ocean's. D**k Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. We've already had Keanu. Some American actors can do good British accents. Renee Zellwegger in Bridget Jones, for example. Our accent is a big part of our identity in the UK and are important to us, because as I said our accents differ so much in such a small area. I'm from Birmingham but my accent is very different from say Liverpool, but they're just a couple of hours drive from each other.
Any actor that can't do the accent. Why not just hire a local actor? (I know, bankability over authenticity....) For example, there are dozens of web pages about the best and worst fake Irish accent in a film.
I see your Irish accent and raise you New Orleans accent. It's bad.
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