Top 100 casting mistakes

[schmendrik]

OK, my first shot at a "Top 100" list. The idea here is a movie which could have been good but was ruined for you by a terrible casting decision. Doesn't matter if you know whether there was a better choice considered (but feel free to offer your alternate casting choice).

Two off the top of my head.

1. Chevy Chase in Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992). Modern take on the invisible man story, an ordinary guy becomes invisible by accident and has to deal with the consequences. One of those everyman-stuck-in-a-thriller deals. Fantastic book by H.F. Saint.

But to cast Chevy freakin Chase as the lead?

2. Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964). An oldie, one of my favorite musicals. I grew up listening to the London cast album, with Julie Andrews debuting in the title role. Man could she sing, and the fire she brought to the role must have been a great thing to see on stage. So why the hell did Hollywood cast little mousy non-singing Audrey Hepburn in there? And why the hell does anyone like Audrey Hepburn anyway?

[Kester Pelagius]

3. For some reason I never cared for James Cagney in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I probably saw as a wee lil nip of a youngster when it played on one of the local PBS stations.  That's right his performance scarred me from an early age.   

4. Speaking of pysche scarring experiences don't even get me started on the casting misfires of the 1999 version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  They really should gather all the copies of that atrocity in one place, then nuke it from orbit!  I'm not kidding.   

5. Since I know someone will inevitably mention Coppola's Dracula* let me just say that, for me, Winnoa Ryder ruined this movie.  With each new watching of this movie I despise her presence in it more and more.  Keanu Reeves, for me, wasn't so bad.  Then again I was lucky NOT to have seen any of his previous works aside from that Bill and Ted movie for many years.  My advice: Don't watch too many of his movies and you'll be fine.

* OOPS.  I was looking up a Carpenter movie at IMDB in another window as I was typing that and got the director's names confuddled.

[Jack]

6)  Adrienne King as the Final Girl (Alice Hardy) in Friday the 13th.  She was the most lackluster and uninspiring character in the whole movie.  You always want to hire an actual "actress" for your lead character.

[Cthulhu]

5. Since I know someone will inevitably mention John Carpenter's Dracula let me just say that, for me, Winnoa Ryder ruined this movie.  With each new watching of this movie I despise her presence in it more and more.  Keanu Reeves, for me, wasn't so bad.  Then again I was lucky NOT to have seen any of his previous works aside from that Bill and Ted movie for many years.  My advice: Don't watch too many of his movies and you'll be fine.

Do you mean Bram Stoker's Dracula?

[peter johnson]

Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola --

I happen to like Audrey Hepburn just fine, thank you -- Aside from her lovely, long neck, she was really excellent opposite Alan Arkin in "Wait Until Dark" and Shirley McClaine in "The Childrens' Hour" -- 2 films I think most people who frequent this site would really enjoy, if you haven't already seen them -- Other stuff like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and her other light romantic fare maybe not so much -- But she's still easy on the eye in those, as I've heard men say --

peter johnson/denny a room somewhere . . .

[Rev. Powell]

5. Since I know someone will inevitably mention Coppola's Dracula* let me just say that, for me, Winnoa Ryder ruined this movie.  With each new watching of this movie I despise her presence in it more and more.  Keanu Reeves, for me, wasn't so bad.  Then again I was lucky NOT to have seen any of his previous works aside from that Bill and Ted movie for many years.  My advice: Don't watch too many of his movies and you'll be fine.

I agree with you halfway on this one.  I hated both Reeves AND Ryder.  But it is funny that Reeves gets most of the blame, when Ryder was equally bad, and had a much more important role. 

7) (I think).  John Wayne as Genghis Khan in THE CONQEUROR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re96l2FJCjc

[Newt]

8) Margot Kidder as Lois Lane in Superman.   Not even close.

[akiratubo]

9) Jim Cavizel as Jesus in Passion of the Christ.

Could they have possibly picked a blander, less inspiring actor to play Christ?  Christ ought to have presence and charisma.

[RCMerchant]

10. Lon Chaney Jr. as Count Alacard in SON of DRACULA. He's a little too jowly to be a vampire. (I ...er...I mean Bela should have gtten that part,dammit!)

[The Burgomaster]

11.  Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis in STING II

12.  George Hamilton in GODFATHER 3

[ghouck]

13. Christopher Llloyd in Star Trek III: Search for Spock as a,, KLINGON COMMANDER? what were they thinking?

[Mr. DS]

14.) Michael Madsen as Vladimir in Bloodrayne. 
Uwe Boll movies are usually miscast with big names.  Boll decides to have an actor who typically plays wise guy roles to hold down a role as a vampire hunter.  As an honerable mention in that movie, I'd have to say Michelle Rodriguez.

[AndyC]

15) Jose Ferrer as mayor of a small farming community in Idaho.
http://www.badmovies.org/movies/thebeing/

[Ash]

16. & 17.)

Jack Black and Adrien Brody in Peter Jackson's "King Kong"



I like them both as actors but they were terribly miscast in that movie. 
(loved Naomi Watts, though  )

[Jack]

18)  Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist in The World is Not Enough



Hey, she's damned fine to look at, but a nuclear physicist?  Um...no.