What is your favourite surprising casting choice which worked?
This list was generated by members of the IMDb staff as part of Friday Fun! The comments come from various staff members.
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- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989) … I remember at the time “What? They are casting the guy from Top Gun in a serious drama about the Vietnam war and its after-effects?” It seemed to work out okay with Tom receiving a best actor Oscar nomination, and I at least, have been a fan of his work as an actor (not off-screen antics) ever since. At the screening we were at back in the day, around 50% of the audience left the cinema at the intermission point, presumably due to the shocking intensity of the film.
- DirectorBen StillerStarsBen StillerJack BlackRobert Downey Jr.Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.I’ll suggest a different Tom Cruise casting – Tom as Les “Diet Coke!” Grossman in “Tropic Thunder”.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity (1944) … you can read about the casting problems in our trivia, but MacMurray was known primarily a comedy actor at the time so this is complete casting against type in dark film noir based on a James M. Cain novel and a screenplay co-written by Raymond Chandler. This would be the modern day equivalent of casting Mike Myers in Inglourious Basterds (2009); oh wait they did that too
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994) … Travolta must hold the record for career comebacks. Apparently washed-up again after another string of disasters (his previous movie was the second sequel to 1989’s Look Who’s Talking) he was cast in fresh new writer/director QT’s first film after Reservoir Dogs and he hit this one out of the park.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsWill FerrellEmma ThompsonDustin HoffmanI.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.I was surprised (and impressed )by Will Ferrell’s role in Stranger Than Fiction. This was definitely his “Truman Show” moment and trying something new.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsDaniel CraigEva GreenJudi DenchAfter earning 00 status and a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.There's a fun book on bad casting choices called, "Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan: Hollywood's All-Time Worst Casting Blunders"
As far as one that worked I was very surprised--but pleased--that Daniel Craig was cast as James Bond. That certainly proved to be a good choice. - DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsBill MurrayScarlett JohanssonGiovanni RibisiA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.I would go with Bill Murray in Lost in Translation… I liked him better in Caddyshack but Lost in Translation was good too… strangely similar movies (…..joking)
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsBruce WillisAlan RickmanBonnie BedeliaA New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.Reserving the right to have another idea later ... my first thought is Bruce Willis in Die Hard. I recall going to see it in theaters and feeling rather dubious that the guy from Moonlighting could carry an action movie, at all.
More or less that turned out pretty well in hindsight. :-) - DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.Casting wholesome, saint-like perennial nice guy Henry Fonda as the super-evil child-murdering bad guy Frank in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) was pure genius on Sergio Leone’s part – (Fonda himself explains very well how the audience was taken aback by his appearance in the film in this brief 1975 interview snippet: [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHI6Hl7FUqA[/link] )
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsAdam SandlerEmily WatsonPhilip Seymour HoffmanSocially frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know it will land him in deep trouble and will jeopardize his burgeoning romance with the mysterious Lena.Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love (2002).
- DirectorMark RomanekStarsRobin WilliamsConnie NielsenMichael VartanA mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.I was thinking Robin Williams in One Hour Photo. He was known for being funny and always the good guy in his films and then all of a sudden he plays a villian. Shook up my perception of him for sure.
I was at the premiere screening of ‘One Hour Photo’ at Sundance in 2002. The audience, including me, were pretty surprised and impressed too, but then the strangest thing was they brought Williams onto to the stage and he was in top form whacky laugh-a-minute Robin Williams mode -- the style that we all knew and loved. A very stark contrast to what we had just seen on the screen. - DirectorNat FaxonJim RashStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteAllison JanneyShy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.The Way Way Back featured a surprising casting choice, but not for the coming-out-of-his-shell teenager...rather, that of Steve Carell as the douchebag boyfriend. I'm used to seeing him play lovable awkward types in comedies, but he did a great job being loathsome.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsTobey MaguireKirsten DunstWillem DafoeAfter being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.My other thought was that, when I heard about the casting choice, I couldn't really picture Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man. However, when watching the film, I realized that he was perfect for the nerdy alter-ego of Peter Parker.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleTom HardyAnne HathawayEight years after the Joker's reign of chaos, Batman is coerced out of exile with the assistance of the mysterious Selina Kyle in order to defend Gotham City from the vicious guerrilla terrorist Bane.Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJason LondonWiley WigginsMatthew McConaugheyThe adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.I’d also say Ben Affleck but more for his role as Fred O’Bannion in Dazed & Confused.
Even now it’s hard to picture Ben Affleck as a small-town Texas football player with a mean streak. - DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleHeath LedgerAaron EckhartWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.Heath Ledger as Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)
I had only known him as the oh-so-dreamy hunk in movies like 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and was stunned by the transformation. I still have trouble reconciling the two personas and his untimely death still saddens me - DirectorJ.J. AbramsStarsChris PineZachary QuintoSimon PeggThe brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek (2009)
They cast Sylar from Heroes as Spock!!!! I mean I think I’d love the man no matter what he did … but at the time it was mind-blowing that the deliciously evil Sylar would be playing the highly evolved and absolutely never-evil Spock. And Quinto really pulled it off too. - DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.In a more retrospective (and possibly contriversial) sense, Keanu Reeves in The Matrix was a... very surprising... choice... and his performance was exactly as one would expect. Yet the movie STILL did extremely well... I know I have seen it more times than I can count, and still come up with new/fresh "bad acting" memes about Neo.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsCate BlanchettKatie HolmesKeanu ReevesA fortune teller with extrasensory perception is asked to help find a young woman who has mysteriously disappeared.While not the lead, Keanu Reeves cast as the abusive, hillbilly husband of Hilary Swank in The Gift
I remember watching this for the first time on DvD, had not heard of the movie but saw Cate Blanchet and Greg Kinnear, figured it must be at least decent. Then 15 minutes or so in as I am getting into it….Keanu Reeves?!?! As a redneck with serious anger issues? …but he totally pulled it off in my mind.