Sometimes actors are cast so well, you can't imagine anyone else playing the part. Other times, it seems like the casting director just pulled a random name from a hat. From actors who didn't fit the character description to ones who flat-out couldn't act, here are some of the most mind-boggling miscasts of all time:
Comments were pulled from this Reddit thread.
1.
"John Wayne as Genghis Khan in 1956."
Yes, you read that right. Iconic Western actor John Wayne played the Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan in the 1956 film The Conqueror. The film follows Temujin as he captures a Tartar princess and becomes the leader Genghis Khan that we know today. The director, Dick Powell, attempted to convince Wayne that he didn't fit the part, but he later stated, "Who am I to turn down John Wayne?"
In the words of film critic Daniel Barnes, this movie stars "John Wayne in the role he was born to never play."
2.
"Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great. So wrong."
Apparently, Alexander the Great was not so great in the 2004 film Alexander. The film tortured audiences with its nearly three-hour runtime, causing film critic David Ansen to say, "It's a long march with no destination in sight."
Farrell's performance faced scrutiny for not matching the king/conqueror vibe. In a review for the film, Roger Ebert writes, "Farrell seems too reasonable, too much of ordinary scale, to drive men to the ends of the world with his unbending will."
3.
"I love Keanu Reeves. We all do. Casting him as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula was not a good move. Making him act opposite Gary Oldman just felt mean."
In Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film, Reeves's character is the fiancé of Mina Murray (played by Winona Ryder), whom Dracula is obsessed with. Other actors considered for the role of Jonathan Harker include Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, and Christian Slater, but somehow, someway, Reeves was the one who made the cut.
People criticize Reeves for this role to this day for his poor line delivery and butchered British accent. According to opinionated Reddit user u/FreddieB_13, "Reeves is indeed terrible and horribly miscast. The rest of the actors have to work around him, and one can only imagine what Gary Oldman thought about having to play a scene with someone so far beneath him (in terms of acting ability — Keanu is photogenic but not a great actor). It really is one of his worst performances."
4.
"Sofia Coppola in The Godfather Part III. Just terrible. She is clearly a great director, however."
Yet another Coppola film tainted by miscasting. Sofia Coppola made cameos in all three of her father's Godfather films, as she played Connie's baptized baby in the first movie, an immigrant child on the ocean liner in the second, and the infamous Mary Corleone in the final film of the trilogy.
Francis Ford Coppola originally considered Julia Roberts and Madonna for the role of Mary Corleone, but ultimately cast Winona Ryder. Unfortunately, Ryder was unable to play the part after a doctor reportedly said she was at risk of suffering a complete nervous breakdown. During the studio's scramble to find a replacement, Coppola decided to throw his daughter into the role.
Sofia Coppola acknowledges that she didn't give the best performance, joking that she was "the amateur actress who single-handedly ruined The Godfather." Now a successful filmmaker in her own right, Sofia acknowledges that acting wasn't for her. She told the New York Times, “It was embarrassing to be thrown out to the public in that kind of way. But it wasn’t my dream to be an actress, so I wasn’t crushed. I had other interests. It didn’t destroy me.”
5.
"Adrien Brody in Peaky Blinders."
Brody appears in Season 4 of this Netflix series, playing New York mobster Luca Changretta. Although he appeared in only six episodes, Brody wanted more. He confessed to Entertainment Weekly, "I desperately tried to persuade them to find a way to keep Luca alive to come back for revenge. I really wanted to stay. I did not want to go home."
Fans, however, were happy to see him go. On the Peaky Blinders subreddit, u/General-Apartment237 stated, "I just finished watching Season 4 and am really enjoying the series so far, but my god, Adrien Brody was awful. He does WAY too much business with that toothpick. That, and his poor man's Godfather impression of an accent, are incredibly distracting."
6.
"Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen — he originated the title role, sure, but by the time the film came around, he had clearly aged out of it."
At the time of this musical's 2015 debut, 22-year-old Platt played the high school loner Evan Hansen. Once the 2021 film rolled around, however, Platt was a decade older than his character. While he may have gotten away with it under stage lighting, film is wayyyy less forgiving.
When discussing Platt's casting, film critic Sarah Ward writes, "He played a college student almost a decade ago [at the time of Dear Evan Hansen's release] in Pitch Perfect, and was never going to pass for a high schooler under a camera's gaze... He's inescapably forceful, appears to think he's still in a theatre, and really just resembles an adult satirizing teens."
7.
"Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. That casting was criminally bad. Arrests should have been made."
This movie faced MAJOR criticism before it was even released due to Pratt's casting. His problematic behavior had already left a bad taste in people's mouths. And once the trailer was released, his lack of an Italian accent really threw fans off, making them miss Charles Martinet, the voice actor for Mario in the video games.
Pratt addressed fans' concerns by stating, “This is the soundtrack to your youth. You don't want someone to come along and cynically kind of destroy it as a cash grab with the movie. I fully understand that." He also emphasized that there were “so many hearts and souls and minds dedicated to making sure that didn't happen."
Despite his defense, many fans still hated his performance. While film critic Matt Brunson complimented the voice actors of side characters like Bowser (Jack Black), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), he thinks the main characters fell flat: "In the central roles of plumber siblings Mario and Luigi and Princess Peach, Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, and Anya Taylor-Joy are so colorless and bland that the filmmakers might as well have hired Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Marjorie Taylor Green just to see if they could have fared better."
8.
"Tom Cruise as 6'5" Jack Reacher..."
Jack Reacher started as a crime/thriller novel series by Lee Child. Reacher is described as 6'5" with a bulky physique, making his character intimidating and imposing. While Cruise has played many action-heavy roles, his roughly 5'7" stature cannot compare to the character readers envisioned. Cruise's stark contrast to the original character was only emphasized when the Reacher TV series premiered in 2022 (after Cruise's 2012 and 2016 films), as actor Alan Ritchson CLEARLY fits the character description much better.
Reddit user u/CleverInnuendo highlights the humor of Cruise's casting, stating, "The worst part is that they left in dialogue in the movie as if he was huge. There's a scene where the detective is asking the motel owner if there's someone around that looks like they could kill a woman in one punch, and she says something like 'you should see the guy in room (whatever)!' I literally spent the next five minutes of the movie waiting for the reveal of this new character before finally realizing she meant Tom Cruise."
9.
"Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne."
Max Payne is a neo-noir video game series that was adapted into a film in 2008. The film follows Wahlberg's character, a cop who is grief-stricken due to the murder of his family, in his pursuit of revenge. With a 16% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film *shocker* wasn't a hit.
When discussing Wahlberg's portrayal of Payne, film critic Brian Eggert asks, "What is he punishing himself (and us) for? His talents are best reserved for one-note roles, preferably those without challenging dialogue. Here, the actor narrates cliché lines without an ounce of passion or personality."
10.
"Double feature: Kevin Hart and Cate Blanchett in Borderlands."
Another video game-turned-movie, Borderlands follows bounty hunter Lilith (Blanchett) as she forms an unlikely alliance with a bunch of misfits (including Hart's character, Roland) as they uncover her planet's secrets. Think Guardians of the Galaxy vibes, but really shitty. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 10%, this film managed to beat Max Payne in terms of just how bad video game adaptations can get.
Borderlands director Eli Roth criticized the studio's push to adjust his original vision to earn a PG-13 rating. He told Variety, "You got something that belonged to nobody. It’s not a kids’ movie, but it’s trying to appeal to everybody. It’s for gamers, but it doesn’t have the violence the gamers want because it can’t be that extreme because it costs too much. You just wind up with a movie that’s neither fish nor fowl.” So, hey, at least he can admit it missed the mark.
11.
"Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor."
Eisenberg plays this Superman villain in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He acts as the main antagonist, pitting Batman and Superman against each other. On the Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard podcast, Eisenberg talks about the embarrassment he felt about the role. He stated, "I've never said this before, and it's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way, because I was poorly received in something so public."
A major reason for the criticism of this casting is that it felt like Eisenberg was playing himself. In a review of the film, Tyler Callaway notes, "During the movie, I just felt like I was watching the usual Jesse Eisenberg performance. It was like Columbus from Zombieland decided to grow his hair out and start hating Superman. ... I don't think Eisenberg has the acting potential to truly transform into a character and make it his own."
12.
"Jared Leto as the Joker."
Leto took on the role of the Joker for the 2016 film Suicide Squad. And when I say "took on," he reallyyyyy took it on. While method acting for the role, he gifted his costars some...interesting things. Margot Robbie (who played Harley Quinn) shared that he allegedly gifted her a rat, which she joked that she kept as a pet. Rumors spread that this rat was actually dead, which Leto denies, but his method acting was unsettling regardless.
His immersion into the role ultimately didn't pay off, as many still critique his performance. Reddit user u/frill_demon states, "The man is a quintessentially mediocre actor who somehow keeps getting landmark role after landmark role. I do not know anyone else on the planet who would have fucked up half of the roles he's been given without being permanently blacklisted."
Lastly, for shits and giggles:
13.
"John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich. I didn't buy it."
Do you disagree with anyone on this list? Are there other lackluster performances you thought of? Let us know in the comments.
Note: Comments have been edited for length/clarity.
Спутники
РН
SpaceX
Роскосмос
NASA