{"id":213129,"date":"2025-06-25T12:33:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/213129\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T12:33:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:33:33","slug":"20-movies-that-got-the-casting-disastrously-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/213129\/","title":{"rendered":"20 movies that got the casting disastrously wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Casting is one of those invisible skills that forms the bedrock of filmmaking. When it\u2019s done well<\/a>, you might not notice it at all; when it\u2019s done badly, you\u2019ll know in an instant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons why casting can go wrong. Sometimes an actor is unable to do an accent. Sometimes they aren\u2019t the right age. Often, pre-existing characters will invite extra scrutiny, with fans complaining if the casting doesn\u2019t live up to the original description. Invariably, it leads to a backlash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consider, for instance, the forthcoming movie adaptation of Emily Bronte\u2019s Wuthering Heights, from Saltburn director Emerald Fennell. While the film is still in the early stages of production, fans have loudly criticised the casting of its lead characters, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. The famous literary figures will be played by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi respectively.<\/p>\n

Audiences will have to wait until the film is out in cinemas to determine whether or not the \u201cmiscasting\u201d allegations hold water.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here is a rundown of 20 of the worst pieces of casting in film history. <\/p>\n

20. Johnny Flynn, <\/strong>Stardust<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look back over some of the myriad music biopics that have been cranked out over the last two decades, and you\u2019ll find no shortage of poor casting decisions. There\u2019s nonetheless something memorably regrettable about 2020\u2019s Stardust, which cast folk musician and Lovesick star Johnny Flynn as none other than David Bowie. I don\u2019t know if anyone is capable of accurately capturing Bowie\u2019s peculiar genius, but it\u2019s certainly a task too tall for Flynn, who is admittedly not helped by the absence of Bowie\u2019s music. As Clarisse Loughrey wrote in her 2020 review: \u201cFlynn doesn\u2019t deserve to get a bad rap for his performance as David Bowie in Stardust, Gabriel Range\u2019s flimsy biopic of the star. The actor-musician, so magnetic in last year\u2019s Emma, is convincing as a tortured glam rocker \u2013 just not the one who ever sang about Major Tom\u2019s interplanetary adventures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Johnny Flynn as David Bowie in \u2018Stardust\u2019 (Vertigo Releasing Limited)<\/p>\n

19. Edward Norton, <\/strong>The Incredible Hulk<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all its sins, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has usually excelled when it comes to casting, whether that\u2019s hiring Robert Downey Jr as the arrogant Tony Stark, or Chris Evans as the plain, upstanding Steve Rogers. One glaring exception, however, came at the very first hurdle \u2013 when Edward Norton was cast in the role of Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) in 2008\u2019s The Incredible Hulk. Norton, obnoxious and undisguisedly a thespian, failed to convince in his sole outing as the green mutant, and reports of behind-the-scenes creative disagreements were widespread. When he was replaced, in the franchise, by the excellent and offbeat Mark Ruffalo, it exposed just how little impact Norton had made as Banner. Perhaps it\u2019s time Hulk\u2019s catchphrase got an update? \u201cDon\u2019t make me Ed Norton. You won\u2019t like me when I\u2019m Ed Norton.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Edward<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Edward Norton in \u2018The Incredible Hulk\u2019 (Marvel Studios)<\/p>\n

18. John Mills, <\/strong>Great Expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be clear: David Lean\u2019s 1946 adaptation of Charles Dickens\u2019s rags-to-riches tale remains one of the best-ever translations of classic literature to the screen. John Mills, as the adult version of Philip \u201cPip\u201d Pirrip, is great in the lead role, earnest and engaging and credible. Well \u2013 not that credible. Mills was pushing 40 when he filmed his part, and, for much of the film, is playing Pip at the very start of adulthood. Twenty-year-old men just aren\u2019t supposed to look like that.<\/p>\n

17. Dane DeHaan, <\/strong>Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite being widely mocked and disparaged on its release, Luc Besson\u2019s sci-fi blockbuster Valerian had a lot going for it: inventive set-pieces, fun world-building, and a vibrant, surreal aesthetic. All it needed was some charisma \u2013 a leading man who could pull off a sort of Han Solo-ish vibe as the titular spacefarer. Dane DeHaan is so lacking in this charisma it\u2019s almost bizarre; on a line-by-line basis, his performance is mortifyingly stiff, and the abject non-chemistry with co-star Cara Delevingne is a thing to behold. Valerian is an underrated gem brimming with fun creative decisions, but the casting sure ain\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n

\"Dane<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Dane DeHaan in \u2018Valerian\u2019 (Valerian SAS TF1 Films)<\/p>\n

16. Johnny Depp, <\/strong>The Lone Ranger<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a good few Johnny Depp projects that could have been placed on this list (whoever thought he could fill Gene Wilder\u2019s Willy Wonka shoes?) but none so egregious as The Lone Ranger. The film saw Depp play Tonto, the Lone Ranger\u2019s Native American sidekick, in a piece of casting that attracted no small amount of controversy. Depp has claimed that he has Native American ancestry, and considers the role a corrective to some of cinema\u2019s historically problematic depictions of Native American characters. Nonetheless, it\u2019s clear that Depp, broad and over-mannered here, was never right for the role.<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Johnny Depp in \u2018The Lone Ranger\u2019 (Disney)<\/p>\n

15<\/strong>. Kevin Costner, <\/strong>Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few men have embodied American exceptionalism in quite the way that Kevin Costner once did; the man seems to ooze symbolic resonance from every pore. So casting him as a famous Brit, in 1991\u2019s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, was always going to be a dicey proposition. Reports have claimed that Costner attempted to do an English accent but was steered back to his native brogue having already filmed several scenes. Whatever the case, the end result is about as English as biscuits \u2019n\u2019 gravy. There must be something about the prince of thieves that invites miscasting: years after this dubious portrayal, Russell Crowe was similarly ill-suited to the role in 2010\u2019s Robin Hood.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Kevin Costner in \u2018Prince of Thieves\u2019 (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

14. Tom Cruise, <\/strong>Jack Reacher<\/strong><\/p>\n

Depending on who you ask, Tom Cruise is many things. He\u2019s an underrated character actor; an inscrutable eccentric; an adrenaline-chasing madman; maybe even our last great movie star. But one thing Cruise is not, is particularly tall. Hence the mass fan outcry over his casting as Jack Reacher, a character who, as written by Lee Child, is big and brawny in the Chris Hemsworth mould. Cruise does a perfectly serviceable job in the role, but he just isn\u2019t Jack Reacher \u2013 at least, not the Jack Reacher that fans were demanding.<\/p>\n

Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher<\/p>\n

13. Angelina Jolie, <\/strong>Alexander<\/strong><\/p>\n

The casting of Angelina Jolie in Alexander represents a particularly stupid case of \u201cHollywood brain\u201d. Who better to play the mother of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell, then aged 28) than Jolie, then aged 29? The one-year mother-son age discrepancy is a folly rooted in sexism \u2013 and it\u2019s an oddity that no amount of makeup can disguise.<\/p>\n

\"Angelina<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Angelina Jolie and Colin Farrell in \u2018Alexander\u2019 (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

12. Taika Waititi, <\/strong>Jojo Rabbit<\/strong><\/p>\n

What can we say about Taika Waititi in Jojo Rabbit? Not since spaced-out hippie Lorenzo St DuBois flounced onstage in The Producers has the role of Adolf Hitler been so catastrophically miscast. Waititi, who directed himself in this poor-taste Second World War comedy, would be unrecognisable as the Nazi leader, save for the outfit and hairdo; his Hitler is over-broad, flamboyant and as petulant as a schoolchild. Even as an attempt to spoof and belittle one of history\u2019s greatest monsters, Waititi just doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

11. Hayden Christensen, <\/strong>Star Wars: Episode II \u2013 Attack of the Clones<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look: it\u2019s become a little unfashionable to pick on Hayden Christensen\u2019s much-criticised Star Wars performance. Revisionistic love for George Lucas\u2019s prequel trilogy is now a fairly common position within the franchise\u2019s fanbase, and Christensen was even brought back as Anakin Skywalker in the recent Disney+ series Ahsoka. But there\u2019s no getting around just how ill-suited he is for the role. How could a figure this whiny and devoid of gravitas possibly grow up to be Darth Vader?<\/p>\n

\"Hayden<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Hayden Christensen in \u2018Attack of the Clones\u2019 (LucasFilm)<\/p>\n

10. Scarlett Johansson, <\/strong>Ghost in the Shell<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scarlett Johansson isn\u2019t the beginning and end of Ghost in the Shell\u2019s casting problem, but she was the face of it. In adapting the seminal anime movie into live action, Paramount was accused of \u201cwhitewashing\u201d, after Johansson was cast as a character who is, in the source material, Asian. Critics and audiences disagree over just how offensive the casting may have been, but the controversy ended up enveloping the film\u2019s release \u2013 and, \u201cwhitewashing\u201d or not, Johansson\u2019s performance as a cyborg supersoldier was never that convincing to begin with.<\/p>\n

\"Scarlett<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Scarlett Johansson in \u2018Ghost in the Shell\u2019 (Paramount)<\/p>\n

9. Kristy Swanson, <\/strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to feel a bit sorry for Kristy Swanson. How was she to know, when she accepted the role of Buffy Summers in the genre-bending vampire film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that Sarah Michelle Gellar would, only a few years later, turn the character into a bona fide pop cultural icon? The 1992 film \u2013 a drastically inferior prototype for the gem that Buffy would ultimately metastasise into \u2013 had problems beyond Swanson, for sure. But she was nonetheless a poor choice for Buffy, bringing out only the character\u2019s most vapid and rebarbative qualities.<\/p>\n

\"Swanson<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Swanson in \u2018Buffy the Vampire Slayer\u2019 (Fox)<\/p>\n

8. Kyle MacLachlan, <\/strong>Dune<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kyle MacLachlan may well be the first actor you think of when you hear the name \u201cDavid Lynch\u201d, thanks to his timeless roles in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. But his first collaboration with the director was a total misstep \u2013 Lynch\u2019s infamously errant attempt to adapt the sci-fi tome Dune. MacLachlan is too old for the role, but also utterly the wrong vibe. Too flat and too oblique, he was no Lisan al Gaib \u2013 this false prophet was fooling no one.<\/p>\n

\"MacLachlan<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

MacLachlan in \u2018Dune\u2019 (1984 Dino De Laurentiis Corporation)<\/p>\n

7. Elijah Wood, <\/strong>Green Street<\/strong><\/p>\n

A relatively short, sweet-seeming American man, Elijah Wood was the perfect choice for Frodo Baggins \u2013 plucky little Hobbit of the Shire who\u2019s swept along by a grand fantasy adventure. Wood was not such a perfect choice for Matt \u201cThe Yank\u201d Buckner \u2013\u00a0violent football hooligan. Yet that\u2019s exactly who he played in the 2005 football hooliganism film Green Street. The early stretches of the movie, which position Wood as a sort of uncomfortable fish out of water in the UK football scene, are just about fine, but Wood\u2019s descent into grubby Brit violence is not that credible.<\/p>\n

\"Elijah<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Elijah Wood in \u2018Green Street\u2019 (Universal Studios)<\/p>\n

6. Tom Holland, <\/strong>Uncharted<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I asked you to picture a rugged, Indiana Jones-esque adventurer, I very much doubt it would be the face of Tom Holland that comes to mind. Yet the chipper Spider-Man star was nonetheless chosen to play rugged, Indiana Jones-esque Nathan Drake in Uncharted, 2023\u2019s blockbuster adaptation of the hit video game franchise. Holland is too young and too physically unimposing to ever really convince as Drake, while Mark Wahlberg\u2019s turn as his briny, cigar-chomping mentor Sully is scarcely any better.<\/p>\n

Tom Holland stars in first Uncharted trailer<\/p>\n

5. Cameron Diaz, Gangs of New York<\/strong><\/p>\n

A pretty good film anchored by a terrific Daniel Day-Lewis performance, Gangs of New York was nonetheless slated for its casting of Cameron Diaz in the role of Irish pickpocket Jenny Everdeane. It\u2019s the atrocious accent that draws most of the flak \u2013 and ought to be disqualifying in and of itself \u2013 but Diaz, often great elsewhere, seems lost and ineffectual with the material to boot.<\/p>\n

\"Cameron<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Cameron Diaz in \u2018Gangs of New York\u2019 (Entertainment)<\/p>\n

4. George Clooney, <\/strong>Batman & Robin<\/strong><\/p>\n

There have been many actors to pull on the Dark Knight\u2019s cowl over the years, with massively varying results. But there\u2019s little debate when it comes to the worst to ever do it: George Clooney, in 1997\u2019s Batman & Robin, surely takes the bat-prize. What might have seemed like a winning combination on paper simply didn\u2019t work; Clooney\u2019s cut-marble charisma feels all wrong for Bruce Wayne. Even those who defend Joel Schumacher\u2019s unapologetically camp take on the material struggle to find a good word to say about the ER star\u2019s casting here.<\/p>\n

\"Clooney<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Clooney and Chris O\u2019Donnell in \u2018Batman & Robin\u2019 (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

3. Zoe Salda\u00f1a, <\/strong>Nina<\/strong><\/p>\n

The casting of Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Salda\u00f1a in this 2016 biopic of Nina Simone was criticised at the time, and for good reason. Salda\u00f1a, who is Afro-Latina, darkened her skin and wore a prosthetic nose to play the monolithic soul singer; she later expressed regret over signing on to the role. \u201cI should have never played Nina,\u201d she said in 2020. \u201cI should have done everything in my power, with the leverage that I had 10 years ago \u2013 a different leverage, but it was leverage nonetheless. I should have tried everything in my power to cast a Black woman to play an exceptionally perfect Black woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Zoe<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Zoe Salda\u00f1a in \u2018Nina\u2019 (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

2. Ben Platt, <\/strong>Dear Evan Hansen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every musical performer knows the importance of timing \u2013 and timing is exactly what made Dear Evan Hansen such a disaster. Ben Platt\u2019s return to the stage role that made him famous came years too late. Playing mendacious schoolchild Evan Hansen, Platt was 27 in real life and looked every day of it. The attempts to make him look younger through wigs and makeup actually ended up ageing him further, giving his character a kind of creepy, veiny pallor. There\u2019s a reason this is one of the most ruthlessly memed performances in history \u2013 Platt\u2019s casting wasn\u2019t so much a bum note as a whole bum symphony.<\/p>\n

1. Mickey Rooney in<\/strong> Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s not all that much to say about Mickey Rooney\u2019s infamous turn in Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s, as the bucktoothed Mr Yunioshi. It\u2019s a hideous racist caricature, and there\u2019s no way in hell that he should have been cast. Blake Edwards, the film\u2019s director, admitted as much towards the end of his life, stating: \u201cLooking back, I wish I had never done it … and I would give anything to be able to recast it.\u201d Hollywood still has its racial problems when it comes to casting, but Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s is mercifully now beyond the pale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-213129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114744027573892893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}