Top 10 Unpopular Casting Choices That Turned out GREAT

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Just wait and see! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the casting choices that did not go well with fans at first, but ended up being iconic.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the casting choices that

00:10did not go well with fans at first but ended up being iconic.

00:20Number 10.

00:21Tom Cruise as Lestat de Leoncourt – Interview with the Vampire

00:27If you didn't think the star of Risky Business would be a good fit for the Brat Prince, we

00:32don't blame you.

00:34Neither did Anne Rice, the author of the original novel Interview with the Vampire.

00:38But even she went from calling Tom Cruise's casting bizarre to praising his performance

00:43as courageous.

00:52He prepared for the role by dropping weight, learning to play piano, and reading every

00:56installment of Rice's Vampire Chronicles series.

00:59Once skeptical of the movie, die-hard fans of the book were pleased to see the complex

01:04villain come to life with Cruise's chilling portrayal.

01:07With how much work the actor put into his role, he won everyone over.

01:17Number 9.

01:18Matt Damon as Jason Bourne – The Bourne Identity

01:21An Oscar winner but not an action star, that was how most people saw Matt Damon after Goodwill

01:27Hunting, which won him Best Original Screenplay.

01:32He barely knew how to fight when he was tapped by Doug Liman to play the amnesiac super-spy

01:38Jason Bourne.

01:39But by the time the cameras start rolling, he was a changed man.

01:43Now there's no separating him from his, well, Bourne identity.

01:58Damon naturally gave the tragic action hero an emotional weight on top of thrilling combat

02:03skills.

02:04Whether he will return to the franchise is for him to know and for us to find out.

02:07But with all the hints he has been dropping, we're definitely looking forward to it.

02:16Number 8.

02:17Lady Gaga as Ali – A Star Is Born

02:20Coming after Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland, and Barbra Streisand, the Bourne This Way singer

02:25had big shoes to fill.

02:37This was her first starring role and viewers were having trouble separating her larger-than-life

02:41stage persona from her identity as an actress.

02:44Nevertheless, Gaga did what she does best – shock the audience.

02:49This time, it was her magical portrayal of musical underdog Ali and her heart-wrenching

02:53chemistry with Bradley Cooper.

03:03In addition to winning an Oscar for Hit Song Shallow, she was nominated for her acting.

03:08While Streisand maintained that the casting was the wrong idea, she couldn't deny its

03:12massive success either.

03:14Through Gaga's performance, a movie star was born.

03:18Number 7.

03:19Hugh Jackman as Wolverine – X-Men

03:31Being tall at 6 foot 2, Hugh Jackman's towering physique did not agree with fans of this stocky

03:37yet menacing superhero.

03:39Some even thought it was a disservice to Wolverine.

03:42And both the actor and producer Tom DeSanto were fully aware of this too.

03:49But the real reason Logan got his codename was not because of the animal's height,

03:54but for its gluttony.

03:55A glutton for death is how Dr. Abraham Cornelius described this test subject.

04:01By nailing Wolverine's ferocity, underscored by the burden of a long and hard life, Jackman

04:06has proven himself irreplaceable.

04:08Now, Wolverine's height is more of an inside joke than a hot topic.

04:19Number 6.

04:20Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones – Bridget Jones's Diary

04:31This casting went from being called the dumbest idea by a working title executive to one of

04:35the greatest roles of Renee Zellweger's career.

04:38The deeply endearing yet flawed everywoman in Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones books

04:43is Britain's pride and joy.

04:54Despite the audience's reservations, the American Zellweger was not only convincing

04:59in her accent, but unforgettable in the role.

05:02It even earned her an Academy Award nomination, and British audiences approved her performance

05:07with a BAFTA nomination.

05:09She has since reprised Bridget twice and is coming back for a fourth time in Bridget Jones'

05:14Mad About the Boy.

05:23The times may have changed, but clearly we still can't get enough of her.

05:28Number 5.

05:29Michael Keaton as Batman – Batman

05:36Michael Keaton's casting as Batman was not only unpopular, but protested against.

05:42It got so bad that the co-creator of Batman, Bob Kane, had to join the production team

05:46as a creative consultant.

05:48Still, fans were far from appeased.

05:51After all, no one saw Beetlejuice as the superhero type.

05:57It wasn't until they saw his charming, immersed portrayal of the Caped Crusader on screen

06:02that the winds changed.

06:04The praise Keaton got after the movie was double the backlash he took before.

06:15The same thing happened with Robert Pattinson.

06:18Edward Cullen can't possibly be Batman.

06:21Or so it was thought, until he proved the critics wrong.

06:25Number 4.

06:26Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games

06:35While fans of Suzanne Collins' novels were concerned about 20-year-old J-Law being too

06:39old to play 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, the author was worried production would pick

06:43someone too young.

06:45However, director Gary Ross said that he had never been more confident about a casting

06:49decision than he was about The Winter's Bone actress.

06:53He knew what he wanted, and he found it.

07:06Despite the age difference, Lawrence brought out the maturity and fortitude required of

07:10Katniss, who had to grow up too quickly in a dystopian deathmatch.

07:14Soon after The Hunger Games hit the big screen, Jennifer Lawrence became a household name.

07:30Number 3.

07:31Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man – Iron Man

07:33Our DJ didn't choose the Tony Stark life.

07:36The Tony Stark life chose him.

07:47We couldn't imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, even if we tried.

07:52The superhero's armor is like his second skin at this point, and nobody's complaining.

07:57But they sure did when he was first cast.

08:00This is because of the troubled past that gave the actor a bad boy image.

08:04Even by Stark's standard.

08:16The American Downey faced similar controversy at the time for his casting in the very British

08:21role of Sherlock Holmes.

08:30But being the genius actor he is, Downey owned both roles like no other.

08:35Number 2.

08:36Daniel Craig as James Bond – Casino Royale

08:42With Daniel Craig's blonde hair, blue eyes, and smoldering smile, you would think he'd

08:48get a green light from fans the moment his casting as the suave 007 was announced.

08:53Yet, that's exactly what made them mad.

08:56James Bond is written as more dark-haired and rugged.

08:59The creators of 2006's Casino Royale wanted an offbeat 21st century Bond, and Craig seemed

09:05to fit their bill.

09:11But hardcore fans, according to a complaint letter template for Sony, were in terrible

09:16distress.

09:17Nevertheless, Casino Royale was a smash hit at the box office and with audiences, as were

09:22the four direct sequels.

09:35Craig overcame fans' initial apprehensions to become one of the most beloved Bonds yet.

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09:56Number 1.

09:57Heath Ledger as The Joker – The Dark Knight

10:11If there's one character that has gone down in the history of cinema as golden, it is

10:15Heath Ledger's Joker.

10:17Offering a masterclass of acting, the young genius set a standard that remains insurmountable.

10:22Yet, when he was cast, he was subject to all sorts of hate imaginable.

10:28Director Christopher Nolan knew what he was getting into though.

10:37Once the first teaser of The Dark Knight came out, fans watched in awe as the handsome brokeback

10:42mountain star transformed into the terrifying clown prince of crime.

10:46With his sadly posthumous Academy Award win for a superhero movie no less, Ledger proved

10:52himself to be one of the best casting decisions of all time.

11:00Did any of these casting choices shock you?

11:02Let us know in the comments if you changed your mind, and don't forget to like and

11:06subscribe for more WatchMojo videos.

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