From controversial whitewashing to age-inappropriate roles, Hollywood has made some questionable casting decisions. Join us as we explore the most notorious miscast roles in cinema, where different actors could have delivered more authentic and compelling performances.
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00:00Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the roles that were severely
00:10miscast, sometimes even when the right choice for the role was obvious.
00:18For months, it seemed like any actor in Hollywood was up for the role of yet another edgy, deeply
00:36unhinged Joker in the DC Extended Universe.
00:39Ryan Gosling was an early choice, but unfortunately, he reportedly declined due to the multi-film
00:45commitment the role would require.
00:48Once Jared Leto was chosen, the endless media cycle about how wild and uninhibited his take
00:53on the Joker would be, along with his bizarre method acting gimmicks, didn't bode well.
00:58Karen, his laugh really bothered you.
01:00Yeah, well, whenever I met Jared, he never broke characters, so I would say,
01:05Hi, I'm Karen Fukuhara, nice to meet you, I'm Katana, and then he would come at me with,
01:09Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, hi, pretty.
01:14The performance is weird and explosive without any of the substance brought by performers before
01:19him.
01:20Ultimately, potential fans were turned off by Leto's self-important approach to what turned
01:24out to be a brief stint.
01:25I've got some grape soda on ice and a bare skin rub waiting.
01:29Yeah?
01:30Boss, we got a problem!
01:33Huh?
01:349.
01:35Jesse Eisenberg Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice
01:38They need to see the fraud you are, with their eyes, the blood on your hands.
01:47What have you done?
01:48Lex Luthor works best when he's played by actors like Gene Hackman because he is cool
01:53under pressure and secure in his power.
01:55It's what makes him dangerous.
01:57In Batman v Superman, the characterization of Superman's arch-nemesis is informed by the
02:02character's traumatic past.
02:04Unfortunately, this weirdly serious approach sees Jesse Eisenberg playing up the character's
02:09villainy through frantic, pressured speech, bizarre inflections, and childlike playfulness.
02:14All he does, though, is recall better performances.
02:26More than one critic unfavorably compared Eisenberg to Heath Ledger's Joker.
02:30Eisenberg is a really good actor, but he's much more suited to characters in naturalistic
02:35settings than he is to the exaggerated worlds of superhero movies.
02:478.
02:48Tom Holland Uncharted
02:58Development on this video game adaptation took over a decade.
03:02Castle actor Nathan Fillion lobbied for the starring role.
03:06Many fans of the game thought he would make the perfect Nathan Drake.
03:09When the movie finally made it to the theaters in 2022, Tom Holland played an aged-down version
03:15of Drake.
03:16What are you looking for?
03:17A tree.
03:18Really?
03:19Yeah.
03:20Wow.
03:21That's your expert analysis?
03:24Well, you just gave me the book like an hour ago.
03:27What am I supposed to do?
03:28Fans were disheartened by the performance.
03:30Holland is talented and charismatic, but his youthfulness and innocence just don't square
03:35with the mercenary character.
03:37Fans were even less impressed with Mark Wahlberg's casting as his mentor, Sully.
03:41Fillion's enthusiasm, maturity, and ability to play complex heroes should have made him
03:46a shoe-in.
03:47If I ever kill you, you'll be awake, you'll be facing me, and you'll be armed.
03:53Are you always this sentimental?
03:57I had a good day.
03:59You're different.
04:00You're just different.
04:01I'm not different.
04:02Yes, you are.
04:03I'm not different.
04:04You think I'm different?
04:05Do I look different to you?
04:06I am me.
04:07Portraying the complex, volatile, and singular Nina Simone was always going to require a performer
04:21with an exceptional gift.
04:23Replacing Mary J. Blige, Zoe Saldana's casting raised some red flags immediately.
04:28Simone's own daughter questioned the casting of a woman who looked nothing like her mother,
04:33a woman whose physical features were a significant part of her identity.
04:48Saldana had to use controversial skin-darkening techniques to achieve the look, which is uncanny
04:53at best.
04:54Saldana, who identifies as Afro-Latina, later admitted regretting her role in the film.
04:59The movie's 2% rating on Rotten Tomatoes says it all.
05:05You tell them to give me my money.
05:09Tell him to give me my money!
05:106.
05:11Tom Cruise, Jack Reacher
05:14You think I'm a hero?
05:15I am not a hero.
05:16I'm a drifter with nothing to lose.
05:18In the novels by Lee Childe, the ex-army specialist is over six feet and burly.
05:24Tom Cruise is many things.
05:25Over six feet and burly?
05:26He is not.
05:27Despite his success with the Mission Impossible series, Cruise's star persona wasn't enough
05:32to bring the character to life.
05:34Author Childe defended Cruise's casting at the time.
05:37He later sided with fans saying Jack Reacher's size is an essential component of the character
05:42that shouldn't have been compromised.
05:44A huge, physically intimidating man.
05:47And the readers felt that Tom was not really communicating that.
05:52And so, like I say, my loyalty has to be, even though I love Tom as an actor and as a person,
05:58my loyalty ultimately has to be with the reader.
06:01Amazon Prime's TV adaptation of the novels found it's Jack Reacher and Alan Richson,
06:06who is a much better physical match.
06:095.
06:24Sofia Coppola, The Godfather Part 3.
06:27Who's your father?
06:28I'll give you a hint.
06:30He's Italian.
06:33While making this long-awaited follow-up to his two masterpieces, director Francis Ford Coppola
06:39was in a bind.
06:40His original, better choice for the role of Al Pacino's doomed daughter, Winona Ryder,
06:45has to drop out.
06:46With little time to secure another performer, he cast his own daughter.
06:50What is this really for?
06:52Why are you doing this?
06:55Why am I doing this?
06:57Sofia Coppola's simplistic and somewhat dreamy performance immediately became a target
07:02for derision.
07:03Though she's a genius in her own right behind the camera, it's clear she was never meant
07:08to be a movie star.
07:09She and her father were lambasted for her casting.
07:12Whether it was sheer nepotism or a misguided attempt to solve a last-minute problem, it's
07:18pretty safe to assume Ryder would have turned in a better, more complex performance.
07:23Who understands anybody, really?
07:24Who wants to?
07:25It's hard enough trying to understand yourself, you know?
07:30We just don't fit.
07:34Number 4.
07:35Gal Gadot, Snow White
07:37I'm sure you think you got this licked, your majesty, but trust me, you'd know what
07:42you're up against.
07:43The person to blame for the failure of the live-action Disney remake changes depending
07:47on who you ask.
07:49But only Gal Gadot and her acting skills have become a literal meme unto themselves.
07:54Her stilted and lifeless line readings in movies like Death on the Nile routinely make waves
07:59on social media.
08:00But as the evil queen, she seems particularly at sea.
08:04Are you against me too?
08:08Are you?
08:09Yes or no?
08:10This is a role any actress should want to sink her teeth into.
08:14Charlize Theron played a version of her to great effect in 2012's Snow White and the
08:19Huntsman.
08:20Gadot's vacant performance doesn't convey villainy, power, or any sense of dramatic skill.
08:25If you let me down, down, down, down, in the dungeon you'll stay.
08:30Number 3.
08:31Keanu Reeves
08:32Bram Stoker's Dracula
08:34This is a great opportunity for you, Harker.
08:37But you'll have to leave Transylvania immediately.
08:41Opportunities such as this come but once in a lifetime.
08:44Yes, of course, sir.
08:46If only he weren't such a great guy.
08:49Director Francis Ford Coppola said he refrained from giving Keanu Reeves criticism on set because
08:54he liked him too much.
08:56Unfortunately, he's just too contemporary for any story that takes place before the 20th century.
09:02In Bram Stoker's Dracula, he plays real estate agent Jonathan Harker, the Englishman who ends
09:08up a prisoner in the Transylvania Count's castle.
09:11I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul.
09:15The Count, the way he looked at Mina's picture fills me with dread.
09:20As if I have a part to play in a story that is not known to me.
09:24His British accent is flimsy and his modern speech patterns constantly feel like an anachronism.
09:30Coppola cast him because he was a matinee idol.
09:33But another handsome leading man like River Phoenix or even Johnny Depp might have been a better choice here.
09:39He won rave reviews and a Tony Award for originating the role of troubled teen Evan Hansen on Broadway.
10:01But Ben Platt never should have reprised his role on screen.
10:05With close-ups and the curious decision to give the character a hairdo that aged him up further,
10:10it was apparent the 27-year-old was miscast in the role that once made him a star.
10:15It also didn't escape the notice of fans that his father, Mark Platt, served as a producer on the film.
10:21There wasn't really any question on anyone actually connected to the piece or who was actually a part of the film.
10:26There was never any kind of discussion that it wouldn't be me.
10:29Several other actors have played the role on stage since Platt vacated the role.
10:33One of them, Andrew Barth Feldman, has even gone on to have a successful film career of his own.
10:38He would have made a more convincing high schooler.
10:40And when you're broken on the ground, you will be found.
10:46Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:50Cameron Diaz, Gangs of New York.
10:52She's a great actress, but she's out of place in turn of the century New York.
10:57Russell Crowe, Les Miserables.
11:09He's not exactly a music man.
11:12Emma Watson, Beauty and the Beast.
11:22With this much alleged auto-tuning, it would have been better to cast a singer in the role.
11:37John Wayne, The Conqueror.
11:39The western star is dismal and bizarre as the Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan.
11:44There are moments for wisdom, Jamuga, then I listen to you.
11:47And there are moments for action, then I listen to my blood.
11:50Ezra Miller, DC Extended Universe.
11:53Fans wanted Grant Gustin to reprise his TV role after Miller's various controversies.
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12:201.
12:21Scarlett Johansson, Ghost in the Shell.
12:33Adapted from the manga, this cyberpunk action thriller could have spawned a whole new franchise.
12:39Scarlett Johansson was probably cast due to her bankability, but the makers failed to consider
12:44one big problem.
12:46Her character is a Japanese icon, leading to accusations of whitewashing.
12:50This drew outrage from many who felt that a Japanese actor should have been hired instead.
13:07This was a fumble on every front.
13:08It's hard to imagine the creatives behind the film didn't see this coming.
13:12And the film's ending twist did more to hurt them than help quell any lingering resentments
13:17about her casting.
13:28What's a role that you'd recast if you could?
13:30Tell us in the comments!
13:42I guess it's hard to understand.
13:43I know I did a few times in the comments but I don't think of it enough to pick up any season.
13:45After the film was about having a reason.
13:47But it wasn't too long and the last meeting was to record the film was because of the images.
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