Isn’t it nice to see that Hollywood is becoming more and more diverse? However, it does not change the fact that this has not always been the case. There were times when certain casting decisions made us wonder what on earth the producers and directors had been thinking. This list is all about the worse casting choices in the entertainment industry. The more serious ones have to do with whitewashing and red face, but others were simply the result of errors in judgment. We are sad to report that some actors and actresses simply do not have the range to bring certain characters to life. Are you ready to read about the most bizarre and inappropriate casting decisions ever made?
Cameron Diaz In Gangs Of New York
We all know that Daniel Day Lewis was the true star of Gangs of New York, the Best Picture nominee by Martin Scorsese. It was hard to keep up with the actor, whose on-screen performance is simply too arresting. Most of the members of the cast did well enough, but this only made Cameron Diaz stand out in a bad way. The actress was cast to portray Jenny Everdeane, the pickpocket that goes on to be a love interest of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. Known for her work in romcoms, it was one of her rare dramatic roles. As you can imagine, everyone was intrigued to see how well she would fare in a different genre. Sadly, she failed to make the mark with her spotty Irish accent and mediocre acting.
Cameron Diaz In Gangs Of New York
Jesse Eisenberg In Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
There are certain comic book villains that people consider the best, and Lex Luthor is right up there with Dr. Doom and Magneto. When word got out that he would appear in this Zack Snyder film, fans went into a frenzy. They wondered who would be cast to play the bad guy, many hoping that it would go to Bryan Cranston. As you can imagine, they raised their eyebrows when it instead went to Jesse Eisenberg. It is rare for movie critics and DC fans to be on the same page, but everyone agreed that the actor was miscast. They found his portrayal of the villain too loud, too manic, and too similar to the Joker.
Jesse Eisenberg In Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice
Johnny Depp In The Lone Ranger
This is only the first example of a white person cast to play a character from a different racial background. It looks like things are not going very well for Johnny Depp, not only in his personal life but also with his career. We doubt that he felt happy about how much The Lone Ranger bombed. It reportedly cost Disney $190 million after it failed to impress both the audiences and critics. Some of them were especially bothered by the decision to cast Depp as Tanto, who was meant to be Native American. It is true that the actor has played very different characters over the course of his career. We have no problems seeing him in prosthetics and heavy makeup, but it did not feel right to see him in indigenous attire and makeup!
Johnny Depp In The Lone Ranger
Chloë Grace Moretz In Carrie
Was there really any need to remake this horror classic? Based on how badly it did at the box office, the answer is probably no. At the very least, they could have gotten an actress that suited the role. In the original, the title character was an awkward and shy misfit who gets bullied at school. If you ask us, Chloe Grace Moretz resembled the popular girl who would bully her instead! Since she is already pretty from the very beginning, the important scene during the prom did not make a lick of sense. In fact, this might be the root of the issues of the film. Why on earth would anyone bully a person who looked like that? If you ask us, it felt like the team who worked on the reboot totally misunderstood the original.
Chloë Grace Moretz In Carrie
John Cusack in The Butler
It is not a secret that John Cusack is amazing at playing the likable average Joe. That is why he works as the romantic lead in movies such as High Fidelity and Say Anything. We wonder if the producers of The Butler had been aware that it was a huge gamble to cast him as Richard Nixon. It seemed like director Lee Daniels did not see it that way since he also miscast the actor in The Paperboy. Even worse? He does not sound or look anything like the 37th President of the United States. At any rate, it was rather amusing to watch Cusack with that horrible prosthetic nose.
John Cusack In The Butler
Keanu Reeves In Bram Stoker’s Dracula
We adore Keanu Reeves, but we can’t deny the fact that he has worked on a few bad projects in the past. If you are not convinced, you should check him out as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The film ended up bagging three Academy Awards for costume, makeup, and sound effects, but his performance left a lot to be desired. As the curious real estate agent, he delivered an awful British accent and over-the-top reactions. According to director Francis Ford Coppola, Reeves tried to speak like an English person but ultimately failed. This was what the filmmaker had to say about it: “He wanted to do it perfectly, and in trying to do it perfectly it came off as stilted.” A for effort!
Keanu Reeves In Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Ashton Kutcher In Jobs
It is admirable to watch comedic actors try something new, especially if it is a more serious role. Still, we have to say that we do not know what they were thinking by casting Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs. Can you imagine Kelso of That ‘70s Show as the man who revolutionized technology? This is not to disparage the actor, who we loved in Dude, Where’s My Car and No Strings Attached. Let us just say that some people are not made for certain genres. If you want to watch a biopic about the late Apple founder, Steve Jobs with Michael Fassbender did a better job.
Ashton Kutcher In Jobs
Angelina Jolie In Alexander
If you told us that Colin Farrell was Alexander and Angelina Jolie played his mother, we would have laughed at you. Can you believe that this was a real movie? For one thing, she does not look nearly old enough to play the part. Perhaps it would have been a smidge better if they used prosthetics, but they did not. At the time, she was 29 years old to his 28. We really have no idea what they had been thinking at the time. This just goes to show that, for some reason, Hollywood has a fear of casting older women!
Angelina Jolie In Alexander
Vince Vaughn In Psycho
Anyone who has watched both versions of this movie will tell you that the remake was strange. In essence, it was unnecessary. One of the weirdest things about it was the decision to cast Vince Vaughn as the main character, who was meant to be frail. He simply did not look the part. In 1998, he had still been working on figuring out who he was. At the time, he had already been in Rounders and Swingers but had yet to work on Wedding Crashers and Old School. As you can imagine, his portrayal of this iconic character was just not up to far. We are just glad that the original is still around so that we can just watch it and pretend that the reboot does not exist.
Vince Vaughn In Psycho
Denise Richards In The World Is Not Enough
There is more to Bond girls than meets the eye! Not only are they supposed to be beautiful, but they are meant to be intelligent as well. Sadly, Denise Richards has since become known as one of the worst ones in history. In 1999, she got to play Dr. Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough. Back then, she had been most famous for her topless scene in The Wild Things. We are sad that she was unable to show the depth of the character in the 007 film. Even though she called the part “brainy,” she failed to bring this to life. According to some people, it was difficult to believe that her character was a nuclear scientist for this very reason. Fun fact: she brought home a Razzie Award for this role!
Denise Richards In The World Is Not Enough
Russell Crowe In Noah
Why does Hollywood still think that it is a good idea to turn bible stories into movies? True , The 10 Commandments and Th Passion of Christ were both huge hits. Even so, we doubt that anyone was convinced that Russell Crowe can bring justice to Noah. The white guy from New Zealand did not look anything like the Middle Eastern man who made a huge wooden ark to rescue animals from a huge flood. What was so fascinating about this was that it made just about everyone mad no matter their religious belief! We are not shocked that it has been banned in a number of Muslim countries.
Russell Crowe In Noah
Sofia Coppola In Godfather III
In case you were wondering, Sofia Coppola is the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola. This also means that she is the cousin of Nic Cage but let us not forget that she is a talented director-screenwriter as well. She even bagged an Academy Award for Lost in Translation! Sadly, it looks like she is a better fit for offscreen work. In the third installment of The Godfather, she was very wooden and stilted. She actually appeared in the first two installments of the series as well, although she had been uncredited back then. Her dad probably regretted the decision to cast her in those roles. If you watch the show, you will probably share our thoughts about her portrayal of Mary Corleone.
Sofia Coppola In Godfather III
Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
Who on earth would believe that a long-haired California boy like Kevin Costner is Robin Hood? The actor simply failed to bring justice to one of the most adored mythical characters in English lore. On top of that, this was the film that came after Dances with Wolves. That makes his appearance in this film even more difficult to watch. His portrayal of Robin Hood was a mix of Crash Davis from Bull Durham and Elliot Ness from The Untouchables. This was a bad film overall.
Kevin Costner In Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves
Ryan Reynolds In Green Lantern
When it comes to Hollywood, it is clear that superheroes are adored. Sadly, this does not seem to apply to Green Lantern. Director Campbell thought that he would get the same reception that Robert Downey Jr. did by casting a handsome and witty leading man. He turned out to be wrong since Ryan Reynolds does not have the same gravitas. In the end, he did a much better job by playing the wisecracking antihero called Deadpool. We are glad that he got to play a comic book character that suited him very well. He simply was not the right person to play the green crime-fighting hero.
Ryan Reynolds In Green Lantern
Colin Farrell In Alexander
Over the years, we have seen some amazing performances delivered by Colin Farrell. Even so, we were very disappointed with his portrayal of the main character in Alexander. To start with, this was rather insensitive to the Greeks. On top of that, he did not have what it takes to play a greedy and morally bereft emperor like Alexander the Great. For the most, he has been able to shrug off the criticism that he got for it. In 2013, he went on The Graham Norton Show and talked about his bleach blonde hair in the film. “That was my Doris Day look…Alexander was the golden-locked child, but he shouldn’t have been. He should’ve been brunette. And maybe he shouldn’t have had an Irish accent — only from the 7,000 reviews I read,” he quipped.
Colin Farrell In Alexander
Halle Berry In Catwoman
Only a few years before she brought home an Academy Award, Halle Berry played the title character in Catwoman . At the time, she already had a lot of comic book fans for her performance as Storm in X-Men. Sadly, she failed to live up to the expectations that people had of her! They thought that it did not hold a candle to the portrayal of Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns. This version did not have the same seductive appeal since it was hypersexualized and over-the-top. On top of that, many think that it is one of the most terrible superhero movies to ever exist. What a shame.
Halle Berry In Catwoman
Everyone In Fifty Shades Of Grey
This movie was an attempt to capitalize on the insane popularity of the book with the same title. Sadly, the result simply did not work. For one thing, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson did not have nearly enough chemistry to pull it off. The storyline was rather intriguing, so it is unbelievable that the movie turned out to be such a huge snooze fest. It failed to capture both the power dynamic and the sexual tension that the characters were supposed to have. We wonder if there is any truth to the rumors going around at the time. According to the grapevine, the lead actor and actress despised each other!
Everyone In Fifty Shades Of Grey
George Clooney In Batman & Robin
Over the years, we have seen a number of people play the Dark Knight. Let us just say that they have not all been successful. George Clooney only got to play Batman in one movie: Batman & Robin. It is not a secret that this is one of the worst films in the DC Universe. Yes, this is the same movie with the bat nipples. To be fair, it did not help that the movie also had horrible iterations of Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Batgirl by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone respectively.
George Clooney In Batman & Robin
Topher Grace In Spider-Man 3
There are plenty of things to criticize about the first Spider-Man series, but it will always be special to us. After all, this was the debut of our favorite neighborhood superhero! There were a lot of people who thought that Tobey Maguire wasn’t the right person for the job. However, the even odder decision was to make Topher Grace play Venom in the third installment of the series. In the comics, he should have been a bigger dude. Others even go as far as to say that the portrayal of the character was garbage. Didn’t you get secondhand embarrassment as you watched the two actors face each other?
Topher Grace In Spider Man 3
John Wayne In The Conqueror
Let us take a look at the facts, shall we? Genghis Khan hailed from Mongolia, which is in Asia. On the other hand, John Wayne came from Iowa. The state might just be the whitest place in the United States! The actor took on the role of the emperor in The Conqueror after making it big as a Western star. Maybe he got bored after three decades of playing cowboys on the screen. It could also be that the producers offered him a huge sum of money for it. At any rate, we can’t deny that it was a huge mistake.
John Wayne In The Conqueror
Scarlett Johansson In Ghost In The Shell
Here is a more recent example of whitewashing in cinema. In 2007, Scarlett Johansson was cast to star in Ghost in the Shell. The truth was that there was nothing wrong with her performance. No, the problem was the fact that they could have chosen an Asian person to bring the character to life! After all, the anime was hugely popular and could have helped the career of a minority. As it is, the industry already has an issue with representation! When she was cast, people signed a petition that demanded to have her replaced. We wonder if the whitewashing contributed to how badly it did in terms of commercial and critical reception. Hopefully, the producers have since learned their lesson.
Scarlett Johansson In Ghost In The Shell
Mickey Rooney In Breakfast At Tiffany’s
Breakfast at Tiffany’s remains popular even to this day, but people seem to forget about one scene in question. We doubt that many of the fans remember that Mickey Rooney had to wear fake teeth and portray a Japanese man in the story. What makes this even worse is the fact that he played the only character who was not white. It did not make sense to cast a white man in the role! On top of that, the character is nothing more than a caricature no matter how you looked at it. There was actually no need to include this character because he was only added for the sake of comic relief. Yikes.
Mickey Rooney In Breakfast At Tiffany’s
Jared Leto In Suicide Squad
Before Suicide Squad came out, people could not stop talking about the decision to cast Jared Leto as the Joker. The marketing team behind the movie made sure that this would happen. We heard the stories about how the actor sent used condoms to the other members of the cast. In fact, Will Smith that he did not meet the real Leto during taping! With such dedication, viewers wanted to see his take on the villain. It was disappointing, to say the least. In fact, the only memorable thing about it was that it was forgettable. People agreed that he was overshadowed by Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn! Among other things, his Joker did not deliver the same chaotic and dangerous nature that Heath Ledger did in The Dark Knight. At the very least, this was just one of many problems of the flick.
Jared Leto In Suicide Squad
Hayden Christensen In Star Wars
It is pretty common knowledge that the prequels are galactic-sized jokes. We are saying this as big fans of the franchise! There is no way that we could move past the exaggerated way that Hayden Christensen played Anakin Skywalker before he became Darth Vader. The sand scene has appeared in a lot of memes for this very reason. Before this role, the actor only had a couple of TV and film roles under his belt. It did not help that he had to keep up with people like Samuel L. Jackson, Ewan McGregor, and Natalie Portman on the set! The writing could have been much better too, so the fault is not entirely on him.
Hayden Christensen In Star Wars
Emma Stone In Aloha
Do you remember Aloha, the Cameron Crowe romantic comedy from 2015? If you don’t, we can’t blame you. The movie bombed hard in every way imaginable. People were appalled that Emma Stone was cast to play Allison Ng. She simply did not look Chinese or Hawaiian whatsoever. This was another case of Hollywood whitewashing, and the actress has since seen the light. When she spoke to the Los Angeles Times, she said, “I’ve become the butt of many jokes. I’ve learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It’s ignited a conversation that’s very important.” While it was awful, this is not the only bad thing about it. In fact, its poor performance at the box office had more to do with a lack of interest and poor reviews.
Emma Stone In Aloha