Filmmakers aren’t just looking for the best actor, but also the most popular name that’s going to sell tickets. This can sometimes lead to absolutely wild miscasts, with stars being placed in roles that they aren’t suited to play. On rare occasions, a miscast actor can turn in a surprisingly effective performance, but most times it just doesn’t work out.
Miscasts commonly occur when a star doesn’t look like the character they’re supposed to be playing, often in adaptations of well-known material. Other times, actors are pushed too far outside their comfort zone and play against type. No matter why the miscast occurs, it isn’t necessarily the actor’s fault. Even some of the all-time greats have landed the wrong roles.
Keanu Reeves – Constantine (2005)
Though Keanu Reeves’ reputation as a great actor is debatable, there’s no denying that he has a screen presence that’s hard to replicate. His casting as the title character in 2005’s Constantine earned groans from comic book fans, and critics were quick to skewer the movie. While the film’s reputation is worse than it deserves, Reeves was certainly miscast.
Right away, Reeves is nothing like the wise-cracking, chain-smoking Brit from the comics. Reeves’ John Constantine is a brooding and somber action hero without any of the original character’s signature wit. In a vacuum, Keanu Reeves is perfectly serviceable as a movie star stand-in, but Constantine‘s source material deserved something more.
Sean Connery – The Hunt For Red October (1990)
The first cinematic adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series, The Hunt for Red October is arguably the best of the bunch. The submarine thriller classic is an all-time ’90s gem, but one of the leads sticks out like a sore thumb. Sean Connery co-stars as rogue submarine captain, Marko Ramius, but his Scottish accent is quite a distraction.
While many of his co-stars put on half-baked Russian accents, Connery does not. Though his acting is top-notch, he never quite sinks into the role as Ramius because he puts so much of himself into the part. The story attempts to show the similarities and differences between the two subs, but Connery’s performance doesn’t portray the latter at all.
Clint Eastwood – Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Fresh off establishing himself as a western movie hero in the Dollars trilogy, Clint Eastwood landed the strangest role of his career in Paint Your Wagon. The western comedy musical taps Eastwood to play Sylvester Newell, and he does his own singing on the soundtrack. The main cast is almost entirely miscast, but Eastwood’s is the worst.
Perfectly equipped to play silent anti-heroes and lonesome cowboys, Eastwood didn’t nail the exuberance needed for a bombastic Hollywood musical. He’s constantly bowled over by Lee Marvin, who commits fully to his role, so Eastwood always looks one step behind. Paint Your Wagon released in an era when musicals weren’t very popular, but its miscasting didn’t help.
Kevin Costner – Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (1991)
Kevin Costner was on top of the world in the early 1990s, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was another hit film on his resume. Remembered for its delightfully cheesy soundtrack, A-list cast, and anachronistic tone, Costner himself is the one part of the blockbuster that doesn’t really work. Many have played Robin Hood, but Costner was woefully miscast.
The swashbuckling folk hero is known for his charming persona and sly demeanor, but Costner plays Robin Hood like all of his other action hero roles. While his co-stars chew the scenery in the best way, Costner is surprisingly one-note. Ironically, Mel Brooks’ spoof (Robin Hood: Men in Tights) came closer to nailing the Robin Hood character.
Tom Hanks – The Bonfire Of The Vanities (1990)
Everything about the 1990 adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities was a disaster, including the casting of Tom Hanks in the leading role. Right as Hanks was beginning his transition to more dramatic parts, he was cast as Wall Street wunderkind, Sherman McCoy. Hanks plays his usual everyman character, and that’s the big issue.
While McCoy is the lead, he isn’t the movie’s hero. In fact, there are no heroes in The Bonfire of the Vanities, and that’s why Hanks is wrong for the part. He’s just too relatable to be a self-centered yuppie, so the original story’s themes are totally lost. Even Tom Hanks couldn’t save the notorious stinker.
Russell Crowe – Les Misérables (2012)
The long-awaited movie adaptation of the musical version of Les Misérables was a mixed bag. The Oscar-winner captured a lot of the soaring triumph of the stage show, but was far from perfect. The choice to use live singing was novel, but it shined a spotlight on the miscasting of Russell Crowe as the main villain, Javert.
Crowe would have been perfect for a non-musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s doorstop of a novel, but he just wasn’t up to the task of performing Javert’s songs without a little post-production help. His singing is noticeably worse than everyone else’s, and it draws too much attention to the rough vocals overall.
Cameron Diaz – Gangs Of New York (2002)
Martin Scorsese has a roster of actors he works with regularly, but there’s an even longer list of stars he’s only worked with once. Gangs of New York is one of Scorsese’s minor works from the 21st century, but it is best remembered for its myriad of great performances. Unfortunately, Cameron Diaz isn’t one of them.
Gangs of New York marked the first collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Diaz appears as Jenny Everdeane in one of her first dramatic roles, but something is off. She never quite fits into the movie’s historical period, and she isn’t helped by having a somewhat undercooked storyline. Diaz has proven herself capable of getting lost in a role before (see Being John Malkovich), but things didn’t really click in the Scorsese film.
Vince Vaughn – Psycho (1998)
Making a shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was a bad idea, and casting Vince Vaughn to play Norman Bates made matters even worse. Gus Van Sant’s perplexing tribute was almost universally reviled by fans and critics alike, and Vaughn’s performance was given particularly bad marks. Nobody could replace Anthony Perkins, especially not Vince Vaughn.
He’s good at playing heels and smarmy hucksters, but he can’t play an unassuming mamma’s boy with a dark secret. Vaughn immediately gives away the fact that Norman is the villain, even when assuming anyone watching the movie was unfamiliar with the twist. Despite being a one-to-one remake, Vaughn was the exact opposite of Perkins when playing Norman Bates.
John Wayne – The Conqueror (1956)
Hollywood history is unfortunately filled with examples of miscasts along racial lines, but John Wayne’s starring role in The Conqueror is unique. The Duke leads the film as Genghis Khan, the legendary Mongolian ruler who united the various tribes in the 13th century. It goes without saying that Wayne was not of Mongolian, or even Asian, descent.
White people playing Asian stereotypes was common in Old Hollywood, but Wayne’s performance isn’t meant as a mockery. It makes things worse because he’s trying his hardest but failing so spectacularly. There’s no excuse for racist miscasting, but it’s particularly insulting when the actor taking the role of an actual person of color does such a bad job.
Tom Cruise – Jack Reacher (2012)
Some deviation from the source material is acceptable, but Tom Cruise’s casting in Jack Reacher is laughably off. Based on the bestselling novels by Lee Child, Cruise played the hulking, musclebound action hero in not one, but two movies in the 2010s. Anyone who has picked up a Child novel knows that Cruise looks nothing like the title character.
Casting Tom Cruise in an action film is a smart move, but it doesn’t work in Jack Reacher. He’s written as if he is the character from the books, so there’s a wild disconnect with what’s actually on the screen. Many other actors would have been better in the role, as Alan Ritchson proved on the Reacher TV show.