The 10 Worst Cast Roles
You’ll have to forgive us if we get a little worked up about this one. Some of these films, shows and franchises are passionate favorites, and the miscasting of a few of the roles isn’t so much a reflection on the actors themselves as it is on the people behind the decisions.
As always we want to know what you think. Do you agree with the below, have we overstated any of this, or is there anyone we missed?
Drop us a comment - we want to know!
#10 - James Marshall as James Hurley (Twin Peaks)
Poor James and Donna were always the weak points of this otherwise completely engaging series. But while Lara Flynn Boyle brought life to the alternatingly bookish and naughty Donna Hayward, James Marshall had nothing to offer us beyond confused looks and blank stares. And when confronted by rival Bobby Briggs, this supposedly hard-assed biker looked about to burst into tears.
#9 - Ben Affleck as Daredevil (Daredevil)
Wait, wait. Stop laughing a second. Seriously. Seriously, we’re not done yet. Get this: Ben Affleck, as Daredevil, in a red leather jumpsuit (which was also poorly cast).
#8 - Timothy Dalton as James Bond (The Living Daylights, License To Kill)
While we can’t fault Dalton for these two unfortunate entries in the near-perfect franchise (excepting these two films and, of course, Diamonds Are Forever), he didn’t exactly help. It’s not that Dalton is a bad actor. After all, he brought life to Flash Gordon’s Prince Barin and was great fun in last year’s Hot Fuzz. He’s just too severe and has the wrong energy to pull off Bond. Bond fans love to joke about George Lazenby’s shortcomings, but we have to respectfully disagree. Lazenby, like the other Bonds before and after him, brought character to the role. Dalton doesn’t quite pull it off.
#7 - Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
There isn’t really a nice way to say this. Brooks is kind of painful to watch in this role. We love the other characters, the stories, the scripts, and pretty much everything else about the series. Some of the better directors were able to tone Brooks down enough that we could concentrate on his words, as opposed to his ranting, emotional tantrums and/or gnashing of teeth. But when he wasn’t held in check we found ourselves constantly hoping a Jem’Hadar would jump out from behind his baseball with a phased polaron weapon just to shut the guy up.
#6 - Dwayne Johnson as Boxer Santaros (Southland Tales)
A bunch of stuff needed fixing in this film, sure. But The Rock was the most glaring distraction. I read somewhere that it was his own idea that his character should be nervously wringing his hands throughout the film. Thanks for that distracting bit of realism Dwayne, because hulking muscle-bound action stars are always nervously fretting away in the corner when faced with the least bit of danger or confusion.
# 5 - Halle Berry as Storm (X-Men films)
Do you know what happens to a toad when it gets struck by lightning? Apparently blank disinterested stares coupled with the deadpan delivery of an overrated actress sounding like she’s struggling to remember one of maybe ten lines in the whole damn film. Sorry for the uncharacteristic bitchiness on our part, but Storm is one of the best characters in the history of the franchise and there have to be a hundred actresses who could have delivered this performance. Sigh. Our dream of seeing Grace Jones bringing Storm to life goes unfulfilled.
#4 - Keanu Reeves as Constantine (Constantine), Neo (The Matrix), Johnny Mnemonic (Johnny Mnemonic), Jonathan Harker (Bram Stoker’s Dracula), and Jack-be-Nimble in the 1986 TV movie Babes in Toyland, also starring Drew Barrymore, with Pat Morita as the Toymaster
We’re not being entirely fair with Reeves here; the problem isn’t so much the casting as the fact that he’s just a terrible actor. But we think he can pull off a role when he plays his dopey, silly self (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Dangerous Liaisons, My Own Private Idaho). The worst transgression on the list is his casting in Constantine. We’re not sticklers for details, but seriously, if you’ve ever read the books, if you’ve just read half an issue, hell, if you’ve no more than glanced at the cover of Hellblazer, then you know what an egregious choice this was.
#3 - Scott Bakula as Captain Archer (Star Trek: Enterprise)
To be fair, this was not the best written of the Star Trek series, and at least Bakula didn’t overheat and spurt out dramatic outbursts à la Avery Brooks. But the larger problem with his Captain was that his personality made the role nonsensical to the point of constant distraction. We blame the writing for the character’s insouciant naivete, but we blame Bakula for delivering every line as though he were talking down to children and idiots. It’s hard to imagine why every character he encountered didn’t slap the guy across the face for his patronizing tone. Couldn’t they have recast the dog in his role? At least he was cute.
#2 - Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider)
This is just strange. Here’s a guy in his forties, looking like he’s in his sixties, playing what we’re assuming is meant to be a guy in his late twenties or early thirties. We’re not sure exactly what went wrong here, but we suspect it’s some combination of bad plastic surgery and our 47″ high def TV. Aside from the issue that he doesn’t look the part, Cage’s effortless generic delivery scores no points with what could have been an interesting role. It’s not that he’s a bad actor; he works pretty well in about every fourth film. But as charismatic action star / superhero? Not so much.
#1 - Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars II & III)
Does this really need explaining? Darth Vader was already one of the greatest characters in the history of film, and the prequels only added more layers of complexity to our favorite armored goth dude. Granted the prequels were a minefield of awkward scripting and irritating support characters, but the story held up pretty well. The benefit of stronger casting to both of the last films would have been incalculable. If you’re still not convinced, close your eyes and picture Christensen’s delivery of this line as though he were trying out for middle school drama club, “Don’t you see? We don’t have to run away anymore! I am more powerful than the Chancellor, I… I can overthrow him! And together, you and I can rule the galaxy!”
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March 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Timothy Dalton and Keanu … I could handle those. The rest of your list is spot on, in my opinion. This is the first time I’ve heard anyone complain about Avery Brooks style and I totally agree.
March 14th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I have always been weird in that my boy T-Dal was my favorite Bond actor. He just seemed so much less cheesy than the rest to me. And I didn’t think Ben Affleck was too terrible as Daredevil… just that the movie itself was rubbish.
I agree fully on numbers 7, 5, 4, 2 (very, very much), and 1 (excessively, excessively much).
March 15th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Everything else, I can agree with, but Avery Brooks? He was just playing the role. The thing about DS9 was that not everything was perfect, including the characters. The station was run by a guy who wasn’t perfect. He had a tendancy to be emotional when angry, but he was believable as somebody who kept the station running. He wasn’t calmly assertive like Captain Picard, but he got the job done.
Other than that, great blog. I totally agree about Torchwood.
March 16th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I despise Keanu. But yeah, it wasn’t just that he was miscast as Constantine, but also that Constantine was horribly mischaracterized by bossy studios who don’t like the sound of rude, middle-aged bisexual British anti-religious sorcerer and much prefer bland, young, heterosexual American Christian exorcist. But they both smoke. So, they got ONE thing right.
March 16th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I really wanted to see Angela Bassett as Storm. She could have made storm powerful and regal because she is such a great actress. Halle put me off when she said in a television interview that she was “reduced to play a comic book character” because her career was in the decline. This was just before she won awards for playing Dorthy Dandridge.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
This was a great list! I particularly agree with the Scott Bakula. No one has ever pointed out how much of a problem he was for that show (that I’ve read, anyway). You are totally right.
And remember how Halle Berry had a made up accent in the first XMen - then lost it for the last two? I actually found Halle’s Storm in the ‘toad gets struck by lightning’ mode closer to the Storm I know and love than to the way she acted in 2…(and I kind of refuse to acknowledge 3).
March 19th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I only really disagree with Twin Peaks. Being a continually obsessed queer with all things TP, I have to say that I think the character was supposed to be played as a wimp. He was a polar opposite and the biker persona was such a compensation for a lack of masculinity. David Lynch and his crew of regular coworkers are too good at what they do to miscast a central character like the guy Laura Palmer risks image to fuck around with. BTW, caught you guys on LogoOnline and fell in immediate drooly love. God why aren’t my friends like you? (LOST rules)
March 20th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
1. A huge problem with the casting of Enterprise was that they chose three similar looking white guys. Boring and tough to remember who was who.
2. I actually thought Christensen was perfect as young Vader. I totally believed him as fairly well-meaning but also really in love himself and violently unstable. Most of the actors had trouble delivering the lines Lucas wrote for them.
3. James Marshall was easily the worst cast member. Alas, the second season focused on his misadventures way too much.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
One sentance: Arnold as Mr. Freeze. Damn you, Schumacher!