Best casting decisions ever made in movies

[Ron]

Does it count as a "decision" when the guy who wrote the movie sold it to United Artists under the condition he be cast in the title role?

Ah touché. I guess we'll have to file it under greatest "self" casting. Though technically the decision to give himself the role is still a decision.

 

[RodanAZ]

And I'm surprised no one has mentioned...

 

[BTTUK]

My personal favourites as a character;

Judi Dench- M
Adam Driver- Kylo Ren
Andy Serkis- Gollum/Smeagol
Laurence Fishburne- Morpheus
Johnny Depp- Edward Scissorhands
Jim Carey-Truman Burbank
Christoph Waltz- Hans Landa

 

[BROTHERFOSTER]

River Phoenix as a young Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade

 

[Cody1138]

Chris Reeve as Superman
Ewan MacGregor as Obi Wan Kenobi
Christian Bale as Batman and Bruce Wayne
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

And many more

 

[scarf man]

Robert Powel in ***** of Nazareth.

The guy looked like an Icon come to life.

 

[renaissance_man]

Any and all MCU cast, they haven't put a foot wrong.
To quote Ant Man, "nailed it"!

 

[dascoyne]

 

[harrisonp]

Other than the most iconic/obvious
Jackie Earl Haley-Rorschach

 

[Solo4114]

River Phoenix as a young Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade

View attachment 1281323

To be fair, that's more River Phoenix as a young Harrison Ford.

 

[y3a]

Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. BOTH of them understood the mechanics of their characters humor generation with Martin playing the 'straight man'. A funny small role for Michael Mckean as the cop who pulled them over for their unsafe car.

 

[y3a]

Who could argue about Bryan Cranston as Walter White, Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman ???

 

[RedheadKevin]

I read through the whole thread and I can't believe no one mentioned Sylvester Stallone as Rocky!

Say what you will about his acting ability but that was arguably the greatest casting ever. I couldn't think of anyone else to even come close to playing that role as well as he did if my life depended on it.

It helps that Stallone wrote the movie for himself to star in.

Viggo Mortensen in the LOTR films. He played the role of Aragorn so genuinely.

What's most impressive is that he didn't get the part until filming started.

I'd like to add Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He gives a good performance, but the best part for me was that he looks like a real person. One of my favorite parts of the Sequel Trilogy is when he first takes his helmet off in front of Rey. He's not a monster, he's not some male model, he's just some guy, who's immature, and depressed, and angry, a bit goofy and in over his head.

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. He channels a young Alec Guinness beautifully, and always looks like he's having a blast doing it.

According to the source material, the casting for Professor X and Wolverine wasn't great, but I'll be damned if Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman didn't OWN in those roles. (Professor X is supposed to be from Chicago, and Wolvie is supposed to be hairy and 5'3.")

Speaking of X-Men, it was a garbage movie, but Kelsey Grammar as Beast was perfect.

 

[clonesix]

If you have not seen Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, as Richard Nixon, make a point to watch it.

I won't add any political perspective here, but Frank (with NO makeup appliances) embodies Nixon in a way that few actors or movies ever portray. It is truly a remarkable performance.

Mind you: This is Dracula playing Nixon! let that sink in...

 

[Ron]

It helps that Stallone wrote the movie for himself to star in.

What's most impressive is that he didn't get the part until filming started.

I'd like to add Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He gives a good performance, but the best part for me was that he looks like a real person. One of my favorite parts of the Sequel Trilogy is when he first takes his helmet off in front of Rey. He's not a monster, he's not some male model, he's just some guy, who's immature, and depressed, and angry, a bit goofy and in over his head.

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. He channels a young Alec Guinness beautifully, and always looks like he's having a blast doing it.

According to the source material, the casting for Professor X and Wolverine wasn't great, but I'll be damned if Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman didn't OWN in those roles. (Professor X is supposed to be from Chicago, and Wolvie is supposed to be hairy and 5'3.")

Speaking of X-Men, it was a garbage movie, but Kelsey Grammar as Beast was perfect.

Right but like I said I'll still take it on the technicality that a self casting is still a casting lol. I mean there's writers who know better than to cast themselves for their character as much as they'd love to. With Stallone I don't know if it was a vanity choice or he really thought he was the best guy to play Rocky.

Robert Powel in ***** of Nazareth.
View attachment 1282351
The guy looked like an Icon come to life.

Oh boy how did I forget about this performance? You win the thread.

 

[RedheadKevin]

If you have not seen Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, as Richard Nixon, make a point to watch it.

Frank Langella was also the best part of the Masters of the Universe movie.

 

[dbuck]

I'd like to add Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He gives a good performance, but the best part for me was that he looks like a real person. One of my favorite parts of the Sequel Trilogy is when he first takes his helmet off in front of Rey. He's not a monster, he's not some male model, he's just some guy, who's immature, and depressed, and angry, a bit goofy and in over his head.

His acting in every role I’ve seen him in is (to me) is dead on. He is so natural that I don’t see him ‘acting’.

 

[bwayne64]

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther .............kidding, ; )


J K Simmons as J Jonah Jameson

 

[RedheadKevin]

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther .............kidding, ; )

The recasting of Lex as Mark Zuckerberg was a strange choice. I was hoping for something closer to the Luthor from the JL cartoon series (Billy Zane, when's it gonna happen?) But I understand that making Lex a tech genius updated it for the 21st century.

J K Simmons as J Jonah Jameson

Dear Lord, how did I forget this? Dude nailed JJJ in TWO universes.

 

[bwayne64]

Yea, it was like JJJ stepped right out of the comic. Except for RDJ as Tony Stark, I've never seen better.