Best casting decisions ever made in movies

[jarvis]

Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona.
I know Nic Cage could easily be in the opposite version of this thread several times, which makes this performance more intriguing.
I remember him saying he had to audition 20 times, and the Coens told him they thought he was hilarious but just couldn't figure out why. He said he based his portrayal on Woody the woodpecker.

 

[SethS]

It really is he made the roll his own which is ironic as hes as far away physically from comic book logan as you can get

Five foot hairy Canadians don't open $100m+ movies...

 

[Captain Dunsel]

All true, although, I will admit that Eric Stoltz actually looked a lot more like the possible son of Crispin Glover.

Especially when you see the original footage with Eric Stoltz in the role

 

[Strikerkc]

It's hard to imagine anyone else as Logan than Hugh Jackman.

Definitely the best at the time, and maybe the best we'll ever get; but I'm looking forward to seeing the next Wolverine they cast. I've got a few actors that I would certainly love to see give it a crack.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I have to go with Chris Evans as Captain America. Now I never read the comics, so I thought that he was a really lame character. He just throws a shield around. The MCU version got me on board with the character.

 

[The Searcher]

I think Jeff Bridges and Kevin Flynn are simply inseparable.

 

[gedmac66]

Chris Hemsworth as Thor , and Matthew Broderick as Ferris .
Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter .

 

[Kovnyn]

Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier.

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn in the True Grit remake.

Bradley Cooper as Christopher Kyle in American Sniper.

 

[Tatooine_Todd]

Boris Karloff in Frankenstein...He was simply sublime in his performance.

Peter Cushing as Van Helsing in every Hammer film.

 

[madmax]

Mel Gibson as Mad Max,and Martin Riggs (altough i love Clayne Crawford as Riggs)

Bruce Willis as john McClane

And although it should not have worked Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery,and of course Clancy Brown in Highlander

 

[Probe Droid]

Robert Shaw as Quint.

Brando as Vito Corleone (the studio wanted Danny Thomas!!!) Coppola had to fight for him.

Bogart as Rick Blaine.

The entire cast of John Huston's version of The Maltese Falcon. They're the characters off the page projected onto the screen.

Fledgling stage actor Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence.

Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates.

Henry Fonda as Tom Joad (the studio wanted Tyronne Power) in The Grapes of Wrath.

Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl.

Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

James Cagney as Cody Jarrett in White Heat.

Stuntman and bit player John Wayne as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach.

 

[Richard Baker]

Charlton Heston as Moses in 'The Ten Commandments'
Just imagine anybody else speaking those lines- it just does not work...

Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack in 'Airplane'
Nielson had always to this point played straight, heroic characters- his role in Airplane not only created the most memorable scenes to the film but it totally changed his career direction to become a comedy icon.

 

[George]

Both Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland as Spider-man
Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus in Sam Raimi's Spider-man 2
Thomas Haden Church as Sandman in Sam Raimi's Spider-man 3

Ben Kingsley as Gandhi
Ted Neeley as ***** in ***** ****** Superstar

 

[madmax]

Arnold Schwarzenegger as the terminator,it could have been O.j simpson

 

[edge10]

Arnold Schwarzenegger as the terminator,it could have been O.j simpson

Must... resist... urge... for snarky comment.

 

[Strikerkc]

Hell, Michael Biehn was in the running for the Terminator too. That would have drastically changed things

Must... resist... urge... for snarky comment.

Don't worry, the best part is that the reason they ultimately didn't pursue OJ as The Terminator, is because he was considered to nice and likable by the public (based on previous film roles, and public appearances). They didn't think folks would accept him seriously as a cold blooded killer robot.

 

[Treadwell]

Wasn't Jim also considering Lance Henricksen for the Terminator? He painted Lance as the character for an early pitch..

 

[Strikerkc]

yup

 

[funboy1013xx]

I think lance helped pitch the film bye dressing up and going to the producer's office and demanding to be seen "right now" with no appointment and bursting in on them "terminator" style... I could have sworn there is an interview of him telling this story.

 

[CT1138]

Daniel Radcliffe can play a million different roles and it will never matter. He will always be Harry Potter to me.

Tobey MaGuire as Spider-Man. He worked as a great Peter Parker, and was a great snarky Spidey. Tom Holland has actually done a very good job in the role, as well. Far better than Andrew Garfield skating down the hallway with his Ryan Seacrest haircut.

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape.

Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. One of the greatest recreations of a historical figure I've ever seen.