Hollywood casting has been the constant thorn in any fandom. The idea that Hollywood could find a very specific actor that can play a very specific role is just too much for any fandom to accept. When done correctly you get legendary performance such as the great late Marlon Brando’s iconic performance as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather. On the other hand, you can also end up with Matt Damon rescuing China in The Great Wall. So for this list let’s take a look at the Top 5 strangest casting calls of all time. Now for this list, I am not saying that these performances were bad, a few of these are amazing and one is considered legendary. It is just that for the time these choices were seen as strange. Let’s get started.
5. Jack Nicholson / Jack Torrance
Movie: The Shinning (1980)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZspM1JrOmA8
The Shinning is one of the greatest horror movies of all time and Jack Nicholson’s performance still takes the crown as the best performance of his career. The real story, however, is behind the scenes. The Shinning is an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Shinning. As the author of the book, Stephen King was aware of Stanley Kubrick’s desire to cast Jack Nicholson. Now when a fandom gets mad about casting that is one thing, it is another when the author himself doesn’t approve of the casting. Jack Torrance in the book is portrayed as an everyman whose looks don’t really stand out, and It is the hotel itself that makes him go mad. Jack Nicholson is known for his over the top persona and his looks really do conflict with Stephen King’s original vision. Despite the strange casting, Jack Nicholson’s performance is legendary, and Stanley Kubrick’s decision cemented him as one of the greatest directors of all time.
4. Scarlett Johansson / Motoko Kusanagi
Movie: Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Director: Rupert Sanders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg
To say that the lead up to the Ghost in Shell movie release was rocky is an understatement. The fans tore the trailer apart, petitions were started to boycott the movie, and even before it came out the movie was already seen as one of the biggest mistakes of 2017. Most of the blame came from the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi. Motoko Kusanagi is the major of the section 9 police department, Motoko is of Japanese descent which raised a few red flags as fans of the anime found out that Scarlett Johansson took the role. Soon the internet was flooded with claims of whitewashing. These claims harmed the movie upon release, however, it is important to note that most vocal fans were mostly from North America. For context, it is important to note that foreign fans view casting differently than American fans. For foreign fans, it was exciting to see a huge movie star take such a huge role since they only viewed star power. This is how Matt Damon got the role in The Great Wall because the director knew that his star power would attract moviegoers. The Ghost in the Shell movie, however, failed to tell a story that wasn’t done better in the anime, and Scarlett Johansson’s performance didn’t do much to justify her casting.
3. Daniel Graig / James Bond
Movie: Casino Royale (2006)
Director: Martin Campbell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36mnx8dBbGE
The infamous casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond shock the entire James Bond fandom, a fandom that I have to be honest had no idea it was a thing. The backlash came from the simple fact that Daniel Graig was blond, yes blond. Other fans simply did not think that Daniel Graig was not up for the role. However, looking back at the movie, Casino Royale comes off as a way to dust off an old relic and introducing it to the modern world. Gone was the heavy smoking, drinking, womanizer who only sees women as objects (read the books). Replacing it was a man who is vulnerable and is willing to serve under a woman. This fresh take of the character was possible because of the casting of Daniel Graig as 007 Bond… James Bond.
2. Johnny Depp / Tonto
Movie: The Lone Ranger (2013) Director: Gore Verbinski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjFsNSoDZK8
Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow is iconic, however, one strong criticism that can be made about his role as the pirate is that ever since he became Jack Sparrow every other role that he takes on feel as if they are just different versions of the pirate. This mentality is full center with Johnny Depp’s casting as Tonto for The Lone Ranger. Now there are a lot of things wrong with this movie, from the bland acting, and the terrible story. However, the worst decision that the movie made was casting Johnny Depp as the Native American Tonto. According to reports Johnny Depp allegedly has Native America heritage, which does not make things any better. What also made things worse was that Johnny Depp was the biggest actor in the movie, which meant that the movie was heavily advertised around him. The movie bombed and is a dark mark for Disney.
1. Entire Cast of Guardians of the Galaxy
Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Director: James Gunn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d96cjJhvlMA
Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the best movies that the MCU has to offer. However, it was a huge gambled, when Marvel first revealed the image of the guardians during Comic-Con, which pique the interest of fans and critics. Up until this point the MCU has made movies based on the commonly know characters. The Guardians of the Galaxy were so obscured to normal moviegoers that fans wondered how it was going to work. One of the biggest questions was, what about the casting? The timeline is very interesting, and I still remember going to forums every other day to see how wacky the casting was after every reveal. First was Chris Pratt the ‘chubby,’ boyfriend from Parks and Recreation. Then Zoe Saldana whose goodwill from Avatar was growing thin after her follow-ups Losers, and the underrated Colombiana. Then came the fight for Drax, apparently, it was down to two actors Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista. Thanks to his Game of Thrones fame most fans were ready to hear that Jason was signed, just for the opposite to happen as Bautista was cast instead.
In between the big character casting, John C. Reilly and Glenn Close were also cast for unknow roles. Fans were started to get worried that the cast was getting way too bloated, and then came the hunt for Rocket Raccoon. Every website predicted that only a comedian could play the role, names such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller were getting thrown around. Only for out of nowhere the famous raccoon role was given to The Hangover star Bradley Cooper. Finally rounding up the main cast came Vin Diesel, who up to that point was hinting at a whole different role for the MCU, just to go online one day and simply write, “I am Groot.” The movie itself is amazing, and I can not picture any other cast capturing each character perfectly, but it is save to say that this is one of the strangest casting calls of all time.