When it comes to casting, anyone can have an opinion on who they’d like to see play whom – and it is easy to voice judgment when an actor is cast for a role you do not feel right for them. Whether it comes all the way down to something as easy as a choice of director or as complicated as race and nationality, there are various reasons why moviegoers can debate casting choices, and they can sometimes generate quite a little bit of controversy. In some cases, actors can prove that they’re perfect for the role; elsewhere, the controversy finally grounded. In some ways, a misguided casting choice can make or break a film.
Here, then, are six casting decisions that caused a stir at the time, with actors who may (or may not) have pointed out the naysayers wrong in the end.
Biggest Casting Controversy
Heath Ledger on The Dark Knight: There are few more opinionated groups out there than comic book fans, and when it was announced that Heath Ledger – known at the time primarily for playing the role of the boy in 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight’s Tale, in addition to his monumental turn at Brokeback Mountain – about to step into the shoes of the evil Joker clown, his reactions are quick and unrelenting. Online Empire took a verbal note of some of the criticism at the time, including “Ledger hasn’t done anything to suggest he could do the psychotic/scary Joker everyone wants, instead of the goofy, campy a** Joker we’ll probably get” and “That Of course, the franchise is over.” No one knew Ledger would pull off such an iconic performance, maybe even surpassing Jack Nicholson’s previous Joker film. He earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role, albeit (and unfortunately) posthumously.
Ben Affleck in Batman vs Superman: While Henry Cavill has made a decent replacement for the late Christopher Reeve by donning the Superman cape, Ben Affleck has a newer Batman to compare to: Christian Bale. It’s true that many actors have played the Caped Crusader over the years, but Bale, the current Batman from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, is not set to reprise the role in the upcoming Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Instead, Ben Affleck was cast, which led to another wave of outcry from comic book fans who found Affleck too boring and unsuited for the role. Even although the movie hasn’t been released yet, fans have seen a glimmer of hope for “Batfleck”, as he is seen plenty of parts in the preview trailer and current screenshots.
Michael B. Jordan at Fantastic Four: We could possibly fill this whole blog post with controversial comic book movie casting decisions, but this is actually for the Internet rage era. Changing the Canon Human Torch character from a blonde-haired Caucasian to an African-American, played by Michael B. Jordan, made many Fantastic Four fans extremely racist. (The indisputable fact that in previous films, the Invisible Woman character was played by Latina Jessica Alba – with blonde hair and blue contacts – seems to have been ignored.) Although the film itself was a flop, Jordan took the unfounded criticism of her character in its stride, telling NY Daily News that “I know I can’t ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books. But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comics first came out in 1961.” He also added, “Maybe, if I give an example, Hollywood will start considering more people of color in other prominent roles, and maybe we can reach people who are stuck in the mindset that ‘it has to be comic book appropriate. .” Now that’s a real superhero.
Renee Zellweger enters Bridget Jones Diary: It’s quite common to find actors from different countries polishing their foreign accents – just think of how many British people play American roles with perfect American accents. In this sense, the hero of the book Bridget Jones has become a kind of cult figure for the British – a standard woman who worries about her weight, career and love life. So when the books were made into a film and Renee Zellweger was cast, there was an uproar over an American playing an icon of British literature. Fortunately, any fears were overcome when Zellweger fully committed to the role, gaining weight and speaking in the perfect British accent to really embody the character. Given the indisputable fact that two films have already been made with a third in the works, it is safe to say that Zellweger was clearly meant to be That Bridget Jones.
Tom Cruise enters Interview with a Vampire: It’s yet one more eyebrow-raising book-to-film casting choice – but this time, in the case of the book’s author herself, Anne Rice. At the time of casting, Rice vehemently protested Tom Cruise playing her vampire prince, as Geek’s Nest noted: “Tom Cruise, according to him, ‘no more is my Vampire Lestat than Edward G Robinson is Rhett Butler.’ He dug the knife in a little deeper, adding that he thought the casting was “so strange” and that it was “nearly impossible to imagine how this would work.” Fortunately for Cruise, he embodied the reckless bloodsucker so well that Rice later redacted all his doubts, stating that, “From the moment he appeared, Tom was Lestat to me.” (Interesting that Lestat would later recast with Stuart Townsend as a follow-up to Queen of the Damned.)
Zhang Ziyi came in Memoirs of a Geisha: Another casting decision tripped over by race, there were a few raised eyebrows when Zhang Ziyi — a Chinese actor — was cast as the main Japanese character Sayuri. (Other Japanese characters were also played by Chinese actors, including Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li.) Online Empire describes the delicate problem of choosing Chinese women to play Japanese women: “The novel is partly set in World War II, in which Japan invaded China and, among other atrocities, forced Chinese women into sex work. Because the words ‘slut’ and ‘geisha’ are somewhat similar in Chinese, the hiring of Chinese actors for the main roles was controversial.” This may be a historical issue, but it’s also a sensitive one on each side.
Hollywood Casting Controversy
Casting controversies are common in Hollywood – sometimes they become a teapot storm, while other times they threaten to drown a film before it even opens. While there is no clear-cut solution to quelling the casting controversy, it goes to show that how actors handle the show can sometimes change the minds of even their most loyal opponents.
In your opinion, who were the actors who initially chose the wrong one? Did they redeem themselves in that role? Why or why not?
Writer biography: Cosette St. Pierre is a French Canadian who moves to Hollywood to live a luxurious life amongst the stars. She is a freelance lifestyle writer and street fashion guru. She nearly at all times craved hummus and prided herself on a strict daily beauty regimen. Cosette is a social media manager for WhoRepresents.com.
