S/O Surprisingly good Hollywood casting decisions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cloris Leachman as Maw Maw in Raising Hope

Oh, and Martha Plimpton as Virginia

I loved the whole ensemble. Greg Garcia picks the most interesting looking actors. Quirky beauty with a country- western twang.

It was such a great show. And I completely agree that the whole ensemble was amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People

That's a great example! I didn't know Mary could be so cold!

Yes

[Anonymous]

Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders

[Anonymous]

I guess if we’re going with surprising, then Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. This was the movie that turned him from the comedic leading man into the serious one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption. Before that, I figured he was just the goofy guy in Bull Durham and Top Gun.

And casting Morgan Freeman as Red, even though the character was originally Irish. The movie wouldn't be the same without him.

[Anonymous]

Keanu as Neo. I mean talk about brilliant! Will Smith was the original choice and I just can't see him as being good in that role.

[Anonymous]

Comedian Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Comedian Hugh Laurie in House and in The Night Manager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Comedian Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Comedian Hugh Laurie in House and in The Night Manager.

Yes to these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess if we’re going with surprising, then Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. This was the movie that turned him from the comedic leading man into the serious one.

I thought Hanks was terrible. He was incapable of seeming actually in love with Antonio Banderas.

A friend of mine is married to a movie producer, and told me at the time that Philadelphia was “an important movie for Hollywood to make.” I told her it was almost a decade too late to claim that mantle. Hanks got the Oscar because Hollywood thought it was brave to pretend to be gay on film.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption. Before that, I figured he was just the goofy guy in Bull Durham and Top Gun.

Morgan Freeman too! He’s called Red because the character was a red headed Irish guy. They really went off script so to speak and the movie would not be the same without the two of them.

This is so I retesting given the other thread’s discussion of casting actors of a different race than the character in a book. I, personally, am not bothered by changing the race or ethnicity of a person between the book and the movie. The movie is a new artifact and doesn’t need to stay true to the book.

It’s different when they actually change the character vs having an actor of one race play a character of a different race. In this case, they actually changed the character - that’s fine. They didn’t pretend Morgan Freeman was really Irish (although I loved that they did keep the line - ‘why do they call you Red?’ ‘Maybe it’s because I’m Irish’ - but said with such a dry wit that he turned it from a serious line into a really funny one. Great nod to the book’s character while showing the new character’s dry sense of humor).. If they’d given him a red wig and had him fake an Irish accent, it would have been horrible.

It was surprising casting because they did have to change the character for him, but he was absolutely perfect in it. Not at all what I had in my head when I read the book, but I loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess if we’re going with surprising, then Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. This was the movie that turned him from the comedic leading man into the serious one.

I thought Hanks was terrible. He was incapable of seeming actually in love with Antonio Banderas.

A friend of mine is married to a movie producer, and told me at the time that Philadelphia was “an important movie for Hollywood to make.” I told her it was almost a decade too late to claim that mantle. Hanks got the Oscar because Hollywood thought it was brave to pretend to be gay on film.

Yup. Just look who else he was nominated with:
Anthony Hopkins, The Remains of the Day
Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father
Laurence Fishburne, What's Love Got to Do with It
Liam Nelson, Schindler's List

It's quite a stretch to claim that Hanks' acting was superior to those four performances.

[Anonymous]

British casting: Rowan ""Mr. Bean" Atkinson as Maigret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People

Such a brilliant movie! One of my all time favorites and the entire cast is perfection!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in the before sunrise series

Perfect casting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in the before sunrise series

Perfect casting

Yes! Like the first two movies, hated the third.