Worst hollywood casting decision ever?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss

She was too old!

I see your point, but I actually thought she did well. Katniss was young, but had been forced to become wise and resourceful beyond her years.

Np. Another white wash. In the book, kat iss had olive akin.

DP, she was also supposed to look like she was starving but the producers made the conscious decision to cast an actress with an athletic build to avoid glamorizing that super-skinny look. I’m ok with JL as Katniss. Agree wholeheartedly about Josh Hutcherson.

Although I love her acting, I agree she is often miscast in older roles. Looking at you Silver Linings Playbook. Heaven forbid they got an age-appropriate actress for that Oscar-worthy role. It changed the whole dynamic of her character they made her 10-15 years younger to fit Jennifer Lawrence’s age.

Keanu Reeves in Dracula. Whaaaaaat was that??

if you want to talk about bad Draculas, we have to talk Tom Cruise. And I'm actually a big Tom Cruise fan (professionally, not personally) -- I think he can usually pull off almost anything with a wry little twinkle and a bunch of bravado.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So glad I'm not the only one who hated Four Weddings and a Funeral.

No one watched that movie for anything other than hot Hugh Grant, and the hot guy who played the deaf brother. Everyone realized at the time that Andie MacDowell was awful and it was amazing she ever got another acting role. She seems like a nice person, though, from interviews.

I LOVE that movie but hate Andie’s character and performance. Awful miscasting. I do love how unattractive they had to make Kristen Scott Thomas so that audiences wouldn’t ship her and Hugh Grant more.

Similarly, Bill Pullman in While You Were Sleeping. There’s no way Sandra Bullock’s character would have found him remotely attractive. He was an a$$ to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The actress who plays Brianna in Outlander. She made the series unwatchable for me.

Jack Black with any attractive love interest.

Yep. Outlander so epically cast with the two leads before that. Ruined it for me. Not sure how that casting happened.

The boyfriend/husband for Brianna is also pooly cast. I get he is supposed to be the geeky academic to contrast with studly Jamie -- but they could definitely have come up with a more sexy geek here. He's got no sparkle -- he plays the role as such a sad sack. And she just can't act. There's probably a distinction to be made on this thread between "wrong for the role" (Julia as Tinklebell) and "just can't act" (Andie M.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont get PP saying benedict cumberbatch in Star Trek is an example of white washing: Khan is a genetically engineered super human, so hard to say he should be played by any particular human race. He was played by Ricardo Montalban originally but RM was a European-Mexican (both parents from Spain) so as European as BC. Plus, since Khan is a genetically engineered being, again, you can’t really say that BC was taking a Latino role. He was great in the movie and really did seem to have the vibe of a young Khan as played by RM.

Ricardo Montalban was considered a physical specimen at the time and they were looking for someone that was brown since the character was supposedly Sikh (or at least from India). Jason Momoa would have been better a cast.

Because he's half Hawaiin he should play Sikh character?? That's some interesting logic you got going there. Not to mention that Momoa can't act. At all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont get PP saying benedict cumberbatch in Star Trek is an example of white washing: Khan is a genetically engineered super human, so hard to say he should be played by any particular human race. He was played by Ricardo Montalban originally but RM was a European-Mexican (both parents from Spain) so as European as BC. Plus, since Khan is a genetically engineered being, again, you can’t really say that BC was taking a Latino role. He was great in the movie and really did seem to have the vibe of a young Khan as played by RM.

.

I'm the person who said Avatar and I agree with this. I wouldn't have put BC on that list.

Avatar was horrific -- terribly done and offensively whitewashed. It was unwatchable.

I'm the person that listed Benedict Cumberbatch. Don't get me wrong, I like him as an actor, but the character was Khan Noonian Singh, who was a Sikh Indian by heritage. They got away with Ricardo Montalban, because he was of mixed Mexican descent, so he at least was non-white enough to pass as an Asian Indian. But Cumberbatch is as white as can be. If you insist on casting a white actor, at least change the character to a white character. If you're going to leave the character be an Asian character, then cast an Asian actor or an actor that can pass for Asian.

For example, one of the other cases I criticized was Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in Dr. Strange. At least in that one, they changed the character's background to be a Celtic mystic instead of a Buddhan Asian mystic. Although it made no sense that a Celtic mystic would be at a monastery in the Himalayas, but at least they made a change that justified why someone that was so pale was playing the role; they just changed the role to be non-Asian deliberately. Star Trek did not do that. They still left the name and history of the character the same and just white-washed it by casting a white actor.

Whether you like the portrayals or not by talented actors (and I am not denying that Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch are both talented actors who performed well), the problem is that Hollywood continually takes Asian characters and refuses to give opportunities to actors of Asian descent. Asians are traditionally given roles as the antagonists, the humorous sidekicks, but rarely the lead or prominantly featured roles. The number of Asian actors that get featured roles are a tiny portion of the acting community. Hollywood needs to start opening up opportunities for Asian actors. At a minimum, just cast Asian characters with Asian actors.

I'm the one who initially flagged Avatar. I guess I'd classify them differently, because TS and BC did well in their roles, so while I actually agree with you that it would have been much better to cast talented Asian actors, I wouldn't say they resulted in "worst casting decisions ever."

Avatar, on the other hand, was a travesty. It took a whole Asian world and several extremely beloved characters and basically flat-out destroyed the whole thing. The movie is frequently on lists of "worst movies of all time." The casting was awful, and the movie was horrifically bad. That's why I think it's worse than either TS or BC for the purposes of OPs question.

Avatar - the blue characters movie? I enjoyed when it came out despite white savior aspect.

?? Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont get PP saying benedict cumberbatch in Star Trek is an example of white washing: Khan is a genetically engineered super human, so hard to say he should be played by any particular human race. He was played by Ricardo Montalban originally but RM was a European-Mexican (both parents from Spain) so as European as BC. Plus, since Khan is a genetically engineered being, again, you can’t really say that BC was taking a Latino role. He was great in the movie and really did seem to have the vibe of a young Khan as played by RM.

.

I'm the person who said Avatar and I agree with this. I wouldn't have put BC on that list.

Avatar was horrific -- terribly done and offensively whitewashed. It was unwatchable.

I'm the person that listed Benedict Cumberbatch. Don't get me wrong, I like him as an actor, but the character was Khan Noonian Singh, who was a Sikh Indian by heritage. They got away with Ricardo Montalban, because he was of mixed Mexican descent, so he at least was non-white enough to pass as an Asian Indian. But Cumberbatch is as white as can be. If you insist on casting a white actor, at least change the character to a white character. If you're going to leave the character be an Asian character, then cast an Asian actor or an actor that can pass for Asian.

For example, one of the other cases I criticized was Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in Dr. Strange. At least in that one, they changed the character's background to be a Celtic mystic instead of a Buddhan Asian mystic. Although it made no sense that a Celtic mystic would be at a monastery in the Himalayas, but at least they made a change that justified why someone that was so pale was playing the role; they just changed the role to be non-Asian deliberately. Star Trek did not do that. They still left the name and history of the character the same and just white-washed it by casting a white actor.

Whether you like the portrayals or not by talented actors (and I am not denying that Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch are both talented actors who performed well), the problem is that Hollywood continually takes Asian characters and refuses to give opportunities to actors of Asian descent. Asians are traditionally given roles as the antagonists, the humorous sidekicks, but rarely the lead or prominantly featured roles. The number of Asian actors that get featured roles are a tiny portion of the acting community. Hollywood needs to start opening up opportunities for Asian actors. At a minimum, just cast Asian characters with Asian actors.

I'm the one who initially flagged Avatar. I guess I'd classify them differently, because TS and BC did well in their roles, so while I actually agree with you that it would have been much better to cast talented Asian actors, I wouldn't say they resulted in "worst casting decisions ever."

Avatar, on the other hand, was a travesty. It took a whole Asian world and several extremely beloved characters and basically flat-out destroyed the whole thing. The movie is frequently on lists of "worst movies of all time." The casting was awful, and the movie was horrifically bad. That's why I think it's worse than either TS or BC for the purposes of OPs question.

Avatar - the blue characters movie? I enjoyed when it came out despite white savior aspect.

?? Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time.

They are referring to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Wonderful animated series, dumpster fire of a movie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The actress who plays Brianna in Outlander. She made the series unwatchable for me.

Jack Black with any attractive love interest.

Yep. Outlander so epically cast with the two leads before that. Ruined it for me. Not sure how that casting happened.

The boyfriend/husband for Brianna is also pooly cast. I get he is supposed to be the geeky academic to contrast with studly Jamie -- but they could definitely have come up with a more sexy geek here. He's got no sparkle -- he plays the role as such a sad sack. And she just can't act. There's probably a distinction to be made on this thread between "wrong for the role" (Julia as Tinklebell) and "just can't act" (Andie M.).

You’re right. Maybe the problem is Andie M simply can’t act. There’s even that one over-the-top Tarzan movie, Greystoke, where she plays Jane but her voice was so bad, they overdubbed Glenn Close‘s voice.

She must be really charming IRL to have had the movie career she had.

[Anonymous]

Gerard Depardeau in Green Card.

Very, very unattractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont get PP saying benedict cumberbatch in Star Trek is an example of white washing: Khan is a genetically engineered super human, so hard to say he should be played by any particular human race. He was played by Ricardo Montalban originally but RM was a European-Mexican (both parents from Spain) so as European as BC. Plus, since Khan is a genetically engineered being, again, you can’t really say that BC was taking a Latino role. He was great in the movie and really did seem to have the vibe of a young Khan as played by RM.

Ricardo Montalban was considered a physical specimen at the time and they were looking for someone that was brown since the character was supposedly Sikh (or at least from India). Jason Momoa would have been better a cast.

are you SERIOUSLY saying that Jason Momoa has better presence as an actor in an acting role in a film that requires acting than Benedict Cumberbatch

[Anonymous]

Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball - not at all believable as a poor, downtrodden Black woman in the rural South
Sarah Chalke as the 2nd Becky in Roseanne - similar to Halle Berry. Her looks, speech and mannerisms didn’t fit in with the rest of the blue collar family.
Chloe Grace Moretz in the Carrie remake - they tried to make her look mousy but she was too pretty to play that character.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reese Witherspoon on the Morning Show. Her wig was too distracting.

Totally miscast. Too old for the part and a bad performance. The only weak link in an otherwise great show with a phenomenal cast. Her performances are hit or miss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont get PP saying benedict cumberbatch in Star Trek is an example of white washing: Khan is a genetically engineered super human, so hard to say he should be played by any particular human race. He was played by Ricardo Montalban originally but RM was a European-Mexican (both parents from Spain) so as European as BC. Plus, since Khan is a genetically engineered being, again, you can’t really say that BC was taking a Latino role. He was great in the movie and really did seem to have the vibe of a young Khan as played by RM.

.

I'm the person who said Avatar and I agree with this. I wouldn't have put BC on that list.

Avatar was horrific -- terribly done and offensively whitewashed. It was unwatchable.

I'm the person that listed Benedict Cumberbatch. Don't get me wrong, I like him as an actor, but the character was Khan Noonian Singh, who was a Sikh Indian by heritage. They got away with Ricardo Montalban, because he was of mixed Mexican descent, so he at least was non-white enough to pass as an Asian Indian. But Cumberbatch is as white as can be. If you insist on casting a white actor, at least change the character to a white character. If you're going to leave the character be an Asian character, then cast an Asian actor or an actor that can pass for Asian.

For example, one of the other cases I criticized was Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in Dr. Strange. At least in that one, they changed the character's background to be a Celtic mystic instead of a Buddhan Asian mystic. Although it made no sense that a Celtic mystic would be at a monastery in the Himalayas, but at least they made a change that justified why someone that was so pale was playing the role; they just changed the role to be non-Asian deliberately. Star Trek did not do that. They still left the name and history of the character the same and just white-washed it by casting a white actor.

Whether you like the portrayals or not by talented actors (and I am not denying that Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch are both talented actors who performed well), the problem is that Hollywood continually takes Asian characters and refuses to give opportunities to actors of Asian descent. Asians are traditionally given roles as the antagonists, the humorous sidekicks, but rarely the lead or prominantly featured roles. The number of Asian actors that get featured roles are a tiny portion of the acting community. Hollywood needs to start opening up opportunities for Asian actors. At a minimum, just cast Asian characters with Asian actors.

I'm the one who initially flagged Avatar. I guess I'd classify them differently, because TS and BC did well in their roles, so while I actually agree with you that it would have been much better to cast talented Asian actors, I wouldn't say they resulted in "worst casting decisions ever."

Avatar, on the other hand, was a travesty. It took a whole Asian world and several extremely beloved characters and basically flat-out destroyed the whole thing. The movie is frequently on lists of "worst movies of all time." The casting was awful, and the movie was horrifically bad. That's why I think it's worse than either TS or BC for the purposes of OPs question.

?? Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time.

You are mixing up 'Avatar' and 'Avatar The Last Airbender.' This discussion is about the latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont get PP saying benedict cumberbatch in Star Trek is an example of white washing: Khan is a genetically engineered super human, so hard to say he should be played by any particular human race. He was played by Ricardo Montalban originally but RM was a European-Mexican (both parents from Spain) so as European as BC. Plus, since Khan is a genetically engineered being, again, you can’t really say that BC was taking a Latino role. He was great in the movie and really did seem to have the vibe of a young Khan as played by RM.

.

I'm the person who said Avatar and I agree with this. I wouldn't have put BC on that list.

Avatar was horrific -- terribly done and offensively whitewashed. It was unwatchable.

I'm the person that listed Benedict Cumberbatch. Don't get me wrong, I like him as an actor, but the character was Khan Noonian Singh, who was a Sikh Indian by heritage. They got away with Ricardo Montalban, because he was of mixed Mexican descent, so he at least was non-white enough to pass as an Asian Indian. But Cumberbatch is as white as can be. If you insist on casting a white actor, at least change the character to a white character. If you're going to leave the character be an Asian character, then cast an Asian actor or an actor that can pass for Asian.

For example, one of the other cases I criticized was Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in Dr. Strange. At least in that one, they changed the character's background to be a Celtic mystic instead of a Buddhan Asian mystic. Although it made no sense that a Celtic mystic would be at a monastery in the Himalayas, but at least they made a change that justified why someone that was so pale was playing the role; they just changed the role to be non-Asian deliberately. Star Trek did not do that. They still left the name and history of the character the same and just white-washed it by casting a white actor.

Whether you like the portrayals or not by talented actors (and I am not denying that Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch are both talented actors who performed well), the problem is that Hollywood continually takes Asian characters and refuses to give opportunities to actors of Asian descent. Asians are traditionally given roles as the antagonists, the humorous sidekicks, but rarely the lead or prominantly featured roles. The number of Asian actors that get featured roles are a tiny portion of the acting community. Hollywood needs to start opening up opportunities for Asian actors. At a minimum, just cast Asian characters with Asian actors.

Were you born yesterday, sweetheart?
Casting directors are trying to cast the biggest start they can get for the smallest sum of money. No one knows - or cares - about a no-name 'Asian actor' and Cumberbatch is immensely popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kevin Costner in anything

Wrong. Loved "Dances with Wolves".

Good God. I can't decide which was worse--his terrible acting or terrible directing.

Yeah, it only won seven Oscars, with another five nominations. What garbage.

But please, do tell us more. You're really putting that B- you got in the Intro to Film Studies class you took 25 years ago to good use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kevin Costner in anything

Wrong. Loved "Dances with Wolves".

Good God. I can't decide which was worse--his terrible acting or terrible directing.

Yeah, it only won seven Oscars, with another five nominations. What garbage.

But please, do tell us more. You're really putting that B- you got in the Intro to Film Studies class you took 25 years ago to good use.

Oh please. Goodfellas losing the Oscar to Dances with Wolves is one of the most embarrassing awards in Oscar history.