Actors often unfairly take some flack when things don’t work out in a movie, but it’s not always their fault. Sometimes, a script is written so badly that not even a multiple Oscar winner could pull it off. That’s not the only factor, though, as sometimes the wrong actors are cast for the wrong roles, which we’ve found to be the case in several popular movies.
Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates in Psycho (1998)
Let’s be honest: whoever tried to fill the shoes of the lead character in this iconic piece of cinema would always be reaching for some intangible goal. That’s precisely what we see in Vince Vaughn’s performance in the 1998 remake of the famous movie Psycho.
Out of Reach
Vaughn does a lot of reaching in this movie, but unfortunately, he never manages to grab onto anything that makes us believe he could be the psycho he’s playing. Therefore, the audience was left underwhelmed by his performance.
While Vaughn has certainly achieved some kudos for his other acting roles, particularly in the movies Swingers and Dodgeball (cult classics), the same cannot be said for his role in Psycho.
Fans of the original Hitchcock thriller shot in 1965, and Vaughn agrees that he was miscast for the role, with many claiming that he has just too much funny to be feared in this movie.
Cameron Diaz as Jenny Everdeane in Gangs of New York (2002)
In 2002, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (GONY) was the movie of the moment. Its stunning cast included Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Liam Neeson, to name a few. It was an all-star performance from some of the leading actors of the time.
Superfluous to the Plot
However, many fans criticized the casting of Cameron Diaz as Jenny Everdeane, who played Leonardo DiCaprio’s love interest in the movie. Her character was a pickpocket and a con artist, who could also be described as a lady of the night if we want to use some language from 1862 when the movie was set.
Diaz’s performance has been called flat, and some have claimed that the character, Jenny, was superfluous to the overall movie plot and that the only reason she was cast was that she was a massive box office draw at the time.
Remember, at the time of filming, Diaz was still hot off the press from films like There’s Something About Mary, Charlie’s Angels, and let’s not forget her big break with Ace Ventura in The Mask, so she was pulling a lot of weight with audiences around this time.
It’s been claimed that Gwyneth Paltrow was turned down for the role and that Natalie Portman also auditioned for it, but, according to the book Gangs of New York: Making the Movie, Scorsese was forced to choose a more bankable star.
Jared Leto as The Joker in Suicide Squad (2016)
With stellar performances by the legendary Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix, anyone who attempts to take on the role of The Joker has some pretty massive shoes to fill, and according to fans, Jared Leto’s performance missed the mark by a wide shot.
An Eclipse of the True Psyche of The Joker
Leto’s role as The Joker in Suicide Squad has been criticized as an epic miscast for several reasons. One of the main critiques has been that the creative team on the movie relied too heavily on Leto’s appearance and the use of makeup, costume, and props to portray the craziness of the character, eclipsed any genuine attempt to demonstrate the damaged psyche that notoriously lies behind The Joker’s character.
Secondly, many claimed that Leto played a different version of The Joker than they’d seen before and that he almost appeared too empathetic to be the famously callous and dangerous individual that we have all become accustomed to.
Tom Hanks as Tom Parks in Elvis (2022)
In this relatively recent take on the life and career of Elvis Presley, Tom Hanks plays his infamous manager, Colonel Tom Parker, a Dutch-born carnival-tout turned music mogul.
A Grating Delivery
By all accounts, Parker was quite an insidious character. He was known to have exploited Elvis for years and was partly responsible for his success and downfall.
Hanks is fitted with quite substantial prosthetics in the film, which gives him a very different physical appearance from the one we are used to. Maybe this is part of the reason why fans didn’t quite connect with him in this role.
Many have criticized Hanks as being miscast in such a villainous role, claiming that he wasn’t convincing enough playing such a baddie, with the Los Angeles Times even calling it his “worst performance,” arguing that Hanks’s delivery was “grating.”
Halle Berry as Catwoman (2004)
Halle Berry was panned for her performance in Catwoman and even won a Razzie award for worst actress, which she famously decided to collect in person, much to everyone’s surprise.
A Catastrophe With Claws
Everything about this movie was criticized: the directing, the plot, the script, and most notably, Berry’s casting. It’s currently only rated a measly 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.
There are some very corny moments in this movie, like when Berry continually rubs a ball of cat nip around her face (while in human form), and this is one of the movie’s most famously mocked scenes.
Uma Thurman, My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
If there was ever a miscasting in a movie role, surely this is it. Uma Thurman plays a geek-turned-jilted superwoman in this attempt at a comedy/superhero movie, if such a thing exists.
Clichéd, Sexist Vibes
Unfortunately, everything about this movie misses the mark; Thurman’s acting is wooden, the jokes are corny and off-center, and it’s full of clichéd, sexist superhero jibes.
Fans weren’t impressed by Thurman’s casting in this role, and I think many were expecting something more after her high-profile, stellar appearances in movies like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.
The fact is that sometimes the casting directors get it wrong, and it seems that they certainly did on this occasion, as the movie still only has an audience rating of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher (2012)
One of the biggest criticisms about Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Jack Reacher is that, according to fans of the original books, Cruise was just not physically matched to the original character, who was described as being 6ft 5, broad, and weighing 250 IBs.
David and Goliath
Even the book’s author, Lee Child, is quoted as saying that he was not happy with Cruise’s physicality in the movie. Even though Cruise could give a good performance in most other aspects of the role, fans could just not match a 5ft 7 Cruise with the combat expert and giant they had imagined while reading the original series.
For this reason, many claimed that Cruise was miscast in the role. Even though Childs attempted to backtrack on his initial comments by saying that “Reacher’s size in the book was just a metaphor for an unstoppable force,” many fans felt that he had already voiced the audience’s true opinions.
Joaquin Phoenix as Napoléon (2023)
We are used to expecting great things from Director Ridley Scott. After all, he is the man who brought us masterpieces like Alien, Bladerunner, Gladiator, and Prometheus. Unfortunately, his latest offering, Napoléan, received a lot of criticism. Many argued that a major fault of the movie was that Joaquin Phoenix was miscast in the leading role.
An Introverted Portrayal of a Dynamic Character
Many criticized the fact that Joaquin was too old to play the legendary figure as he was the same age at the time of filming as Napoléan when he died.
Historical accounts claim that Napoléan was a young, cunning, intelligent individual who was already a General in the French military by age 26, something which audiences didn’t feel Joaquin conveyed in his seemingly introverted portrayal of the famous figure.
Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code (2006)
There’s no denying that the 2006 movie The Da Vinci Code captivated audiences. The mystique and intrigue created by the original book and its genius marketing campaign had us all queuing up for tickets to see this film.
The Holy Grail, or a Holy Fail?
Aside from the fact that the extremely popular books written by Dan Brown had a massive pull on audiences, many were left feeling a little underwhelmed by the film adaptation.
Many fans claimed that Tom Hanks was not the man for the leading role in this story, and many couldn’t agree who was more miscast, Hanks or the awful wig that he wore to embody Robert Langdon, a symbologist who is drawn into a search across Europe for The Holy Grail. Some cited his performance as The Holy Fail.
George Lazenby as James Bond (1969)
If you’re a James Bond fanatic, this might be contentious. Still, I’m sorry to say that George Lazenby’s casting as James Bond movie titled On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is generally accepted as a misstep for the famous franchise.
This was Lazenby’s only appearance as Bond, and many claim that his underwhelming offering was to blame as he failed to impress audiences.
Not Shaken or Stirred
Fans criticized Lazenby for giving a flat performance and for being unable to capture the charisma of the notorious, womanizing spy.
Sources at the time claimed that he was “difficult to handle” on set, which Lazenby denies.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2017, according to Lazenby, the real reason that he didn’t do any more Bond movies was that he rejected the offer to film anymore; “I had advice that James Bond was over anyway. It was Sean Connery’s gig and, being in the ’60s, it was love, not war. You know, hippy time. And I bought into that,”.
A Missed Opportunity With Miss Moneypenny
It may not be the best advice anyone has ever received, especially considering the Bond movies are still going today and have grossed over $7 billion at the box office, making James Bond the third highest-grossing franchise of all time, after Marvel and Star Wars.
