As soon as they get the green light, directors and producers must present their dream cast. Once the studio approves the cast, a thespian’s agent is contacted. If a thespian likes the script, they audition as that character. Some rounds of auditioning include chemistry tests with the lead thespian and potential on-screen partners. For a majority of films, the process of casting follows this system, regardless of the studio or director. Indeed, the aforementioned steps are key to the film’s success.
Films that are cast well have the potential to become cult classics or break box office records. Some films can make actors household names. Most notably, the MCU has made many actors household names because the casting director, Sarah Halley Finn, has a gift for finding the perfect actor for the franchise’s superheroes and villains. Of course, the MCU is not alone in casting. Throughout the span of Hollywood, studios have been perfectly casting actors in roles no one else could play. Here are 15 examples.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
15 Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins — Mary Poppins
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Throughout her incredible career, actress Julie Andrews has been supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Disney and musical fans agree that her performance as Mary Poppins is the pinnacle of her silver screen roles. In fact, Walt Disney hand-picked Andrews for the role after seeing her as Queen Guenevere on Broadway. But filming Mary Poppins was put on hold as Andrews was pregnant and Disney was willing to wait for her, according to Cheat Sheet.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
14 Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa — Star Wars
20th Century Fox
The first woman of a galaxy far, far away is the late Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa. Throughout Star Wars, she was a force of nature and stood toe to toe with Darth Vader upon meeting him for the first time! Though Fisher wasn’t as bold as her on-screen persona, as she revealed to NPR: “I was so insecure. At least I knew that. At least I was aware that I didn’t know who I was.” Leia was a beacon of hope, someone women in the nerdscape could look to for strength.
13 Robin Williams as The Genie — Aladdin
Disney
Disney’s Renaissance era transformed cinema and animation in unimaginable ways. Following the success of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, the studio upped the ante by bringing in well-known comedians and making musical comedies with Aladdin. The late Robin Williams voiced the Genie, Aladdin’s guide in trying to win the heart of the princess. Williams did such a wonderful job ad-libbing, Disney can’t use some of his work as its wildly inappropriate, according to Business Insider.
12 Sigourney Weaver as Chaffee Bicknell — Baby Mama
Relativity Media
In Baby Mama, a businesswoman named Kate (Tina Fey) wishes to have a baby via surrogacy. She finds an agency run by a woman named Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver), who is determined to make people’s parenting dreams come true. Kate soon begins dating a man who calls Chaffee’s business something out of a science fiction movie, a nod to Weaver’s role in the Alien franchise.
11 Heath Ledger as The Joker — The Dark Knight
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Joker is a popular villain to cast as he is one of Batman’s main antagonists. Being The Joker carries a lot of pressure, especially after the late Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight. Due to his performance, some fans have theorized that the actor based his interpretation on a Tom Waits interview, as IGN explains. While movies immortalize actors, Ledger will always be remembered by comic book fans as the best Joker.
10 Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander — Fantastic Beasts
Warner Bros.
After winning Best Actor for his performance of the genius Stephen Hawking, Warner Bros. quickly announced that Eddie Redmayne would portray Newt Scamander in the upcoming Harry Potter prequel/spinoff series. Most of what was known about Newt was that he wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a fictional encyclopedia in the Harry Potter world. Redmayne portrayed Newt to perfection, especially considering that little was known about the character prior to the film.
9 Tom Hiddleston as Loki — MCU
The God of Mischief, Loki, is from Norse mythology, as are Thor, Odin, Freya, and Hela. But Tom Hiddleston’s performance made the character of Loki so beloved by the MCU fandom. Before the Avengers came out, Hiddleston revealed that he drew inspiration from the Loki comic series by Robert Rodi. Loki has evolved from spiteful and power-hungry to someone who is keen on saving the world, thanks to Hiddleston.
8 Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Drysdale — Knives Out
Lionsgate
The queen of thrillers and slashers herself, Jamie Lee Curtis, portrays best-selling author Linda Drysdale in the first installment of Knives Out. While she may have felt lonely on set, IndieWire reports, Curtis steals the show. In the murder mystery, Linda’s father is murdered, but she is more concerned with mourning her father than the invasive inquiries of Benoit Blanc. Curtis’ best scene is near the end as her son is arrested, and she uses a lighter to reveal a secret message from her late father.
7 Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly — Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Paramount Pictures
Based on the novel of the same name, Breakfast at Tiffany’s follows a socialite named Holly Golightly, who loves to go out and dreams of living a glamorous life where she can shop at the famed jewelry store Tiffany’s. While Audrey Hepburn is known for her role as Holly, director Truman Capote had another actress in mind: Capote wanted Marylin Monroe for the role and always had her in mind. Though with Hepburn’s impeccable performance, it’s hard to imagine anyone else embodying the role.
6 Mena Massoud as Aladdin — Aladdin (2019)
Aladdin had some high stakes when it was being remade. While the pressure was on Will Smith to honor Robin Williams, lead actor Mena Massoud was carrying the weight of being the lovable pauper turned prince, Aladdin. The reimagining of the classic had vibrant costumes and sets along with actors of Egyptian, Iranian, and Indian descent. Massoud’s portrayal of someone seeking purpose and life beyond what he grew up knowing was beautifully done.
5 Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide/Red — Us
Universal Pictures
Actress Lupita Nyong’o’s dual portrayal of Adelaide and Red in director Jordan Peele’s Us needs to be awarded. Adelaide is returning to her Santa Cruz home for a family vacation. Red is part of the Tethered, a society that lives underground and mimics those above, but with limited to no speech. Red can speak, albeit in a raspy voice that is incredibly haunting. Cinema Blend reports that Nyong’o found inspiration for Red’s voice from Robert F. Kennedy. Her performances are genius.
4 Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wong — Everything Everywhere All at Once
A24
The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once is a spectacularly fresh take on the theory of the multiverse. As the story is driven by Evelyn, a business owner undergoing an IRS audit, and her discovery of her Alpha-self’s creation of time travel, no one could play her other than Michelle Yeoh. Her time in the spotlight of this scale has been a long time coming, and Yeoh is finally receiving recognition for her acting chops.
3 Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury — Bohemian Rhapsody
20th Century Studios
Bohemian Rhapsody is about the extremely talented Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury. The biopic of Mercury is particularly special because Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor were consultants and producers who hand-picked actor Rami Malek. In an interview with We Got This Covered, May and Taylor revealed that Malek had a passion and a sense of Freddie in him that was remarkable.
2 Viola Davis as Nanisca — The Woman King
Sony Pictures Releasing
Though she is known for her role in How to Get Away With Murder, Viola Davis has an undeniable presence on screen. In The Woman King, Davis portrays General Nanisca, the leader of the all-woman warrior troupe of the Agojie tribe. The warrior troupe is based on a real group of women warriors in what is now the Republic of Benin and even inspired the MCU’s Dora Milaje, according to TIME. If anyone were to lead an all-woman warrior troupe, it’s Viola Davis.
1 Shohreh Aghdashloo as Habibeh — Septembers of Shiraz
Ambi Pictures
Dictatorships need their enforcers to maintain the fear and the tyrannical leaders of the Islamic Republic occupying Iran are no different. After the banishment of the Shah in 1979, the state police, or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, began capturing and torturing cultural and religious minorities, like the Kurdish, Bahá’i, and Jewish people in Iran. In the Septembers of Shiraz, Iranian-born actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo portrays Habibeh, a former housekeeper to a Jewish-Iranian family. Her fear as a religious minority is palpable despite being in the film for a few scenes.
