Oh Hollywood, why do you continue to take such relish in making us so very angry? After your bad taglines, over-reliance on Photoshop and nonsensical twist endings, we hoped that you might at least put some time and effort and credibility into creating the right cast.
With the news today that beautiful 38-year-old actress Jennifer Garner was set to play the role of elderly spinster Miss Marple, our hope was destroyed. As well as cruelly robbing some poor 70-year-old actress of a decent paycheque, Garner's miscasting suggests that Hollywood is simply giving up.
To commiserate, here are eight other instances of wrong actor, wrong film, wrong everything.
(Images: Rex Features/ All Star)
Robert De Niro (Frankenstein)
It sounded like a bad idea. A 5' 9" actor who usually plays quick-witted smooth-talkers taking on the role of a tall, lumbering creature. De Niro's performance as Frankenstein's Monster in Kenneth Branagh's overwrought adaptation was a predictable fail. Played like a bemused, grunting Max Cady, it might not be his worst two hours but it's definitely his most uncomfortable.
Cameron Diaz (Gangs of New York)
Struggling with an Irish accent for her initial scenes, Cameron Diaz appears to just 'give up' and settle on a slightly less American voice for Martin Scorsese's epic drama. Sarah Polley was originally cast as the feisty pickpocket but dropped for the more bankable Diaz. Rather like Heather Graham's "cleanest 19th century prostitute ever" in From Hell, she was far too well-groomed and fresh-faced to play street.
Keanu Reeves (Bram Stoker's Dracula)
You know you're in trouble when even the director criticises a casting choice. But poor Francis Ford Coppola was apparently bullied into choosing an actor that teen girls would swoon over. Therefore Californian 'dude' Keanu Reeves was picked to play English lawyer James Harker. In one scene, Harker is set upon by a group of hot vamps and Reeves is clearly fighting the urge to channel Bill & Ted and say "Woah!"
Rosie O'Donnell (The Flintstones)
Betty Rubble is commonly known as one of the most ridiculously hot cartoon women ever. Rosie O'Donnell is not commonly known as one of the most ridiculously hot actual women ever. A strange, confused piece of casting that was apparently made as she "nailed the laugh" caused plenty of uproar with eager Flintstones fans, hoping to drool on their popcorn. Her replacement for the sequel was 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski: a frustratingly minor improvement.
Sofia Coppola (The Godfather Part III)
One of the most notoriously bad casting choices was at least made out of love. Director Francis Ford Coppola put his 19-year-old daughter into the role of Mary Corleone after Winona Ryder dropped out, despite her protests. As a result she won two Razzies and heavy derision. That's what you get for doing something nice. Luckily she recovered and became a director herself. One with an eye for talent.
James McAvoy (Wanted)
Angelina Jolie is not known for being soft. Therefore any man who acts beside her needs to possess a certain toughness. Something that James McAvoy just doesn't tend to have. The floppy-haired Scot was out of his depth as the lead in the action thriller Wanted, looking equally uncomfortable holding a gun as he was kissing Jolie. Don't even mention the scenes where he was doing both...
Denise Richards (The World Is Not Enough)
At the height of her popularity, the Wild Things star was deemed perfect Bond girl material by studio bosses. But casting Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist called Christmas Jones was an unlikely and ultimately doomed combination. Failing to sizzle alongside Pierce Brosnan, Richards received a Razzie for her performance and was rivalled only by Tara Reid playing an archaeologist in Alone In The Dark as least believable actress/job match-up ever.
Angelina Jolie (Alexander)
To be honest, Oliver Stone's epic was guilty for a number of miscasts. Colin Farrell's thick Irish accent and dark features didn't make him a natural choice for Macedonian blonde Alexander the Great while choosing Angelina Jolie to play his mother was a stretch to say the least. Jolie was wildly unsuitable for a number of reasons. The main one being that she's just one year older than Farrell. Just a small thing then.
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