Some actors are so perfect in certain film roles that it’s impossible to imagine someone else in that part.
James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York, Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones movies. The list goes on and on.
What are some other roles that were perfectly cast?
Let’s see what AskReddit users had to say.
1. A classic.
“John Candy as Uncle Buck.
Here’s a quarter. Go downtown and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face.”
2. A great role.
“Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
“Johnny, I’m sorry, I forgot you were there. You may go now.” Not his most iconic line as Doc but one of my favourites.”
3. She was so scary in this.
“Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery.
She’s fantastic. I can never read the book again without picturing Kathy Bates.”
4. Absolutely riveting.
“Full Metal Jacket all roles were brilliantly cast but Gny. Sgt Hartman is the truest character in the film. R Lee Ermey was a drill instructor in the marine corps and brought in only to advise but he wanted the role.
He put on a uniform and showed Kubrick how it should be and got the part over Tim Colceri who was already cast but moved to the door gunners part.”
5. A pretty terrifying character.
“Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.
The very thought of that character (and haircut) scares me.”
6. He was robbed!
“Vincent D’Onofrio as the Bug in the Edgar Suit in Men in Black. The fact that he wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar for that role is plain and simply a crime against humanity.
Think about it. We all (well, cinephiles at least) are intimately familiar with who Vincent D’Onofrio is and what he looks like. And yet, there isn’t a moment in that entire film when we aren’t WHOLLY convinced that he is anything other than a cockroach wearing human skin, uncomfortably.
Actors get Oscars for playing humans with human problems. Not that far of a stretch for a human actor. But Vincent played a BUG stuffed inside of ill-fitting skin, CONVINCINGLY, and we snub him because we don’t take comedy seriously.
Slap yourself, Academy!”
7. A real psycho.
“Christian Bale in American Psycho.
The fucking business card scene…”
8. He was great.
“Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest
Though I could have posted just “Alan Rickman” and the post would have still answered the question.”
9. A star-making turn.
“Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element. I heard they wanted Prince, but Chris was perfect.
No one was ready for that.”
10. The Addams Family.
“Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston as Gomez and Morticia.
They were both perfect individually but the way they played off of each other took it to another level.”
11. A perfect movie, in my opinion.
“Michael J Fox as Marty McFly
And of course Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown.”
12. The Man in Black.
“Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line.
A superb Johnny Cash.”
13. An intense actor.
“Russell Crowe as Maximus in Gladiator.
The speech once he takes off the mask is goosebump inducing epic. Quiet strength.”
14. A great early role for Leo.
“Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape in the movie What’s eating Gilbert Grape.
This was the first movie I saw him in and I was convinced he was mentally challenged for a long time.”
15. All of them.
“Everyone in The Princess Bride.
Most perfect casting of an entire movie ever.”
16. Gone too soon.
“Heath Ledger – The Joker (The Dark Knight).
Never have I ever been more wrong about someone playing a role.
When I heard that they cast him I was like “The guy from Knights Tale? No. Will never work.”
One of the best acting performances I’ve ever seen.”
17. A great action flick.
“Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard.”
18. He was terrifying in this.
“Christoph Waltz as Col Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds.
I watched this last night for the umpteenth time , The opening scene is in my opinion genius. Simply wonderful to watch his facial expressions.”
19. A meaty acting role.
“Olivia Colman in The Favourite.
I’d only seen her in Broadchurch and was amazed by how completely different this one was.”
20. The whole cast.
“The whole cast of the Shawshank Redemption. Special mention to Morgan Freeman.
Made Morgan’s voice iconic.”
People definitely mentioned some very iconic roles in those comments.
What do you think are some perfectly casted roles in movies?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
