7 Of The Best Casted Roles In Film

Lists

19 Aug

Finding the right actor to play a role can be tough. They need to have the look of the character and, most importantly, the range to play the role. Casting directors have an eye for spotting actors that would perfectly fill the shoes of a character. It is a job that is often underestimated, but when you see a film and feel like the actor was “born to play that role”, you know the casting director was good. There’s a whole industry filled with talented actors out there, but sometimes it’s really difficult to fathom that any other actor can replace certain roles.

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter

As one of the most well known villains in Hollywood, Hannibal Lecter has been played by a variety of actors. Few, however, have come close to achieving the eerie presence Anthony Hopkins achieves when playing the role. The actor managed to keep a lingering sense of horror, despite spending most of his screen time in a cell. Hopkins’ piercing blue eyes perfectly imitates the lifeless, staring-into-your-soul look of a highly intelligent, psychopathic killer. Even his voice made his portrayal of the character iconic. Its eloquence and cutting nature really adds to the effect of Lecter analysing Clarice’s every action, almost like he’s reading her mind. Some of the creepiest moments with Hannibal Lecter came from Hopkins’ own mind. It was his idea to have Hannibal Lecter standing in the middle of the cell while Clarice was first introduced to him to make it seem like he could smell her coming. Unsurprisingly, Hopkins won an Oscar for his portrayal.

👉 Watch Hannibal on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy Hannibal as DVD on Amazon

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow

With five films across the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, it seems like no one else could play the sleazy, cheeky pirate like Johnny Depp. While his career was ultimately fading, Jack Sparrow gave it a second chance at life, thanks to his incredible performance that won the hearts of millions. Depp has always had a rockstar-like, rebellious look about him, which made him fit into the character and costume perfectly. Much of Jack Sparrow’s character is pretty unlikeable, but Depp turned his maliciousness into cheekiness, giving the film plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. It’s unfortunate that he won’t be in the next Pirates Of The Caribbean instalment given how unlikely it is any other actor can master the character as well as Depp.

👉 Watch Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as DVD on Amazon

Arnold Schwarzenneger as Terminator

Although he doesn’t say much in Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenneger as a killer robot quickly became a classic. Him saying “I’ll be back” in a monotonous, thick German accent quickly became iconic. The role was originally offered to Mel Gibson, who turned it down, resulting in a massive kickstart for Schwarzenegger’s career.

👉 Watch The Terminator on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy The Terminator as DVD on Amazon

Christain Bale as Patrick Bateman

Since its release in 2000, American Psycho has become a classic in cinema, and has gained huge amounts of traction on social media. This is thanks to Christain Bale’s stellar performance of the psychopathic serial killer of wall street. Bale presents the character in a way that gives his egoistic downfall a comedic spin, making the character seem ridiculous. Bale understood exactly what the character was and what director Mary Harron’s vision was. He played Patrick Bateman like a caricature to show that his only personality is one that he fakes. Bale and Harron had discussed that they wanted the character to appear like an alien disguised as a human in the capitalist landscape of 80s New York. This was certainly achieved with his acting talents. Interestingly, Bale had taken inspiration from a Tom Cruise interview to achieve this alien look of someone only pretending to have emotions. Much of the cast thought Bateman was a terrible actor due to his acting style - that is, until they saw the film.

👉 Watch American Psycho on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy American Psycho as DVD on Amazon

Jeff Bridges as Jeff Lebowski

With his long hair and scruffy beard, Jeff Bridges already had the look of Lebowski. In fact, one of the character’s outfits came from Bridges’ wardrobe. Other than that, Bridges perfectly embodied the spirit of “The Dude'' in the Big Lebowski. He transformed into the epitome of laid back: someone who doesn’t care much about anything, wants to relax and listen to music, and who drinks copious amounts of white russians. Mastering this type of character was vital for the film’s plot, since there’s meant to be humour in such a person encountering random, dangerous scenarios caused by a misunderstanding.

👉 Watch The Big Lebowski on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy The Big Lebowski on Amazon Prime

Heath Ledger as The Joker

If you ask anyone today which portrayal of the Joker is their favourite, there's a good chance they’ll say Heath Ledger’s. Before the Dark Knight’s release, there was much scepticism about Ledger playing the Joker among fans, since the role had previously been Jack Nicholson’s. Once Ledger’s performance was shown to the world, it was widely praised, and has become immortalised among the marvel fanbase. The Joker is not an easy character to play, especially when following in the footsteps of someone as talented as Jack Nicholson. Actors who play the Joker need to get his playful psychopathy just right, or else they’ll seem like they’re trying too hard to look edgy and make the character too cartoonish. Ledger nailed the role, mastering each of the Joker's facial expressions, while doing his own improvisations. His improvisation of the lip-smacking quickly became a classic characteristic of the Joker.

👉 Watch Dark Knight’s on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy Dark Knight’s as DVD on Amazon

Ryan Renolds as Deadpool

While Marvel was showering the world with superhero movies (as always), what we really needed was a superhero comedy. This was certainly delivered with Ryan Reynolds’ hilarious portrayal of the foul-mouthed Deadpool. His penchant for sarcasm and charming nature allowed him to completely embody the character, with every dirty joke coming from the character’s mouth sounding so natural and spot on. Deadpool quickly became one of the most loved characters in the Marvel universe, thanks to Reynolds’ brilliant performance.

👉 Watch Deadpool on Amazon Prime

👉 Buy Deadpool as DVD on Amazon