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Top 20 Worst Casting Decisions Ever

Movie Feature

Ali

6th June 2008

5. KATHARINE HEPBURN is... A CHINESE PEASANT!
DRAGON SEED (1944)
Katharine Hepburn as a Chinese Peasant in Dragon Seed
DRESSING DOWN (OR 'UGGING UP') for success is a commonplace technique in Hollywood: see Nicole Kidman in The Hours or Charlize Theron in Monster. Katharine Hepburn, however, wasn't quite so successful with war drama Dragon Seed. The problems are two-fold. Firstly, Hepburn - one of the most glamorous women on the planet - was playing a peasant: never an easy sell. Secondly, she's playing a Chinese peasant. We're not sure, but we think the old 'slanty-eyed' make-up and silly hat might be just a little offensive to Asian cultures. Besides, Hepburn was so highly strung, she'd probably never ever seen a real Chinese person. It shows.


4. KEVIN COSTNER is... ROBIN HOOD!
ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (1991)
Kevin Costner as Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
WHO TO HIRE WHEN CASTING ye olde Robin Hood, the English folk hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor? Why, Sir Kevin of Costner of course! That's right, the baseball-slugging, apple-pie eating American hero of Field Of Dreams and Bull Durham. Curling off a big Yankee turd on the classic British fable, Costner rocked Nottingham without even a twinge of an appropriate accent, although he was in good company with fellow Americans Christian Slater and Mike McShane among his merry men. Costner's heinous haircut has since been blamed for the resulting influx of mullets in the English countryside. Cheers Kev, come back soon.


3. ANTHONY HOPKINS is... A BLACK GUY!
THE HUMAN STAIN (2003)
Anthony Hopkins as a Black Guy in The Human Stain
WE'LL BREAK THIS ONE DOWN for you. In The Human Stain, Anthony Hopkins plays a Jewish college professor who, despite his appearance, turns out to be a black guy. There's no Al Jolson-esque blackface shenanigans here, just a very flimsy plot and a canyon-esque leap of disbelief required on behalf of the audience. Sadly, we don't buy it, because Hopkins is the whitest man in the known universe - you can see him from space. Thankfully, he's (mis)cast opposite another A-lister in over their head, namely Nicole Kidman, playing - get this - a lowly janitor. By the time they get together, your bullshit-o-meter will be working overtime. A film filled to the brim with wrong.


2. JOHN WAYNE is... GENGHIS KHAN!
THE CONQUEROR (1956)
John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror
POSSIBLY THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE OF taking an actor out of his comfort zone and casting him in something entirely unsuitable for his talents. So, you have John Wayne aka 'The Duke' - cowboy extraordinaire and star of countless Westerns - playing distinctly un-American Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, via the magic of a small pointy moustache and a silly hat. Legend has it Wayne found the script on the desk of director Dick Powell and insisted the movie was made ("Who am I to turn down John Wayne?" he later said), proving that when a big star wants a role, no amount of logic or reasoning can stand in their way.

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