People Share 37 Specific Casting Choices That Ruined Otherwise Perfectly Good Films

Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share a casting choice that spoiled an otherwise excellent film. The results shocked me, and I think some of you are drinking Hater-ade by the gallon…but I also think we can agree that, although we like an actor, they could be wrong for a role. Everyone’s a critic, I guess:

1. “Zendaya in Dune. I thought she’d be a good choice at first, but they wrecked her character, and she ran with it, and now I can’t stand watching it.”

—surprisedgoose63

2. “I was invited to an early screening of Napoleon, and Joaquin Phoenix was a terrible casting choice. He was literally my primary complaint; it was so cringe-worthy to watch him in that role.”

—grouchyaardvark62

3. “Ezra Miller as the Flash. I was angry when he was cast in Fantastic Beasts; then he ruined The Flash, too. It was like a slap in the face.”

—oldhedgehog885

5. “Dan Stevens as the Beast in the live-action Beauty and the Beast. A guy with strength like Chris Evans would have been perfect. Personally, Belle should have gone with Gaston.”

—awkwardeggplant116

6. “Gary Oldman as Sirius Black (Harry Potter). There, I said it.”

—problematik

7. “I will start by saying I love Idris Elba. And I love Matthew McConaughey. Additionally, I have read every single Dark Tower book. The fact that these amazing actors were cast as Roland the Gunslinger (Elba) and Walter utterly ruined the movie and broke my heart. After years of reading and watching the story in my mind, imagining these characters as their story was brilliantly told by the master Stephen King, I had a completely different idea about what these characters would look and sound like. The Dark Tower was adapted horribly and criminally miscast.”

—quirkytraveler882

8. “Both Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. I think the movie had a lot of potential to be fun, and the visuals were great, but those two somehow had negative chemistry. Anytime they spoke to one another, it was cringy and clunky.”

—cheesemonster

10. “Snow White and the Huntsman. Kristen Stewart delivered the most no effect, the flattest performance I’ve ever seen in a movie.”

—oldking611

11. “The support team in Doom. I know it’s not a stellar film, but as I grew up with the game, I was stoked that it had the Rock and Karl Urban. However, the rest of their ‘Spec-Ops’ team were clowns who were obvious monster bait. It always bothers me when schmucks are cast as elite military.”

—vibrantmatcha3674

12. “I know I’ll get hate on this, and it’s ok…..Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby.”

—cutezombie837

13. “The Godfather: Part III. The director casting his daughter when the original actress cast had to pull out due to other commitments. I think it was Sherilyn Fenn originally. Sophia Coepella stepped up and took on the role as a mad scramble was made to fill the role and keep the film on schedule. She is not ready, and you can see it in every scene she is in. It was a great effort on her part, and I applaud it, but she was not at the level of her costars. It’s a great cast, but it couldn’t elevate the performance. It’s a shame, as the final film in the trilogy is regrettable and forgettable.”

—sassyjellyfish388

14. “Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. Don’t get me wrong, Julia Roberts was great as Erin Brockovich and entertaining in the Oceans movies, but she was utterly unconvincing as an artist, intellectual, and woman in the 1950s.”

—lazyeggplant726

15. “I didn’t like the casting of Frodo by Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings). He ruined the movies for me with over-dramatic acting.”

—peacefulcupcake90

17. “Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias. I wouldn’t say she *ruined* the film. It’s just that she cannot do a Southern accent, which is ironic since she’s from Georgia!”

—clairefreeman1

18. “Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd. No, he really cannot sing.”

—bestchicken276

19. “I might be alone on this, but I absolutely hated Anne Hathaway’s performance as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. She is a perfectly capable actress, but she is not a believable Catwoman at all, and this ruined the film for me.

—slyndsi

20. “Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Don’t get me wrong, I love Michael Cera, but one of the major points of Pilgrim’s character is that he is an inconsiderate, pretty boy jerk, and that’s why he gets off doing what he does for so long. Michael Cera can play a jerk, just not the most pretty one.”

—orenlevko1

21. “I love Keanu Reeves (as we all do), but he did not belong in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s a movie that I’ll always love, but man does he suck in it. His English accent alone is awful, and his acting is wooden. Idk who thought he was a good fit for this kind of movie, but it just doesn’t work for me.”

—cgallaghernovember

22. “Johnny Depp as Tonto in the Lone Ranger. A missed opportunity to use a Native American actor and change an insulting role.”

—kyriamichal

23. “Ansel Elgort in West Side Story. The guy has about as much charisma as a soggy piece of bread. The rest of the cast ran circles around him.”

—hnnhmllr

24. “Zendaya in Challengers. Her cast members had such strong performances, and then there she was, giving me the same three expressions.”

—acidicmatcha368

25. “James McAvoy as Big Bill in It Chapter Two. Corey Stoll would have been perfect (he’s bald, much like Bill was in the book), and he’s tall.”

—savorytree18

26. “It doesn’t ‘ruin’ the whole movie, but when Ted Danson shows up in Saving Private Ryan, it yanks me right out for the next 20 minutes.”

—michaelthomas1

27. Hayden Christiansen in the Star Wars prequels.

—mollyindeed

28. “I love Russell Crowe, but his voice was just not strong enough for the Les Miserables movie. Nick Jonas had the same problem in the show’s 25th anniversary special.”

—johannalis85

29. “Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia. The movie is over for me as soon as he starts singing.”

—born_with_no_bones

30. “Gerard Butler in The Phantom of the Opera. The dude couldn’t sing. He was just not a good fit.”

—bponsetto

31. “Uncharted. In the game, Drake is a middle-aged man, while Victor is the young main character. But in the movie, they cast Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and an older actor for Victor. It should’ve been switched. Tom would’ve been great as Victor, not as Drake.”

—sleepingminion78

32. “Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher. There’s nothing like Jack Reacher in the books. Granted, the movies aren’t bad, but a big, burly guy, Cruise is not.”

—bravefan51

33. “Emma Watson as Belle in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Her performance was adequate but something about her wasn’t right.”

—sseddi

34. “Gangs of New York. Cameron Diaz should not have been Jenny. She stood out next to DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis. The movie needed a stronger actress to match the rest of the cast.”

—clevernugget46

35. “Vince Vaughn in the Psycho remake. In my opinion, he was an EXTREMELY poor choice to play Norman Bates.”

—speakstothestars

36. “Tom Cruise as Lestat. They took a lot of the queer supernatural gothic romance themes out, which made Lestat’s actions seem much more sadistic.”

—reneb4b1d76327

What do you think? Even if it’s an unpopular opinion, is there a casting that took you out of a movie? Comment below!