Best, Spot-On Casting!

[cumallday]

5 more

Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman in "The Pianist"
Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in "Last King of Scotland"
Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in "Alien"
Kevin Spacey as John Doe in "Se7en"
R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket"

 

[TheeGoatPig]

R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket"

Definitely. I have never seen another drill instructor in movies, TV, or documentaries, that was anywhere near as convincing as Ermy was.

 

[cloudy]

Christoper Walken as Gabriel in The Prophecy.

It would be a totally forgettable movie except for him.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Alan Rickman (again) as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.

 

[cumallday]

Can I nominate George Walker Bush as the biggest idiot alive in "Fahrenheit 9/11"?

 

[tickledkitty]

Definitely. I have never seen another drill instructor in movies, TV, or documentaries, that was anywhere near as convincing as Ermy was.

That's because he's the real deal.

 

[Misty_Morning]

George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Marisa Tomei as Mona Lisa Vito in "My Cousin Vinney"

Sally Field as Norma Rae

 

[ninefe2dg]

Both Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy.
John Wayne in True Grit and The Shootist.
Richard Dreyfuss in Mr Hollands Opus
Al Pacino and James Caan in The Godfather
Burgess Meredith in Rocky
Tom Hanks in Philadelphia

I saw some bit where James Caan was reading for the part of Michael Corleone, like you, I'm glad it went down the way it did...I'd almost put down Brando as Vito but left it off...will add it to the list now, tho!

 

[flavortang]

Alan Rickman in "Die Hard"

 

[ninefe2dg]

Haley Joe Osment was indeed an inspired child actor. Remarkable work. That was one of the only films I've ever seen in which a child in a major role didn't drag the whole thing askew with (unstandably) poor acting. His was excellent.

Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K in Men in Black. The more times I watch that movie, the more clear it is that he completely makes it.

HJO is also a good trivia question...name the two actors who played Forrest Gump...Tom Hanks and HJO (as Jr.)...I just realized that when I was flipping channels and caught the end of FG

 

[flavortang]

The Clint in "Dirty Harry"

Arnold in "The Terminator"

 

[ninefe2dg]

Even if you don't like the movie, or the actor, the best ever casting of Satan was Al Pachino in The Devil's Advocate. He nailed the part of the great deceiver. He was played the part to perfection. It was pretty much written to perfection too, with the nuances of the character, tempting people with information about what was going on in reality around them. but Al played the role well as well.

I'm not really a fan of the movie. I can barely sit through parts of it. But the parts where Al is evilling up the world around him, are so well done that I can't help but watch every line.

Pacino's character in Scent of a Woman was so grating and offensive I'd have to put it on the list...he did a great job portraying someone you weren't supposed to like very much...Hoo-ah!

Oh, I saw Kevin Spacey earlier...props to him as Verbal Kint in Usual Suspects! Brilliant casting. (BTW, ever watch that movie, having already seen it, with someone watching it for the first time, who guesses Kaiser Soze's identity in five minutes?) I have...About a hundred "just keep watchings", followed by about a hundred "I knew it I told you sos" at the end lol...

 

[sereneone4u]

Richard Harris as Dumbledore...


Richard Harris in any role, really.

 

[Huckleman2000]

...
Everyone, pretty much, in "The Producers"; the original film.

Oooh, Oooh! Peter O'Toole, as Errol Flynn, in "My Favorite year"

and Robert Downey Junior as Charlie Chaplin.

In The Producers, Dick Shawn is a scream as the actor who plays Hitler in "Springtime for Hitler". In a similar vein, Peter Boyle as the Monster in Young Frankenstein.

Robert Downey Jr. is similar to Johnny Depp, in that he defines every role he plays.

Peter O'Toole is my favorite actor, though. I really think he was playing himself as much as Errol Flynn in that movie.
Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn in "Lion in Winter". Actually, everyone in that film is great.
Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant in The Philadelphia Story. WASP sexiness not equaled until Katherine Ross in "The Graduate".
For that matter, Dustin Hoffman (totally against type) in "The Graduate", as well as Anne Bancroft.
Newman and Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

 

[Huckleman2000]

Christoper Walken as Gabriel in The Prophecy.

It would be a totally forgettable movie except for him.

I recently read an article that said that Walken has reached a point similar to Jack Nicholson, where all he has to do is appear onscreen and it's a dominating performance. I think I agree.

 

[ninefe2dg]

I recently read an article that said that Walken has reached a point similar to Jack Nicholson, where all he has to do is appear onscreen and it's a dominating performance. I think I agree.

Agreed, see also his cameos in both Pulp Fiction and True Romance...

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Pacino's character in Scent of a Woman was so grating and offensive I'd have to put it on the list...he did a great job portraying someone you weren't supposed to like very much...Hoo-ah!

Oh, I saw Kevin Spacey earlier...props to him as Verbal Kint in Usual Suspects! Brilliant casting. (BTW, ever watch that movie, having already seen it, with someone watching it for the first time, who guesses Kaiser Soze's identity in five minutes?) I have...About a hundred "just keep watchings", followed by about a hundred "I knew it I told you sos" at the end lol...

I haven't seen Scent, and don't really ever care to.

And no, I haven't watched Usual Suspects with anyone else in the room, ever? I don't think I have. It's usually a solitary activity for me, strangely enough.

However, my mother guessed it about five minutes earlier in the movie than I did. I'm quite upset about that...

 

[S-Des]

And no, I haven't watched Usual Suspects with anyone else in the room, ever? I don't think I have. It's usually a solitary activity for me, strangely enough.

However, my mother guessed it about five minutes earlier in the movie than I did. I'm quite upset about that...

It was a great piece of writing. I've seen a number of stories here try to pull off that type of swerve, and most fail miserably. It takes a great deal of skill and intricate story-tellying to make you believe one thing, then have the opposite turn out to be true, yet do it without intentionally misleading the audience (letting them naturally come to the wrong conclusion).

 

[TheeGoatPig]

It was a great piece of writing. I've seen a number of stories here try to pull off that type of swerve, and most fail miserably. It takes a great deal of skill and intricate story-tellying to make you believe one thing, then have the opposite turn out to be true, yet do it without intentionally misleading the audience (letting them naturally come to the wrong conclusion).

I can imagine. One of the things keeping me from writing a novel that I started is that I'm aiming for a similar deception, sort of. I'm trying to paint the bad guy as the rebelious hero for the first half of the story, and then bring it into question for the next quarter, until it is finally revealed just how evil this fucker is in the last part, where the villain is revealed to be the good guy, though I'm not sure if I'll even let anyone live long enough to be the hero yet...

 

[WRJames]

Pacino's character in Scent of a Woman was so grating and offensive I'd have to put it on the list...he did a great job portraying someone you weren't supposed to like very much...Hoo-ah!

It isn't really a movie -- but Al Pacino in the HBO production of Angels in America was just spectacular -- a mixture of pure evil and wisdom that was fascinating -- repulsive and sympathetic at the same time.

 

[Picodiribibi]

If TV is fair game, my vote goes to Felicia "Snoop" Pearson , who plays a character by the same name on the HBO series The Wire .
Steven King called her "perhaps the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series. " I agree. Snoop--both actor and character--is just so comfortable doing what she does: you can't help but be disturbed at how casually the character kills; and you can't help but think the actor, who brings that to the screen, is a natural. Kudos to the show's producers for bringing her on.

Here's her debut, the opening scene of the 4th season.

 

[3113]

The Wire! Yes!

Snoop--both actor and character--is just so comfortable doing what she does: you can't help but be disturbed at how casually the character kills

Oh, God, yes, she's amazing. But then "The Wire" has excelled in casting the most amazing, spot-on actors. Like Michael Kenneth Williams who plays Omar. Simply amazing!

Of course, if tv is fair game, and most especially HBO, then prizes have to be given to just about every actor on "The Sopranos." I can't think of a show that's ever had such a perfect cast almost across the board. Topping that list being the late Nancy Marchand who played Livia, the great avatar of horrible mothers.

 

[slyc_willie]

Two oldies; Gary Busey as Buddy Holly
and Tom Hulse as Mozart

F. Murray Abraham was damn good in that, too.

Some of my favorite castings:

1) John Travolta in Get Lucky. I read the book before seeing the movie, and I could just see Travolta as Chili Palmer.

2) While Christopher Reeves simply IS, and always WILL BE, Superman, Brandon Rousch did a damn good job of stepp into the crimson boots.

3) Kevin Spacey in Seven; Damn, he was creepy.

4) Slim Pickens in Blazing Saddles; a small part, but every line he delivered was perfect.

5) Bruce Campbell is every damn thing he's done (yes, even The Man With Two Brains). No one does campy B-movies like Bruce.

 

[Huckleman2000]

[snip]Topping that list being the late Nancy Marchand who played Livia, the great avatar of horrible mothers.

Yes! Within the show's conceit of the psychological exploration of organized crime, she gave the whole idea a grounding in reality and believability that just catapulted the series' early years.
Apropos of nothing, the most brilliantly funny line on television in the last 6 months has to be the Geico caveman in his therapist's office: "It's my mother. I'll put it on speaker."

 

[flavortang]

Tim Curry as "Darkness" in "Legend".