Destiny Speaks
Sometimes you just can’t imagine anyone else playing a certain role, as if the actor had been born for the part. We’ll start off our cast of characters with Jeff Bridges, Harrison Ford, and Kathy Bates, who all seemed destined to play some very special roles. First, here’s The Dude!
The Big Lebowski (1998): Jeff Bridges As The Dude
Bridges was the perfect choice for The Big Lebowski, even wearing many of his own clothes during filming (and that includes his striking jelly sandals), all adding up to his convincing portrayal of a wonderfully laid-back character—though definitely no pushover.
Working Title, The Big Lebowski (1998)
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981): Harrison Ford As Indiana Jones
Tom Selleck scored his own TV series, Magnum PI, so the Indiana torch ended up passing to Harrison Ford. At one point during filming, Ford could barely stand due to a stomach bug, so he suggested just shooting his sword-wielding challenger in one of the film’s most enduring scenes.
Paramount, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Misery (1990): Kathy Bates As Annie Wilkes
A superfan turned captor demands the ultimate in fan service: Her patient turned captive, played by James Caan, has to rewrite his latest novel in order to spare a character named Misery—or else. Bates truly inhabited the role with her gripping, Oscar-winning performance!
Goodfellas (1990): Ray Liotta As Henry Hill
Liotta’s portrayal of a real-life character drawn into the murky world of the mob almost never happened, as he was afraid he’d be playing second fiddle to Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. But Liotta’s performance turned out to be pivotal in this Martin Scorsese masterpiece.
Warner Bros., Goodfellas (1990)
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971): Gene Wilder As Willy Wonka
Wilder insisted on doing an opening somersault to convey the hard-to-pin-down nature of Willy Wonka. He also ramped up the volume when accusing Charlie, played by Peter Ostrum, of taking some moral shortcuts. Wilder wanted a more genuine reaction from the young actor.
Paramount, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (1977): Carrie Fisher As Princess Leia
Fisher’s blend of grit and beauty captivated audiences—and kept in check some of the movie’s characters too, as she challenged Han Solo (Harrison Ford) whenever he overstepped, which was often. We’re lucky we could see her in so many of the sequels too.
Twentieth Century, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Die Hard (1988): Bruce Willis As John McClane
Nothing against Frank Sinatra, but by declining the role he paved the way for Bruce Willis to do it his own way in this quintessential action film that helped define the genre—and Willis’s future career path.
Twentieth Century, Die Hard (1988)
The Godfather (1972): Al Pacino As Michael Corleone
Director Francis Ford Coppola resisted the studio’s push for a more famous actor such as Robert Redford or Warren Beatty to take on the role of Michael Corleone. Pacino sunk his teeth into the part as his character grappled with issues of family and loyalty as dark clouds swirl.
Paramount, The Godfather (1972)
Rocky (1976): Sylvester Stallone As Rocky Balboa
There was no question about the casting here! Stallone insisted on starring in a screenplay he wrote about a fighter’s road to redemption, leading to an enduring franchise and endless pop memes.
Basic Instinct (1992): Sharon Stone As Catherine Tramell
Stone’s leg-crossing scene has seared itself into pop culture’s collective memory in the decades since this sizzling film came out, perfectly portraying Trammell’s infamous combination of guile, charm, and devious control.
StudioCanal, Basic Instinct (1992)
Gone With The Wind (1939): Clark Gable As Rhett Butler
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” said Clark Gable, but he actually put a lot of effort into this complicated character. Although he wasn’t sure he was the right pick for the part, it’s hard to conceive of anyone else coming up with such a masterful performance.
MGM, Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Terminator (1984): Arnold Schwarzenegger As Terminator
“I’ll be back,” said Schwarzenegger, in a film that spawned a franchise that kept on menacingly marching. No nuanced facial expressions were needed for his role as the relentless cyborg, but that didn’t stop Schwarzenegger’s acting career from blossoming.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003): Johnny Depp As Jack Sparrow
Depp reportedly used Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones as model for this flamboyant and unpredictable pirate who pursued treasure after treasure as he hopped from one blockbuster to the next in this franchise (with Richards showing up as Jack’s father in two sequels!).
Walt Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Tombstone (1993): Val Kilmer As Doc Holliday
Kilmer relied on a dialect coach to get a Southern accent down pat, which in turn helped him nail down the mannerisms of a notorious gunslinger, all coming together in an inspired performance.
Cinergi Pictures, Tombstone (1993)
The Silence Of The Lambs (1991): Anthony Hopkins As Hannibal Lecter
It’s hard to imagine anyone but Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, complete with the ominous sounds the actor improvised, winning an Oscar for his performance (somehow just 24 minutes in total) and helping to propel the film to several other Oscar victories.
Orion, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Goodfellas (1990): Joe Pesci As Tommy DeVito
Pesci won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor by producing a deeply convincing performance of an intense and volatile mafioso named Tommy DeVito, another great character from this Scorsese classic.
Warner Bros., Goodfellas (1990)
The Matrix (1999): Keanu Reeves As Neo
Groundbreaking in concept and execution, this mind-bending production from the Wachowskis featured amazing special effects and Reeves’ quietly intense performance as a fish out of water grappling with the possibility he’s the prophet who has to lead everyone to a most unsettling truth.
Warner Bros., The Matrix (1999)
Forrest Gump (1994): Tom Hanks As Forrest Gump
Hanks made a smart move by agreeing to take a percentage of the film’s profits and proceeded to movingly play a man of simple wisdom, a performance still resonating in pop culture. It’s hard to imagine a convincing performance from John Travolta, who decided he didn’t want the job.
Paramount, Forrest Gump (1994)
Back To The Future (1985): Michael J Fox As Marty McFly
Too bad for Eric Stoltz, but Michael J Fox got the part when initial filming with Stoltz didn’t quite have the right feel. Fox’s friendly exuberance hit the mark for this film and its future sequels.
Universal, Back to the Future (1985)
Crocodile Dundee (1986): Paul Hogan As Michael “Crocodile” Dundee
Hogan helped write the screenplay for this surprise Australian hit. After a near-fatal encounter with a crocodile, his character ends up in New York City, which is kind of a “lunatic asylum,” he says. “But that's what I like about it, ’cuz I fit right in!”
Twentieth Century, Crocodile Dundee (1986)
Ironman (2008): Robert Downey Jr As Tony Stark
Wisecracking tech genius Stark fits perfectly with Downey’s quick-witted acting skills. Portraying the Marvel hero in the namesake movie and its sequels, he improvised a line we all believe: “I am Iron Man”. No one has ever doubted it.
Escape From New York (1981): Kurt Russell As Snake Plissken
Russell plays “Snake,” and it was his idea to wear an eyepatch that wasn’t mentioned in the script. He managed to escape from LA in 1996, too! But that first Escape is close to his heart, as he says it’s his favorite film he’s acted in.
AVCO Embassy, Escape from New York (1981)
First Blood (1982): Sylvester Stallone As John Rambo
Reputedly based on a real soldier, Rambo was brought to life by Stallone not just in front of the camera, but (shades of Rocky) as author of the screenplay, too. And like Rocky, First Blood spawned many a sequel. So a lot more blood was to follow.
Home Alone (1990): Macaulay Culkin As Kevin McCallister
Kevin is left behind as his befuddled parents go on vacation, leaving him to outwit a couple of bumbling burglars. Culkin steals the show with his exuberant acting, including some inspired improvisation, such as when he clasped his hands against his screaming cologne-stung face.
Twentieth Century, Home Alone (1990)
Shawshank Redemption (1994): Tim Robbins As Andy Dufresne
Robbins learned how to carve chess pieces for real as he got into his role, an authentic touch in this film adaptation of one of Stephen King’s more realistic stories. Robbins’ acting is a big factor in putting this cellblock drama on many people’s lists of best films ever.
Columbia, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Dark Knight (2008): Heath Ledger As Joker
Ledger was awarded a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, so impressive was his astonishing performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s memorable film, as the line between acting a character and being that character seemed to dramatically blur.
Warner Bros., The Dark Knight (2008)
Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (1977): James Earl Jones As Darth Vader
Saying who “performed” Darth Vader is a bit complicated, but the voice of James Earl Jones is so emblematic of this cosmic baddy that it seems incredible that Jones didn’t even want his name in the closing credits, as he didn’t think he’d done enough to deserve any mention at all.
Twentieth Century, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Back To The Future (1985): Christopher Lloyd As Doc Brown
Lloyd was worried about his stage career, but he gave in to the director’s entreaties, coming up with a combination of long-haired Albert Einstein and conductor Leopold Stokowski that made for the perfect mad scientist, albeit a mainly harmless, not scary, mad scientist.
Universal, Back to the Future (1985)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004): John Heder As Napoleon Dynamite
Initially paid just $1,000, Heder plowed so much delight and relish into the title role of an awkwardly helpful outcast with an unforgettably intense personality that viewers could hardly resist being transported into this painfully funny high-school drama.
Searchlight, Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Blade (1998): Wesley Snipes As Blade
Snipes was already pretty handy when it came to martial arts, but took additional training to play an unrelenting vampire hunter in the trilogy that began with this 1998 film. His dedication definitely added an important sense of authenticity to the fight scenes.
X-Men (2000): Hugh Jackman As Wolverine
This is the film that launched Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine in over two decades of films, most recently in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), giving him plenty of opportunity to shape this pivotal figure in The Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Twentieth Century, X-Men (2000)
Dirty Dancing (1987): Jennifer Grey As Francis “Baby” Houseman
Grey reunited with her Red Dawn co-star Patrick Swayze for this romantic dance classic, but she and Swayze didn’t always see eye to eye, making the on-screen chemistry between stoic dance instructor and easygoing student all the more remarkable.
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): Tim Curry As Dr Frank-N-Furter
Curry had played the good doctor in both the London and New York productions of the musical, so he easily got into character once the cameras were rolling. Curry belts out the song “Don’t Dream It, Be It” in one example of his liberating exuberance.
Twentieth Century, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Smokey And The Bandit (1977): Burt Reynolds As Bo “The Bandit” Darville
Reynolds clearly likes doing stunts and car chases in this action-packed film directed by his own former stuntman, Hal Needham. With a combination like that, no speed limit was going to be safe.
Universal, Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
A Fistful Of Dollars (1966): Clint Eastwood As The Man With No Name
Eastwood stars as a mysterious stranger in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western that Italian and American critics initially sneered at. Views have considerably warmed since. Quentin Tarantino, with characteristic understatement, calls it “the greatest achievement in the history of cinema”.
Jolly Film, A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001): Ian McKellen As Gandalf
Famed stage actor McKellen was filming X-Men (2000) when he was cast as the great wizard in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings. McKellen says Anthony Hopkins and Sean Connery both turned down the part. It’s hard to imagine they would’ve been as magical.
New Line, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Dr No (1962): Sean Connery As James Bond
Years earlier, Connery had thought of turning down the role of James Bond. Of course, other people have been cast since, but Connery’s performance as Bond is still the standard by which the franchise’s leads are inevitably judged against.
Alien (1979): Sigourney Weaver As Ellen Ripley
Whether human or alien, don’t mess with Ripley! This 1979 release initiated an impressive sequence of films that allowed Weaver to display her tenacious determination to survive and defeat the forces against her, helping to change how we think of science-fiction films.
Twentieth Century, Alien (1979)
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001): Daniel Radcliffe As Harry Potter
A young Radcliffe had made a mark in the BBC’s version of David Copperfield, but that was nothing compared to the global superstardom that would result from his lead role in this magical franchise, which has inexorably melded the magician and the actor in the public’s eye.
Warner Bros., Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Cast Away
Whether cast through good luck (other actors didn’t want the role) or sheer persistence (like writing the screenplay), these actors turned out to be a perfect fit for many of our most favorite characters. So here’s to many more magical matches on our movie screens!
Paramount, Forrest Gump (1994)
John Wick (2014): Keanu Reeves As John Wick
Reeves performed most of his own stunts and filmed a major fight scene while battling a fever. Like his character in this movie and its sequels, there seemed to be no stopping the actor.
