Controversial Casting Decisions That Turned Into Home Runs

Christopher Nolan has a reputation for being an out-of-the-box style filmmaker. The British director went against type and cast Heath Ledger as the devious Joker in the second installment of his Dark Knight trilogy, 2008’s The Dark Knight.

Ledger was known more for his matinee idol leading man roles and romantic comedies. No one seemed to think the Aussie actor could pull off playing such a monstrous character. 

Despite the rampant backlash, Nolan didn’t budge. Chris’s brother, Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote The Dark Knight, explained:

When I wrote The Dark Knight, Chris [Nolan] had to figure out how we’d tackle the Joker. Chris had a good meeting with Heath Ledger. And no one got it - I didn’t get it, the studio didn’t get it. And the fan community was… we were f*cking pilloried for it. ‘Disaster, worst casting decision ever!’

Ledger gathered the darkness from within and brought out a sinister level of evil that turned the Joker into a menacing villain like never before. Ledger won a posthumous Academy Award for his performance, the first time for an actor playing a comic book character.

Now, Batman movies are a dime a dozen. But prior to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, superhero movies weren’t really a thing, and Batman was seen more in the light of a campy TV series starring Adam West from the 1960s.

Burton cast Michael Keaton to play the Caped Crusader, and comic book fans went ballistic. Fanatics sent over 50,000 letters to protest the casting decision. At the time, Keaton was known more for comedic roles like Mr. Mom.

Comic book expert Michael Uslan, who executive produced the 1989 film, said:

I thought they were joking when they told me Michael Keaton was cast. We've been at this for seven-and-a-half years now to do a dark and serious Batman and they appeared to want to hire a comedian.

Once Keaton put on the mask, people’s opinions quickly changed. Batman became the hit of the summer in 1989 and brought in over $400 million globally. The film went on to be the first of a billion-dollar franchise and launched the superhero genre.

It’s hard to believe that there was a time when Bryan Cranston was just known for being the dad on Malcolm in the Middle. However, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan saw something in Cranston that screamed “ruthless meth king” and cast the sitcom actor despite AMC’s reluctance.

Gilligan knew Cranston from an episode of The X-Files he wrote called “Drive.” He was so impressed with Cranston's performance that he knew he would make the perfect Walter White:

We had this villain, and we needed the audience to feel bad for him when he died. Bryan alone was the only actor who could do that, who could pull off that trick. And it is a trick. I have no idea how he does it.

Gilligan’s vision paid off in spades. Breaking Bad is widely considered one of the best television dramas ever, and Cranston's performance was lauded accordingly. The actor won four Primetime Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the antihero. 

In 2020, Netflix brought Season 4 of the series The Crown into the 1980s. The streamer announced that Gillian Anderson would play former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and some fans did not like the decision.

First, there is the obvious qualm: Anderson is American. However, The X-Files star faced additional backlash. Some fans thought that the actress was too attractive and well-liked to play the right-winged leader who resigned from office in 1990 after a tumultuous 11-year reign.

One Twitter user summed up a lot of public sentiment:

Clearly I can’t watch season 4 of The Crown because I do not need to add ‘attracted to Margaret Thatcher’ to my list of problems.

Anderson put critics' fears aside with her spot-on performance. She was able to perfectly capture Thatcher’s accent, mannerisms, and overall demeanor. Anderson won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for her work. 

A blond James Bond? Blasphemous.

When Pierce Brosnan decided to hand in his license to kill, EON Productions, led by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, hired Daniel Craig to be the next 007 in Casino Royale.

The long-time producers felt that the Bond franchise had grown stale and could use an update. The film's director, Martin Campbell, disagreed with the casting choice:

Even at the time I had certain reservations, only because there was no doubt he was a terrific actor. He was a superb actor. But of course I’d been brought up in the tradition of Connery, and Roger Moore, and Pierce [Brosnan], all great looking guys. You know, there was a stereotype, if you see what I mean, with those three characters. And Daniel, of course, is much more like Ian Fleming’s conception of that part.

Martin and Bond fanatics did not see Craig in the role of a sexy womanizer; the actor’s light hair also seemed to be a problem.

Thankfully, Broccoli stayed persistent. Casino Royale raked at the box office, making over $600 million. It also brought the franchise into the modern day. Craig went on to play the spy in five Bond movies, which brought in billions of dollars.

The Hunger Games novels were a smashing success. But when a beloved novel is adapted for the big screen, filmmakers run up against fans who have a picture in their mind of what the characters look like. When a casting decision goes against that image, backlash is inevitable.

Producers announced that Jennifer Lawrence was hired to play heroine Katniss Everdeen in the first Hunger Games film. Many fans of the novel did not think that Lawrence was a good fit for the role because she was “too blonde,” didn’t have the right body type, and was too old to play a 16-year-old character (Lawrence was 19 at the time of casting).

The furor died down when The Hunger Games hit the big screen and scored $677 million worldwide. The dystopian tale was well received by critics and fans alike. Lawrence went on to star in four installments of the franchise, which brought in over $3.3 billion.