It feels like there's been a recent wave of outcry over characters not "fitting" who people had pictured for the role — like Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But having seen the movie...Halle is INCREDIBLE. She IS Ariel — and critics agree.
Recently Reddit user mranimal2 asked about "actors who physically didn't fit a role but still did a good job regardless," and there were a ton of great examples in the thread that prove it's far more about the actor's performance than how they look. Here are 21 other actors people felt didn't *fit* the way the role was supposed to look, but nailed it anyways!
1. Let's start with Joe Pesci as Tommy DeSimone in Goodfellas. DeSimone was over six feet IRL — and Pesci is 5'4". Along with the other characters, DeSimone was also supposed to be pretty young, which is referenced in the script. Pesci was in his late forties. He still nailed the part, nabbing an Oscar for the role.
2. Robert De Niro's character in Goodfellas, Jimmy, is also supposed to be young — it's explicitly stated he's in his late twenties.
De Niro was 47...and was still incredible in the film.
3. Rachel McAdams was also way too "old" for her role as a high school junior in Mean Girls. In fact, at 26 she was closer in age to her onscreen mom, Amy Poehler (32), than some of her teenage counterparts, like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried. Still, she absolutely nailed the role.
4. Another actor who was far too old for his role? Alan Rickman as Snape in the Harry Potter films. Snape would have been 31 when Harry first goes to Hogwarts, according to the books. Alan Rickman was 54 when he first began starring in the series, and 65 when it ended (at which time his character would've been 37). However, the role ended up being one of Rickman's most iconic, with close to universal acclaim over his portrayal.
5. When Hugh Jackman was cast as Wolverine in the X-Men films, he was largely known as a suave Broadway star. He's also a full foot taller than Wolverine is supposed to be.
Wolverine is supposed to be stocky, muscular, and sort of haggard. Here's how he looked in the cartoons, which was a little more in line with the comics.
6. A bunch of the Game of Thrones actors looked nothing like their characters from the books, but the most glaring example is probably Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. Tyrion is supposed to be hideous and much shorter. The show also didn't take pains to change his eye color, and they gave up on his hair color pretty quickly. Even Tyrion's scar just serves to make him look badass and rugged rather than more hideous like in the books.
However, no one can deny he was right for the role. He was nominated for EIGHT Emmys during the show's run, winning four.
7. Heath Ledger was largely seen as a romantic lead before being cast in The Dark Knight — his most noteworthy roles had been in 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain.
He was certainly not who anyone would've pictured as the Joker, especially since the role had memorably last gone to Jack Nicholson (known for playing more unhinged characters), who was beloved in the role. However, he ended up winning an Oscar for the role, and some would argue his performance eclipsed Nicholson's.
8. Speaking of Batman films...Michael Keaton also had many doubters when he was cast as Batman. At the time, he was best known for starring in comedies like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice.
Fans were so convinced his casting was wrong that they actually began a letter-writing campaign against his casting. However, after the film's release, Keaton became beloved in the role — and in fact, was ranked by Entertainment Weekly as the best actor to play the role.
9. Another actor who faced a ton of fan backlash for his casting was Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire. Cruise, perhaps best known as the action star of Top Gun, had never played a villain. Even the book's author, Anne Rice, publicly disapproved of the casting. However, Rice ended up changing her mind after seeing him in the role, along with many fans.
10. There was also backlash after Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher. The 5'7" actor seemed an odd choice to play the 6-foot, 5-inch, 250-pound character, but he somehow pulled it off.
11. One of Morgan Freeman's most iconic roles was playing Red in The Shawshank Redemption. However, he looked a lot different than his character in the novella, who was a white, red-haired Irishman.
However, this was hardly important to the role, and Freeman was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal.
12. Daniel Craig's most iconic role has been as James Bond but fans were initially reluctant to accept him in the role. Casting director Debbie McWilliams remembered that "stuff would come out about [how] he couldn’t walk and talk, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t drive a car properly, so much stuff which was completely and utterly untrue," after Craig was cast. Fans also felt the fact that he was blonde and only 5'10" made him a bad Bond. However, pretty much everyone was convinced he was perfect after seeing Casino Royale.
13. Keanu Reeves not only seemed a strange choice to play the titular character in Constantine, but the movie took basically no pains to make him more like the character. Constantine is famously blonde, wise-cracking, and British — Keanu spoke in an American accent, took the role seriously, and kept his brown hair.
If you're curious about what he looked like in the comics, the Arrowverse version of him is a lot more accurate.
14. Chris Pratt was certainly no action star when he was cast in the MCU as Peter Quill. In fact, he probably seemed a very strange choice to play the space adventurer, considering his main claim to fame was playing the lovable doofus Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation — whose lack of physical ability is even made fun of onscreen.
But like the others on this list, when Guardians of the Galaxy came out, Pratt proved himself a bona fide movie star. His comedic timing made the film one of the most beloved Marvel entries yet, and his action prowess would go on to win him the starring role in the Jurassic World franchise.
15. Playing a real-life person is hard, and modern films take pains to use prosthetics and makeup to help an actor immerse themselves in character. But frankly, when the actor is good enough, it doesn't really matter what they look like. Take Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator — he looks nothing like Howard Hughes and was way too young for the role. Still, he pulls it off.
16. And it's actually remarkable how little Leo looks like Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me if You Can. Still, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
17. Anthony Hopkins also failed to match Richard Nixon's distinctive looks in the film Nixon, but it clearly didn't matter. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film.
18. And besides them both being older white men, John Lithgow looks exactly nothing like Winston Churchill, despite playing him in The Crown. He still won an Emmy and a SAG award for his portrayal.
19. Fans weren't entirely on board when Mos Def was cast in the film adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not only was he not British, but he was primarily known as a hip-hop star. It was also an example of "color-blind casting": the character's race was not named in the book, but some fans had pictured him as white. But the race of the character was not as important (he's not even human; he's an alien), and Mos Def nailed his own take on the role.
20. Viggo Mortensen was a last-minute choice to play Aragorn, and he was a bit shorter and younger than he was meant to be (he was supposed to have gray in his hair). He's also meant to look scraggly and frightening when the hobbits first encounter him as Strider, which the handsome star doesn't quite pull off. He also knew very little about the books. But none of that seemed to matter, as the film's entire cast, including Mortensen, ended up a prime example of perfect book-to-film casting.
21. And finally, absolutely nobody in Grease looks like a teenager. But it doesn't matter! It's a great film!
Are there any actors you doubted in a role that later turned out to be great? Let us know in the comments!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.