7 Characters Who Were Played by the Wrong Actors

Previously established characters can be a real pain to cast. You either cave in and get a lookalike who can’t act, or you get a Morgan Freeman to play a ginger Irishman. Either way, there will be two camps of people breathing down your neck. Usually, the “better actor” wins, which is good, but this also means that social media won’t shut up about how this or that actor would have been a perfect fit. It’s just a face, people, wake up and get over it!

Here are 7 characters who, according to some people, were played by the wrong actors.

1. Idris Elba in “The Dark Tower”

Even according to King himself, he came up with the image of the last representative of the ancient family of Gunslingers having Clint Eastwood in mind. Many fans even suggested that Scott Eastwood, who looks a lot like his father, should have gotten the role. But the director decided differently, focusing not on the appearance and blue eyes of the Gunslinger, but on his acting. Sadly, not even Idris Elba could save that movie.

2. Morgan Freeman in “Shawshank Redemption”

The 1994 “Shawshank Redemption” film is easily one of the best films of all time. We’ve seen it, we love it, we know everything about it… Well, almost. Just like with The Dark Tower, the movie is based on a Stephen King story. In the original novel, one of the main characters is nicknamed “Red”, partly because of the surname, but in addition to that, he is a ginger from Ireland. You can see how casting Freeman would be a disservice to King’s book, but nobody even noticed!

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator”

It’s true that the movie “Terminator” was an original idea and didn’t have a book or a comic before James Cameron wrote the script. According to his initial drafts, Terminator robots were created to resemble the most ordinary human beings to blend in with the masses safely. As you can tell, Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t exactly a gray mouse. At first, Lance Henriksen was going to play the bad guy, since his “ordinary person” vibe was much more pronounced. But Cameron liked Arnie so much that he got one of the leading roles, and Henriksen played that one policeman.