10 Movie Casting Choices That Were Total Misdirection

Didn't see that coming?

By Jack Pooley /

Marvel Studios

Casting is everything in a movie - get it wrong and the rest of the film can be derailed no matter how good the writing or direction might be, but get it right and you've got an indelible all-timer character on your hands, and maybe even an Oscar-winning performance.

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But sometimes, movie studios and filmmakers will deliberately cast an actor in a role intended to throw audiences off and keep them from guessing a big reveal, be it the untimely death of an A-lister early on, an actor known for their villains actually playing the hero, or simply distracting audiences from a twist hiding in plain sight.

In each of these 10 cases, the casting announcements made sense and garnered plenty of excitement, only for the filmmakers to flip the script and use the actors in a totally different way from the expected.

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While in some instances the sleight-of-hand left viewers angry or confused, for the most part it helped generate an air of nervous intrigue, and in the very least, can be commended for toying with the safe, predictable bubble in which most big-budget Hollywood movies are made...