11 Best Recast Movie Roles Of All Time
It's no easy task but when it's done well, it's jaw-dropping.
Recastings are a risky business.
Whether it be due to an actor being unwilling to return to the role, chronicling a different period of the character's life, or an actor simply not being the right fit for the role, recastings have to be dealt with in one way or another. And sure, there's plenty of terrible examples, where a studio attempted to recast an iconic role only to fail miserably. Those are a dime a dozen. For every innovative artistic choice, there's a Julianne Moore replacing Jodie Foster in Hannibal and generating a residual *sigh* from audiences the world over.
What's far more interesting is when a film is able to recast a role successfully. When a new actor comes in and is so good that they are able to either equal or surpass the performances of their predecessors. And as Hollywood moves in an even more franchise-driven direction, recastings are only going to become more and more common.
So let's examine some of the greatest examples of recasting in film history and see the right way to go about replacing an actor.
11. Christian Bale As Batman
Following Joel Schumacher's 1997 disasterpiece, Batman & Robin, the caped crusader was in serious need of an overhaul. Over the course of less than a decade, Batman had been featured in four different films and played by three different actors.
And while Val Kilmer and George Clooney may have given it their best respective shots, neither one of them came close to doing the character justice like Michael Keaton did. So when WB and DC opted to reboot their most lucrative character in a new film franchise, they needed someone who could anchor it as a more definitive portrayal.
And in Christian Bale, that's exactly what they got. Bale delivered a Batman/Bruce Wayne for a new generation that could stand proudly alongside other classic portrayals such as Keaton's and Kevin Conroy's. Most importantly, he nailed the dichotomy of the role. His Batman was intense and more physically agile than prior incarnations, while his Bruce Wayne was rooted in the emotion and tragedy that has always been so core to the character.