15 Seemingly Terrible Horror Castings That Totally Paid Off

13. Child's Play (2019) - Aubrey Plaza

In the lead-up to the release of the rock-solid 2019 Child's Play remake, eyebrows were raised when Aubrey Plaza was cast to play Karen Barclay, the mother of young Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman) whose new doll turns out to be a deadly killer. The general feeling was that she was too young to play the mother of a 12-year-old boy and, as Plaza is often associated with her sardonic comedy performances, there were doubts as to whether she could bring the required warmth to the part. 

Well, if the movie had been going for a more similar character to the original's Karen Barclay (played by Catherine Hicks) then yes, this would've been an undeniable miscasting. Nevertheless, this remake deviated from the source material and created a rather different character, a young single mother (they absolutely do exist) who, like many of Plaza's characters, had a spiky sense of humour yet the deep love she feels for her son is always palpable. 

In all honesty, this version of the character is considerably better than the 1988 equivalent and a big part of that came down to casting Aubrey Plaza who was, all along, a perfect casting choice to deliver a more unique and layered horror movie mother than the ones we typically see.