15 Seemingly Terrible Horror Castings That Totally Paid Off

10. Nosferatu - Lily Rose-Depp

With this one, it wasn't that people had anything against Lily Rose-Depp. Rather, Anya Taylor-Joy had been down for the part originally, and when she quit there was an inevitable air of disappointment. Plus, the most high-profile thing Depp had done before this had been HBO's The Idol, which is one of the most widely-loathed TV shows in recent memory, so it was hard to get too optimistic about this one. 

What a lovely shock it was, then, when Lily Rose-Depp blew all expectations out of the water. She's completely fantastic as Ellen Harker, a doomed young woman desired by the vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) and in a fairer world, she would've received serious awards attention for her work. 

Depp portrays someone losing their grip on reality and facing their own mortality to heart-breaking effect while also giving a remarkable physical performance during the various scenes when Ellen is possessed. It's arguably even more brilliant than Skarsgard's already-iconic turn as the villainous vampire, and it strongly hints that Lily Rose-Depp does, in fact, have a great career in front of her after all. The Idol was just a blip.