50 Huge Movie Characters That Were Completely Miscast

Ridley Scott is a giant of a name in the film industry, and has brought to life some of the most epic movies of all time. However, in recent years he has seen multiple different projects of his come under scrutiny for the same thing, namely historical inaccuracy.

This was a factor in The Last Duel, but more so for Gladiator II and Napoleon. For the latter, the story was littered with such inaccuracies, the criticism of which the director famously responded to by asking historians if they were there, but one of the biggest headscratchers is the casting.

Joaquin Phoenix is a phenomenal, Academy Award-winning actor, and has worked with Scott before on Gladiator, but no one can be everything to everyone, and it is clear that Phoenix was no Napoleon. The age gap between the actor and the character is the immediate discrepancy, as Napoleon was in his early 20s to his early 30s during the events of the film, while Phoenix is pushing 50, and without being rude, looks every day of it in the film.

Then there is the fact that he seemingly doesn't even attempt to play an accurate version of Napoleon, lacking the charisma, the energy, and the accent required for such a task. The actor even reportedly admitted he had no idea what he was doing just two weeks before shooting, and it's not too harsh to say that it shows.