50 Huge Movie Characters That Were Completely Miscast

Casting can be a tricky business even at the best of times. A studio may have done everything possible to identify the perfect actor to portray a part, but there's no guarantee that this actually works out. Winona Ryder had already been cast as Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III, however she was forced to pull out due to medical reasons, leaving Francis Ford Coppola in something of a bind.

Ultimately the role was given to the director's daughter Sofia, in something that was seen at the time as nepotism, but in reality was a decision made out of last-minute desperation. 

She had already been filling in for Ryder during rehearsals, however unfortunately it was clear from the off that she had neither the experience nor the chops for the role. It's hardly the actor's fault, as she was thrown in at the deep end and then some.

While the third in the Godfather trilogy was a huge drop off from the first two in the franchise, Coppola's performance still stood out, and not in a good way. She has since made a fine career for herself behind the camera rather than in front of it, but this will always be her most talked-about on-screen performance.