9 “Perfect” Casting Decisions That Went Horribly Wrong

5. Johnny Depp As Willy Wonka - Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Ever since his first collaboration with Tim Burton in the title role of Edward Scissorhands, Johnny Depp has developed an obvious penchant for wacky characters who require distinct make-up and headgear. It's a tendency for over the top roles which has, over the years, led to more than a little derision from critical circles (if you want evidence check out Mark Kermode's hilariously scathing reviews of the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies).

As risible as many of Depp's performances in recent years have been, the decision to cast him as Willy Wonka in the Tim Burton adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory seemed like a perfect fit. With a wonderful combination of magical eccentricity blended with a sinister undertone, it seemed like this was a perfect opportunity to deliver the definitive "Burtonesque" performance and finally move onto something different.

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory ended up as a missed opportunity for Depp, a far cry from the groundbreaking turn by Gene Wilder in the original adaptation (who called the film "an insult" in 2013), which felt far too strained by comparison. As the late, great critic Roger Ebert expressed it, "What was Depp thinking of?"