Escape From New York Remake: 10 Actors Who Should Play Snake Plissken

It’s not every actor who can convincingly go from playing Patrick Stewart’s clone in Star Trek Nemesis to portraying Charles Bronson (the criminal, not the actor), the Kray twins and Mad Max. In fact, the only problem with casting Tom Hardy as Snake Plissken is that he might consider it a step down.

Then again, he’s rumored to be a storm trooper in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so scratch that thought.

Hardy is one of the few performers who, despite his nationality, brings to mind a young Kurt Russell. Like Russell, Hardy swings between “serious” roles (Russell did Elvis, Hardy did Oliver Twist) and blockbusters, and he’d probably be low down a studio executive’s list of actors to play a one-eyed anti-hero. It’s not that they think he’s incapable, but Chris Pratt’s a proven box office name so why don’t we just get him instead?

Here’s why: as affable as Pratt is (and Jurassic World did indeed wipe the floor with Fury Road at the box office), he couldn’t pull off the laconic, growly charm needed to play Plissken as well as Hardy. If you want to reinvent Escape From New York as a 21st century franchise, here’s your guy.