10 Great Movies With 1 Miscast Role
If a movie’s great, then there’s a good chance a great cast had a great deal to do with that. Think about 12 Angry Men, where every actor feels perfectly matched to the character they’re playing, or The Godfather, where the cast is bigger and a bit more varied, and there are no weak links. There are plenty of other examples, of course, but what about movies where the cast involved is almost great?
The following films might well be examples, because they’re ones where most of the cast is great, but then there’s one actor who feels a little out of place. Maybe they were miscast, and otherwise aren’t doing a terrible job, but maybe that job could’ve been done by someone more appropriate or experienced. Or, maybe they’re giving a bad performance against other actors who are giving good performances. It’s not a black and white issue, especially because some of the actors here have genuinely been good in other roles more suited to them. Anyway…
10
‘Prometheus’ (2012)
Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland
There are some other issues with Prometheus that might make the act of calling it great a little eyebrow-raising, but it does something different within the Alien series, and it’s often technically dazzling. Ridley Scott tends to know what he’s doing when he tackles science fiction, and while Prometheus isn’t as good as Alien or Blade Runner, it’s better than some give it credit for.
That being said, the casting of Guy Pearce is a little weird, as his character, Peter Weyland, is an old man, and Prometheus did not end up featuring any scenes that required Weyland to be seen as a younger man, which could’ve allowed the casting to make sense. For what it’s worth, Alien: Covenant did have a brief scene where Pearce played the younger Weyland, but that is a different movie. Also, with Prometheus, the aging effects aren’t done as well as the other special effects throughout the movie, which further hampers Pearce’s ability to make a positive impression with the role.
9
‘The Fifth Element’ (1997)
Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod
The Fifth Element stars Bruce Willis, who feels well-cast here, as does Milla Jovovich, and then Gary Oldman steals the show and chews scenery the way he often does as the movie’s main villain, so he’s great, too. They’re all giving different performances, but they work well enough within the film’s unusual and heightened sci-fi world… but then there’s Chris Tucker, who overdoes it a bit.
In his defense, he’s playing a comic relief character in a movie that’s already pretty broad, silly, and comedic, but he’s just a bit much at a point. It could be a writing issue, as far as the otherwise pretty good The Fifth Element is concerned, or maybe the blame should lie with Luc Besson for not getting Tucker to tone it down. Whatever the case, the energy that character brings hurts the movie more than it helps.
8
‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984)
Kate Capshaw as Willie Scott
Like Ruby Rhod, Willie Scott just doesn’t fit that fantastically into the movie she’s a part of: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This one was released after Raiders of the Lost Ark, but takes place before, and so Indiana Jones has a new female companion this time around (well, technically an older female companion, but the point is that she’s no Marion Ravenwood, and Kate Capshaw doesn’t make the same impression Karen Allen did).
Willie is an intentionally frustrating character at times, but maybe a line was crossed, or the character was pushed too far.
There are some other issues with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, particularly if you don’t like how dark it gets, but there is a high level of excitement throughout, and on an action front, it delivers just as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark and the later The Last Crusade. Willie is an intentionally frustrating character at times, but maybe a line was crossed, or the character was pushed too far. It’s better when the character designated as the annoying one annoys the other characters more than they annoy the viewer (see GOB in Arrested Development and Roman from Succession, for two examples… admittedly TV examples, but still).
7
‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ (1961)
Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi
The one big obstacle that comes with enjoying Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the character of Mr. Yunioshi, who’s a Japanese man played by the very much not Japanese Mickey Rooney. The way the character’s written in the film, and used for comic relief, might make him feel a little offensive (less so by early 1960s standards) if he were played by a Japanese actor, but having Rooney play him… eh…
It’s well known, at this point. It’s just that notorious and particularly sour section of what’s otherwise a charming and stylish romance movie (okay, not a flawless one, but if you take out Yunioshi, or recast him, that would remove the biggest and most glaring issue). Breakfast at Tiffany’s exists this way, and that’s history, baby. Some stuff just doesn’t hold up, but that doesn’t mean it never happened.
6
‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)
Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker
A few years before The Fifth Element, Gary Oldman was at his bombastic best in another movie that had an infamous casting choice: Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Oldman played the titular character, and the supporting cast was also pretty great overall, with the likes of Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Richard E. Grant all understanding the assignment at hand. And it wasn’t an easy assignment, because Francis Ford Coppola was going for something bold here stylistically and tonally, and it mostly paid off.
But then you get to Keanu Reeves, and it doesn’t feel nice dunking on Keanu Reeves, because he’s great in comedic roles and also surprisingly strong in action movies, though he just feels a bit lost and confused in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He has the look, maybe, but the accent of choice and his general acting style don’t really mesh well with what’s otherwise a rather impressive adaptation of Dracula, made almost 100 years on from the novel’s original publication.
5
‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992)
Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown
In December 2025, Quentin Tarantino had some choice words to say about Paul Dano, and how he believed Dano was miscast in – and the weakest part of – There Will Be Blood. It felt a bit abrupt, and most deemed it uncalled-for, and look, you are allowed to criticize things while not being the best at those things, in some regards. Film critics probably can’t do much better than a ton of the films they criticize. This is a disclaimer before pointing out…
…Quentin Tarantino himself is not very good at acting. He has cameos in lots of his movies, and the smaller ones tend to be the better ones, but Reservoir Dogs has him playing a supporting role. Granted, it’s a smaller supporting role, but it’s more than a cameo, especially because he awkwardly dominates a large chunk of the otherwise excellent opening scene. Also, he’s out-acted by the rest of the amazing cast, but his not having too much dialogue after the opening of the film admittedly helps.
4
‘Moulin Rouge!’ (2001)
John Leguizamo as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
John Leguizamo is a loud actor. It’s his style, and some people find it funny. Well, most people probably don’t find it funny in The Pest, where he’s the protagonist and the entire movie revolves around him annoying other characters, but if Leguizamo is used a little more sparingly, or if you find his comedic style funny, then he’s more than tolerable.
And in Moulin Rouge!, he’s not in the film all the time, and the whole thing is silly, over-the-top, and offbeat, but John Leguizamo’s character, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, is still more annoying here than any of the other actors. Ewan McGregor and Jim Broadbent seem most on board with what Baz Luhrmann is going for, and everyone else generally keeps up just enough throughout, but there’s something off about Leguizamo here. There’s an off feeling because he’s offbeat in a different way from how everyone else is offbeat, so maybe it would’ve been better had someone else been offered the part he played.
3
’28 Days Later’ (2002)
Megan Burns as Hannah
Megan Burns had a tough role to play in 28 Days Later, especially because her co-stars were Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, and Christopher Eccleston, and she’d not had the same experience as them. Post-28 Days Later, she’s not really continued to act, while those other four cast members have become even more well-known since, in part thanks to excelling in this very zombie movie.
Look, if it were the case where everyone was miscast, or no one was giving a very good performance, then maybe 28 Days Later would be a pretty awful zombie movie, but the strengths here are strong enough that it is, indeed, a classic. Burns isn’t given as much to do as the other actors, but the inexperience does shine through, to some extent, and there are a few moments where scenes aren’t as impactful as they could be, as a result. Like with Keanu Reeves and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it doesn’t feel nice to suggest that, but also, you can’t help but notice, really. Sorry.
2
‘Hamilton’ (2020)
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Credit should absolutely be given to Lin-Manuel Miranda for writing Hamilton, and even without taking into consideration the songs, it’s a pretty impressive dramatic retelling of the life (and death) of Alexander Hamilton. But then you take into account the whole thing is sung, and the fact that so many of those songs throughout are incredibly catchy, and the enormity of writing something this fast, dense, and clever really sets in.
But originally, Miranda also played the title role, and it’s his performance that’s found in the filmed stage version of Hamilton that was first released in 2020. So, it’s not quite a full-on movie, but it’s the closest thing we have to a Hamilton movie, at least at the time of writing. Also, it’s one of the most dramatic examples of an actor being out-acted by everyone else around them. Miranda can’t act or sing (especially sing) nearly as well as every single other cast member, and his odd lead performance does hamper what’s an otherwise phenomenal filmed stage show.
1
‘Blade Runner 2049’ (2017)
Jared Leto as Niander Wallace
This is the most dramatic example, because Blade Runner 2049 is genuinely great, and close to masterpiece territory, really. It does what a sequel to a movie that came out decades ago should do, in terms of honoring the original Blade Runner, continuing the story told there to some extent, but also doing a few new and unexpected things, albeit without trampling over what was good in the original.
There was a balance achieved here, and it could’ve somehow been even better, had the original casting choice for the main villain been available, since Denis Villeneuve wanted to cast David Bowie. But Bowie passed away in 2016, and so instead, the role went to Jared Leto. And, look, Leto’s a divisive figure. He’s been in some good movies, and he’s also played roles in some bad ones. Blade Runner 2049 is a good movie that he’s in, but he’s not very good in it, and stands out as the actor giving the weakest performance in the movie. Part of the reason he’s here is the Bowie side of things, but even then, a better actor who wasn’t David Bowie might well have also benefited Blade Runner 2049 overall.
Blade Runner 2049
- Release Date
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October 6, 2017
- Runtime
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163 Minutes
- Director
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Denis Villeneuve
- Writers
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Michael Green, Hampton Fancher
