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Mads Mikkelsen should've played Grindelwald from the very beginning.
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00:00One of the key things filmmakers absolutely hate doing above almost anything else is having to recast an actor for a sequel.
00:07Even when the casting fundamentally works, audiences generally hate change and will endlessly compare the new actor to the prior portrayal.
00:15And while there are certainly many examples where recasting doesn't quite fit or is clearly inferior to what came before,
00:22there are also those rare winning cases where the recast ends up improving the new movie.
00:27So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture and here are 10 actor replacements that actually improved movies.
00:34Number 10. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight.
00:39In Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, the role of Bruce Wayne's primary love interest, Rachel Dawes, was played by Katie Holmes.
00:47Holmes' totally fine performance nevertheless slides into the periphery while up against top shelf work from the likes of Christian Bale,
00:54Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman.
00:59Holmes opted not to return for sequel The Dark Knight, however, preferring instead to shoot the crime comedy Mad Money with one of her idols, Diane Keaton.
01:07A film, unfortunately, which bombed both critically and commercially.
01:11Holmes was ultimately replaced with Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Dark Knight.
01:14And while Holmes is far from an incapable actress, Gyllenhaal was just a much better fit for this character in every fibre of her being.
01:22Holmes seemed a little too young and fresh-faced to fully convince as Gotham's assistant district attorney,
01:27while Gyllenhaal carried herself with an inherently more mature and sophisticated air.
01:32This is evident from the first time we see Gyllenhaal's new take on Rachel,
01:36and to boot, she also has far more persuasive chemistry with Christian Bale than Holmes ever did.
01:42The series would have been absolutely fine if Holmes stayed on board,
01:45but Gyllenhaal probably should have been cast in the part from the very beginning.
01:48Number 9. Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth in X-Men Origins Wolverine
01:54Iconic X-Men villain Sabretooth made his first cinematic appearance in 2000's X-Men,
02:00where he was played by professional wrestler-turned-actor Tyler Mane.
02:03There's no denying that Mane brings a heft and physicality to the part,
02:08though his Sabretooth isn't much more than a hulking brute,
02:10a blunt object who tussles with Wolverine and ultimately gets disposed of a little too easily.
02:15In 2009's prequel film X-Men Origins Wolverine,
02:20a younger Sabretooth is portrayed by the great Liev Schreiber,
02:23who, while lacking Mane's massive stature, is nevertheless a lithe force of nature in his own right,
02:29and one who matches it with his sheer charisma.
02:32Schreiber gets far more of an opportunity to crack wise and show off his easy chemistry with Jackman's Logan.
02:38Mane did the best with what he had,
02:40but Schreiber took the character to another, more entertaining and nuanced direction
02:44that Mane, hardly an actor of Schreiber's calibre, would have struggled to.
02:48Number 8. Don Cheadle as James Rhodes in Iron Man 2
02:52In the original 2008 Iron Man, the role of Tony Stark's good pal James Rhodey Rhodes was played by Terence Howard.
02:59Howard, a recent Oscar nominee at the time, commanded the highest salary on the entire set,
03:06far more than even Robert Downey Jr., but was reportedly offered less money to return for Iron Man 2,
03:12prompting him to bulk and be replaced by Don Cheadle.
03:14Terence Howard's acting skill certainly isn't in doubt here, and he did a solid job as Rhodey in the first Iron Man,
03:21but Don Cheadle's more affable and gently sarcastic demeanour instantly made him much easier for the audience to warm to.
03:28Cheadle really helped take the Rhodey-Tony dynamic to the next level,
03:32and it's difficult to picture Howard bringing quite the same to a deceptively tricky role,
03:37a part that requires the actor to be both stern and likeable.
03:40As with the Katie Holmes Batman situation, there's no way Howard would have sunk Iron Man 2,
03:46but one suspects Rhodey wouldn't be nearly as well regarded by fans had Cheadle not taken over.
03:51Number 7. Moira Kelly as Donna Haywood in Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me
03:57Donna Haywood was a significant character in David Lynch's series Twin Peaks,
04:02though also one of its more divisive major players,
04:04in part because Lara Flynn Boyle's performance as Laura Palmer's troubled best friend
04:09split audiences right down the middle.
04:12When Boyle couldn't return for the 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me
04:17due to scheduling conflicts, she was replaced with Moira Kelly,
04:21who many fans maintain gave a far more vibrant and persuasive performance in a single film
04:26than Boyle did across 30 episodes of the show.
04:29Granted, the two actresses are in many respects playing two starkly different versions of the same person
04:35on separate sides of a traumatic, life-changing event, but even so,
04:40Kelly's portrayal feels more well thought out, while Boyle's is more skittish and ultimately irritating.
04:46Kelly had the advantage of only performing the part for a comparatively short time,
04:50while most fans agree that Donna's characterisation veers off a cliff in the show's second season
04:55and Boyle's performance with it.
04:57Number 6. Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi in Desperado
05:02The curious case of El Mariachi might well be the biggest no-brainer on this list.
05:07In Robert Rodriguez's 1992 feature debut El Mariachi,
05:11the part of the title character was portrayed by Rodriguez's friend and co-producer Carlos Galado,
05:17who had scarcely little acting experience prior to taking the role
05:21and likely played it himself in order to keep the budget down.
05:24After the film became an indie hit, Rodriguez was approached to make a sequel
05:27and soon enough came up with Desperado.
05:30However, now armed with a larger budget and having to answer to major Hollywood studios,
05:35Rodriguez had Galado replaced in the lead role by a more recognisable actor, Antonio Banderas,
05:41while Galado remained on board as a co-producer.
05:44It was certainly the right call.
05:4599.8% of the people alive today couldn't compete with Banderas' rugged handsomeness
05:51and infectious charisma, so it's difficult to argue with the replacement of Galado,
05:56who, all things considered, did a totally respectable job in El Mariachi.
06:00But when you're presented with a studio budget and all the resources to make a bigger,
06:04more successful movie, you'd be silly not to play ball.
06:08Rodriguez did, and Desperado was a massive commercial success,
06:12enough that Rodriguez, Banderas, and Galado all returned for the again-successful 2003 sequel,
06:18Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
06:19Number 5. Carol Kane as Grandmama Adams in Adam's Family Values
06:25This is a piece of recasting subtle enough that more casual fans of the Adam's Family movies
06:30might not even notice.
06:32In Barry Sonnenfeld's original 1991 film, Grandmama Adams was played by the late Judith Molina
06:38in a relatively small supporting role.
06:41For 1993's sequel, Adam's Family Values, however,
06:44Sonnenfeld replaced Molina with Oscar nominee Carol Kane.
06:47Beyond the fact that Kane was given far more memorable dialogue to work with,
06:51Kane's more expressive, over-the-top rendition of Grandmama simply left Molina's more subdued
06:57version in the dust.
06:59Sonnenfeld had never stated publicly why he decided to recast the part,
07:03but given that Kane is a whole 26 years younger than Molina,
07:06it's entirely possible he wanted an actor who could more easily bring a lively physicality
07:11and vibrancy to the part.
07:13Number 4. Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part 7 The New Blood
07:19Friday the 13th's iconic serial killer Jason Voorhees has been played by 10 different actors
07:25over the years, though there's undeniably one who is far and away the most closely associated
07:30with the role, and also the best.
07:33Friday the 13th Part 3 is where the classic hockey mask-wearing Jason we all know and love
07:38came into being, as played by Richard Brooker, before the part was taken over by Ted White,
07:43Tom Morgan, and C.J. Graham in each of the next three films.
07:47For Friday the 13th Part 7 The New Blood, however, Kane Hodder took the role of Jason
07:52and categorically made it his own through his intensely intimidating, wordless performance.
07:58Hodder brought a subtle physicality to Jason which implied a lot without actually saying anything,
08:03enough that Hodder became a distinct fan favourite and returned to play Jason
08:06in the series' 8th, 9th, and 10th entries, more than any other actor.
08:11While each Jason performer has in some fashion put their own sly stamp on the character,
08:16Hodder quickly established himself as the definitive portrayal of Jason.
08:21Number 3. Patton Oswalt as Max in The Secret Life of Pets 2
08:25Illuminations' 2016 smash hit animated comedy The Secret Life of Pets starred Louis C.K.
08:32as Max, our Jack Russell Terrier protagonist. C.K. was widely expected to return in the role
08:38for the sequel, but was dropped after being accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women
08:42in late 2017, ultimately being replaced with Patton Oswalt. Beyond the fact that Universal
08:48effectively had to recast the role in order to avoid a massive PR headache, they actually settled
08:54on a much better suited actor for the part anyway. C.K.'s deadpan, even hangdog, pardon the pun,
09:00vocal delivery really doesn't measure up to Oswalt's more expressive, jovial voice when it comes to
09:06casting the protagonist of an animated movie who needs to appeal to kids. Even though Max is supposed
09:11to have a bit of an edge to him as a character, C.K. always felt a bit miscast in the role, even if it
09:17clearly didn't hurt the box office bottom line. The original made $875.5 million worldwide. And though
09:25the sequel didn't crack even half that number, Oswalt makes Max a far more endearing character
09:30kids and adults alike will actually want to spend 90 minutes with.
09:342. Mads Mikkelsen as Galert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts The Secret of Dumbledore
09:40The world was left with their jaws on the floor when Johnny Depp made a surprise cameo appearance
09:46at the end of the first Fantastic Beasts film, revealing himself to be the true visage of
09:50the evil dark wizard Galert Grindelwald. Though many lamented that Colin Farrell, who played
09:56Grindelwald disguised as Percival Graves, didn't simply play Grindelwald also, some fans nevertheless
10:01warmed to Depp's full-on portrayal in the otherwise highly divisive sequel The Crimes of Grindelwald.
10:07But the franchise was thrown into a tailspin when mere days into shooting his role in threequel
10:13The Secrets of Dumbledore, Depp was asked to resign after losing a libel case against
10:17a newspaper that characterised him as a wife-beater. Mads Mikkelsen was swiftly subbed in to take
10:23over the part. While The Secrets of Dumbledore was ultimately a mixed bag of a movie, critics
10:29were near unanimous in agreement that Mikkelsen's more mannered, menacing and less campy performance
10:34in the role was considerably more effective.
10:37Number 1. Felicia Rashad as Mary-Anne Creed in Creed
10:42Throughout the Rocky franchise, Apollo Creed's wife Mary-Anne has appeared five times, first
10:48in the original Rocky as played by Lavelle Roby, and then by the late Sylvia Means in
10:52Rocky II and IV. Though Roby and Mills did fine enough work with what they had, neither of their
10:58Mary-Anne had much dimension at all as characters and so there was only so much they could do
11:02with the part. But Mary-Anne was given significantly greater bite when she reappeared in both Creed
11:08movies and also its upcoming sequel, as now played by Tony Award winner Felicia Rashad.
11:14Rashad brings soul and dignity to the fore as the adoptive mother of Apollo's son, Donnie,
11:20serving as an indispensable well of wisdom even when Donnie doesn't heed her advice. Instantly sympathetic
11:26as a concerned parent and further elevated by Rashad's authoritative, compassionate performance,
11:31this is a textbook example of a brilliant recast that worked in perfect tandem with superior writing.
11:37And that concludes our list. If you can think of any other examples then do let us know in the comments below and while you're there don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell. Also head over to Twitter and follow us there and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical,
11:45day and I'll see you real soon.
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