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Sometimes the most controversial or surprising casting news leads to the most brilliant on-screen moments. Discover a list of actors who stepped out of their comfort zones and proved all the doubters wrong.
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00:00Part of the cinematic experience is the build up to a film. And while for the most part as
00:05many details as possible are kept under wraps for as long as possible, casting news is typically
00:11something that can be discussed and dissected long before a film's release. As a result it's easy
00:16for fans to spend too long imagining how a performance is going to turn out, only to be
00:22completely blindsided by the finished product. I'm Josh from WhatCulture and these are recent
00:27movie castings that had no right to be this good. First up Miles Keaton as Sammy Sinners.
00:34There are certain directors in the world today who can seemingly do no wrong, which is no small feat.
00:40Even many of the greats have had missteps in their careers but right now it seems as though Ryan
00:45Coogler is simply superhuman. From taking on the potential pitfall spin-off that was Creed to
00:52bring the global phenomenon Black Panther to life, Coogler turned in 2025 to the world of horror.
00:58And as with everything the man touches it was pure gold. The cast was stellar, featuring the likes of
01:05Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O'Connell and Michael B. Jordan, many of whom, in particular the
01:12latter, turned in career best performances. In theory then an actor making their big screen debut should
01:18have been way out of their depth against this lot, but that couldn't have been further from the truth
01:23for Miles Keaton. The newcomer portrayed Sammy, cousin of the smokestack twins and one of the
01:29key protagonists of the story, seemingly completely at home as part of the impressive cast list while
01:35doing so. Not many could have pulled that off right out of the starting blocks but there should
01:40be big things ahead for this young actor. Do you also ever find yourself locked in the existential crisis
01:47of wanting to watch the 1985 classic WITNESS starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis but
01:52you don't know where to begin? Because same.
01:56Me from the future? You dummy. If you wanted to watch the 1985 classic WITNESS directed by Peter Weir,
02:04all you had to do was sign up to Paramount Plus using the link in the video description.
02:08This limited time offer means it's just $2.99 for two months. That's $5 off the essential tier and $10
02:16off
02:16Paramount Plus with Showtime which includes shows like Twin Peaks and Dexter Original Sin.
02:23Witness and Twin Peaks? Sounds like the perfect remedy for those cold winter nights we're having.
02:28I'm gonna go sign up right now and ignore this grave violation of the laws of time and space.
02:33Sounds like a plan.
02:35Next up, Jason Bateman as the Traveler, carry on. It's not exactly uncommon for an actor to try and break
02:42out. And though it is slightly less common for that to be successful, it is certainly not unheard of.
02:48Of course Brian Cranston as Breaking Bad's Walter White is arguably the greatest example of this,
02:53but there are indeed others. Jason Bateman is widely known for his comedic roles from Arrested
02:59Development to Horrible Bosses, and the likes of Game Night, The Switch, and The Changeup. Though he
03:04has dabbled with more dramatic roles such as Marty in Ozark, it's rare that he's ever played a true
03:11villain. But this is exactly what the actor did in 2024's Carry On. The Die Hard-esque airport caper was
03:18a fun, if flawed, holiday film. And while it showed a Taron Egerton at his scene-stealing best,
03:25casting Bateman as the villainous traveler was just a stroke of genius. This is something that audiences
03:31have never really seen before from him. And for all of his comedic parts, the man can sell morally corrupt.
03:38He was cold, controlling, condescending, and made for the perfect foil to Egerton's heroic TSA agent,
03:45Dieter Korpeck. So yeah, more of bad guy Bateman, please. Hollywood, do us a favour.
03:51Next up, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer. Now, the intention of this list
03:57certainly isn't to suggest that any of the actors featured here are in any way bad. The majority have
04:03simply become known for playing a specific kind of character and doing it well. Robert Downey Jr.,
04:09for example, is an exceptional actor and was one of the biggest reasons for the success of the MCU,
04:16particularly in those early days. It is no hyperbole to say that without Robert Downey Jr.,
04:21the biggest movie franchise in history could have fallen flat. He was sensational as Tony Stark for all
04:28those years, but RDJ's next role after Avengers Endgame was another attempt at a charismatic leading
04:36man for a franchise starter in Doolittle. Hardly a promising start to his post comic book career,
04:43and yet four years later he was receiving an academy award for best supporting actor
04:48after placing Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Of course, if Nolan casts an actor,
04:55then there is clearly a reason for it. But could anyone have predicted that Downey would have been
05:00able to shed all of that natural charm and likeability to play someone as snakey as Strauss?
05:06As Strauss, the actor was just immense, a standout in a film full of stand-ups, rightly earning himself
05:13all the plaudits that he received. Next up, Chakudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary,
05:19Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Sticking with the MCU theme for just a second,
05:23even back in its phase 3 glory days, the franchise had an issue with its villains.
05:29With certain exceptions, too many rogues were portrayed as forgettable afterthoughts
05:33that brought little more to the screen than conflict for the sake of conflict.
05:38Guardians of the Galaxy's Ronan the Accuser is one such bad guy, and while the sequel certainly
05:43improved in this department with ego, Volume 3 outdid itself with the High Evolutionary.
05:49Of course, James Gunn is known for working with his friends over and over again, and so it was not
05:55necessarily a surprise that he brought Chakudi Iwuji from playing Peacemaker's Mern over to Marvel.
06:02But could anyone have genuinely expected him to have become one of the consensus best villains of the
06:07multiverse saga? Iwuji was great in Peacemaker, for sure, but he couldn't have said that he was exactly
06:13a standout, particularly next to the likes of John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, and Freddie Stromer,
06:20and so when Gunn announced that he had been cast as, quote,
06:24the role most every big name actor in Hollywood wanted, end quote,
06:28he'd have been forgiven for thinking that there may have been better options out there.
06:33However, Iwuji knocked it out of the park as the High Evolutionary immediately, as one of the most heinous and
06:39detestable villains,
06:40not just in the multiverse saga, but in the entire MCU. The actor has been doing great work for years
06:47now,
06:47but this film gave him the spotlight to fully shine to that wider audience.
06:52Next up, Ariana Grande as Galinda. Wicked.
06:55When casting characters that have been known and loved for as long as the likes of Galinda and Elphaba,
07:00particularly after they have been played with unanimous and universal acclaim for so many years on stage,
07:06there was always going to be scrutinising eyes on Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivar. Of course,
07:12both of them utterly sawed in the roles, but this may not have been expected so much from the former,
07:18who was truly taking the biggest step of her acting career to date. No one was ever going to doubt
07:23that
07:24Ariana Grande could pull off the singing side of playing Galinda, but the character is so complex and
07:29multi-layered that a more seasoned actor would have been considered. Particularly with the list of
07:35others who auditioned for the role. Grande's acting resume was still relatively short at the time,
07:40with the major highlights outside of her childhood fame on Nickelodeon being Don't Look Up and Screen
07:45Queens. Nothing against those projects of course, but to go from that to playing one of the biggest
07:50characters in one of the biggest movies of the year, and nailing every single aspect from the comically
07:56self-obsessed pretty mean girl to the emotional and supportive best friend and earning an Oscar
08:03nomination for it is insanely great work. Next up, Austin Butler as Fade Rolther Harkonnen,
08:09Dune Part 2. Denis Villeneuve's Dune was huge when it released, and with the sequel came impressive
08:15additions to the already stacked cast, with the likes of Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Anya
08:21Taylor-Joyk joining the fray. Another new face was Austin Butler, though you may not have
08:26recognised it by the time he appeared in 2024. There's just no getting around this one,
08:32Butler is a handsome, charismatic guy, something that has always been understandably leaned into
08:38for the majority of his film roles, and something that you would have thought may have rendered him
08:43unsuitable for such a villainous brute. However, this is exactly why Villeneuve looked to cast him in
08:50the first place. Reaching a place that he had not been to before, Butler turned into a truly
08:55unsettling character as the remorseless and merciless villain in the Dune sequel. Though no one but the
09:02director likely appreciated how important his rock star image to quote him directly was to the role
09:08beforehand. Next up, Ryan Gosling as Ken, Barbie. Sometimes all it takes is a first look at a movie
09:15or a character for potential audiences to decide whether it'll be any good or not. First impressions
09:21mean a lot and Ryan Gosling's casting in Barbie didn't exactly go down brilliantly. Margot Robbie
09:27as Barbie inspired and a decision nobody could have argued with. Gosling as Ken though, not so much.
09:35This one took a bit more convincing and the first look at the character with the bleached blonde hair
09:40didn't help matters. This was of course when no one could have predicted what a thought-provoking smash
09:46hit Barbie would have ultimately become, and the crucial role both Gosling and Ken would have played
09:52in it. Neither brought to the screen what anyone would have expected in the best possible way,
09:57as an Oscar nomination wouldn't have even been dreamed of by the most ardent defenders
10:02of this casting when it was first announced. Aside from the awards buzz, the character became
10:06something of a pop culture sensation, arguably even more so than Barbie herself which kind of backs up
10:12the entire point of the film by the way. But Ryan Gosling's casting was ultimately perfect opposite
10:17Margot Robbie, and it's difficult to say whether Barbie would have seen the same success without
10:22either of them. Though you may not have envisioned seeing that about Ken beforehand.
10:27Next up, Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr, the smashing machine. Generally speaking,
10:32audiences know what they can expect from a movie and a role of Dwayne Johnson's. The tough guy,
10:38not too far away from his WWE days, has been perfectly embodied by the likes of Luke Hobbs,
10:44Dr. Smulder Bravestone and a plethora of other meatheads. You could look at an image of any
10:50Johnson character and it's become a meme that you have no idea which movie it's from because they
10:56all look the same. However, in 2025 the People's Champion branched out to do something he had rarely
11:02done and tested himself with a layered character of far more depth than his usual offering.
11:07As Mark Kerr, Johnson's physique and wrestling experience may have made sense for the role,
11:12but never has he truly showcased the chops to tell such a powerful and emotional story. Particularly
11:19when opposite the always outstanding Emily Blunt, who by all rights should have acted circles around
11:25him. The physical side of things Rocky could do in his sleep, but for the real depth of the movie
11:30and
11:30for it to work, he brought out a side to him that we've never seen before. And it's arguably now
11:37less
11:37puzzling that he's being cast as the lead for the next Martin Scorsese picture.
11:42Next up, Sean Penn as Colonel Lockjaw, one battle after another. One battle after another has been
11:48the cinephile hit of 2025. But even the most ardent of Paul Thomas Anderson fans probably didn't expect
11:54to be as impressed as they were by Sean Penn's turn as Colonel Lockjaw. When the stacked cast was
12:00announced pre-release and even following the first trailers, most fans were convinced that the likes
12:06of Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro and Tiana Taylor were primed to give incredible performances,
12:13which turned out to be true and then some in the finished film. After a decade of delivering fine
12:18but unmemorable turns though, Penn felt like the odd one out. It was a surprise then that not only was
12:25he as good as the rest, but also the easy standout potential future awards nominee.
12:30His character pushes so much of the narrative forward and while his role as an evil, corrupt
12:35military man couldn't have been played straight and gotten the job done, Penn brings such a defining,
12:41creepy patheticness to the character that makes his every appearance on screen
12:46add an easy one. He's a deplorable character in every way that he should be, but it's that uneasy
12:51energy that comes to define him. While the film invites you to laugh at his desperate,
12:55self-serving attempts to grasp power and be accepted by his fellow bigots, he's still a
13:01threatening, capable villain that keeps the tension high. It really is a singular performance,
13:07and one that nobody expected to be this weird and convincing before sitting in a theatre.
13:12And finally we have Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, the naked gun. Creating a successful
13:18reboot and or legacy sequel can be beyond tricky even at the best of times, but to bring the
13:24naked gun into 2025 seemed like an impossible task. Largely thanks to the unique and goofy comedic
13:31style and the boots of Leslie Nielsen that simply could not be filled by anyone. Whoever was cast to
13:38lead such a film would have had a difficult act to follow, and Liam Neeson was certainly a choice
13:44out of left field. Sure he has shown his comedic side on occasion in the likes of A Million Ways
13:50to
13:50Die in the West and brief but hilarious cameos in Ted and Derry Girls, but this was unlike anything
13:56he had done before. As Frank Drebin Jr however, Liam Neeson was an unmitigated trial. He threw himself
14:04into the silliness of the role perfectly, he had great chemistry with Pamela Anderson, and he found the
14:09right balance between playing the scene seriously while still be funny. After all, before Leslie
14:14Nielsen was cast as Dr. Rumick in Airplane he was not known as a comedic actor, and by the time
14:20of
14:20the naked gun he was playing up to the silliness of everything just a little bit more. In the same
14:26way that Neeson did here. This was a strategy that worked back then and against all odds it worked now
14:32as well. So that's our list, are there any similar castings I missed off here and if you want more
14:37videos like this click one of the videos on screen right now.
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