In an industry like film where every action is centered around maximum profit and favorable reviews, there’s no room for actors that don’t meet expectations in every way. As a result, characters are commonly recast– even midway through a story– due to a number of reasons.
From scheduling conflicts, to poor reviews, to actors moving on to new things, every cinema fan is likely to have seen a character they loved get recast, and sometimes it’s for the worst. Here is a list of notable character recasting that fans weren’t pleased with for one reason or another:
Evelyn from The Mummy films
While The Mummy will always be a beloved franchise from the early 2000s, it still underwent some inevitable changes that didn’t please fans, like recasting Evelyn. In the first two films, which were released only a couple of years from each other, both feature Rachel Weisz, who brought qualities of intelligence and bravery to the character. Her character in the first two films was praised for how natural and believable her action scenes were. Not to mention, the romantic chemistry between her character and Brendan Frasier’s is one of the favorite details of the films, adding a layer of love to all of the excitement of the films.
However, for the third film, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which was released a whole seven years after the second movie, Weisz declined coming back for the role. She was then replaced by Maria Bello, who may have been a fine actor in certain roles, but changed the personality of the character, appearing more stiff than Weisz in the action and romance scenes.
Alex Murphy in the Robocop films
The Robocop films gradually got worse with time until the 2014 remake, but that doesn’t mean that poor recasting didn’t play a role in it. Alex Murphy was originally cast as Peter Weller who seemed to be familiar with the character and captured his complexity, but in the third film, Weller didn’t return and Murphy was cast as Robert John Burke. The first Robocop was rather well received, and the second was also an okay film but by the third movie, when Burke had taken over, the franchise quality really declined.
There were a number of reasons that fans weren’t impressed by Burke’s portrayal of the character, including his movements, and the tone of the character that he set. Even the costume wasn’t suited to him playing Murphy, as the suit was the same suit used in the second film, which was made for Weller, resulting in it not properly fitting Burke.
Hellboy in the 2019 Hellboy
Guillermo Del Toro’s 2004 Hellboy didn’t fare particularly well in terms of box office numbers, but audiences responded favorably to the film. Fans were drawn in by the originality of the storyline and by Ron Perlman’s gruff yet lovable performance as Hellboy. Fans were so impressed by the character that they went on to make a sequel, which unfortunately also didn’t do well in box offices.
Because both the first film and sequel failed to make the profit that creators anticipated, they decided to make a reboot of the original film with a completely new cast, replacing Perlman with David Harbour. While Harbour portrays a gritty personality type, he also has a seemingly dad-like, kind element of his personality, which just doesn’t work as Hellboy. Rather unsurprisingly, the reboot flopped as much as the original films, proving that casting wasn’t the problem with these films.
Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter movies
Many fans of the Harry Potter films are aware of the several characters that were recast during the creation of these films but perhaps the most audacious example is Lavender. There’s no real justification for her character being recast, like some of the other characters had because their actors became sick or died. The reason for her replacement is far more superficial and problematic.
In the earlier films, Lavender was played by Kathleen Cauley and Jennifer Smith, both black actors, however, when the time for Lavender to have a romantic role with Ron came in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she was suddenly cast with a white actor, Jessie Cave. While Cave’s performance as the character wasn’t necessarily a problem to the storyline, it certainly did turn some fans off of the franchise and reflects poorly on the choices of the casting team.
Victoria in the Twilight films
In the first two films of the franchise, Victoria, one of the driving antagonists of the story, was played by Rachelle Lefevre. Lefevre perfected the role with her graceful vampire-like movement and facial expressions that captured the mischievous nature of Victoria. Unfortunately, by the time production on Eclipse was about to begin, it became clear that there were scheduling conflicts between creators and Lefevre, and so Victoria was recast, being played by Bryce Dallas Howard for the remainder of the films.
Unfortunately, Howard’s performance noticeably changed the tone of the character, making her a bit more bubbly and less intimidating than Lefevre’s version. This resulted in her appearing more of a manipulative villain relying on sex appeal, rather than a threatening villain leading an army.