Films that should have had someone else in the lead role

[SecondClassReturnToDottinghamPlease]

I've got The Beach on in the background, and having read the book before it came out I was never convinced by Leonardo Di Caprio as Richard. I seem to remember Danny Boyle wanted the part to go to Ewan McGregor, who I think would have been much better. But it was felt LDC was a bigger actor who would have made the film more successful. It made me wonder about other films which would have been different if another actor was the lead role. Anyone got any examples?

I am probably going to be flamed for this but Meryl Streep wasn't the right choice for Mamma Mia.
The character has an 18 year old daughter that she had very young. So "older" cast should have been late thirties/ early forties. Instead they cast Meryl Streep that was
58, and actors of a similar age to play alongside her.
It's probably due to the fact that actresses in the right age bracket didn't want to be cast as the mother of an adult child, so that they don't get typecast. But it made no sense to have actors 20 years too old to fit the story.

Only thing wrong with Rickman's casting was his age, and the same applied to all that generation in the films. I remember when the news was coming out about the films being made, there was a snippet in the paper saying he'd been cast as Snape. I asked my mum (we'd both read the books) "Of all the actors in the world, who would you choose to play Snape?" and she said "Alan Rickman." No, she hadn't seen the paper.

I always said Snape and Mr Slope were related.😄

Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. She relied far too much on that massive toothy grin.

"Just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her".

Proper guff...

Kristen Stewart in Spencer. The hesitant, breathy manner in which she speaks is so annoying.

I can see that Meryl, Julie W, and Christine B were probably too old to be Donna And The Dynamos, but they were all so brilliant that I cannot fault that casting! The Dancing Queen scene ! Just wonderful.

going back years but always bugged me - the woman who played Superman (Christopher Reeves) love interest, Margot Kidder, wrong wrong wong, sadly producers did not agree and she reprised the role more times.
No wonder I’m cynical.

I've got the worst one. Ed Sheeran in Game of Thrones. Could it get any worse than that?? 😅

If it stops him singing, I'm all in favour....
I love Margot Kidder in Superman. She had personality. Better than some identikit blonde.

I always quite enjoy his cameo in Red Notice, when he ends up getting arrested when he’s playing the arms dealer’s daughter’s wedding and starts swinging at the police with his guitar and screaming ‘I’m Ed Sheeran, bitches!’