In 1993, while in the theater for Jurassic Park, I saw the first teaser trailer for the 1994 Flintstones movie. Note that this was before the internet was ubiquitous, so it wasn't common knowledge who had been cast for which upcoming movies. The teaser didn't show any actual movie footage, it just played the theme song before cutting to Fred Flintstone's chest. When the camera scrolled up and revealed that it was John Goodman, the audience cheered.
It's not that the movie looked like a "must watch", it's just that it was such a perfect casting. I can't think of another actor in Hollywood history who would be a better match for that character.
This is crazy, but just rewatching that teaser, and remembering the cheer, it almost brings tears to my eyes. It was one of those perfect moviegoer moments, when everyone in the audience was equally delighted. I won't say it reached "Cap grabs Thor's hammer" levels of audience camaraderie, but it was still a significant moment. I don't usually like seeing movies with large crowds, but it's moments like that which make it worth it.
I got home from the theater and told my stepmother about it. I asked her, "Guess who's playing Fred Flintstone?" She thought about it for a moment, had a minor epiphany, and guessed correctly. Because once you knew they were making a live action Flintstone movie, there was only one actor in that era who remotely fit the bill.
For this blog, I'm not necessarily looking at actors who performed their role well. I mean, Johnny Depp was the perfect Jack Sparrow, and no one else could ever do that role justice. But Depp had the freedom to make that role his own, since it wasn't based on a previous character.
I'm more looking at actors who had to play cartoon characters, or characters previously established by other actors, things like that. And it doesn't matter if the end movie turned out to be good or not, or even if they played the role well. It's the casting decision that I'm praising here, not the end result.
For example, Matthew Lillard did a great job as Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo movies. But I can't say it counts as a perfect casting choice. You'd never see Lillard in another movie and think, "He looks like Shaggy." Honestly, his Scream costar Jamie Kennedy looked more like Shaggy at the time. Lillard put his heart into the role and his Shaggy impression was spot on, but he still doesn't meet my qualifications for this blog.
But for an opposite example, Walter Matthau played Mr. Wilson in 1993's Dennis the Menace. I have not seen this movie, and you probably haven't either. It's got a 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which probably tells me all I need to know. But I don't care how bad the movie was, casting Matthau was genius. In other movies he looks and acts so much like Mr. Wilson, that there really couldn't have been any other choice.
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) might fit both categories. Certainly some of the actors are doing their damndest to mimic the original show, while others are just perfectly cast and being themselves. This is probably true for a bunch of movies based on old TV shows.
Men in Black 3 had Josh Brolin playing young Tommy Lee Jones. His impression is spot on, and I think he was perfectly cast. But you want to hear something funny? I had to look that up on IMDB, because I could have sworn it was Joaquin Phoenix, not Josh Brolin. To be fair I haven't seen the movie since it came out in 2012, but I can't believe I got the two actors confused. Brolin was well cast, but I think Phoenix would also have played the role really well.
I'd love to list more roles I consider perfectly cast, but then I'd never get this blog posted, because I'd keep waiting to think of more. But the granddaddy of them all, the king of perfectly cast actors, has to go to...
*drumroll please*
J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man franchise. He is perfect, the rest of you can go home now, the award for best casting has been won forever. QED.
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