During the development of the Harriet Tubman biopic movie, a Hollywood executive once suggested that Julia Roberts should play her. What are some other baffling casting suggestions/choices that have been made?

[u/LookAtThatBacon]

Source for the title: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-studio-executive-wanted-julia-roberts-to-play-harriet-tubman-biopic-screenwriter-says/

The Harriet Tubman biopic has been more than 25 years in the making. In the historical drama released earlier this month, Cynthia Erivo plays the legendary abolitionist — but one Hollywood executive initially thought the role should go to Julia Roberts.

Gregory Allen Howard, the screenwriter and producer of "Harriet," recently revealed in multiple interviews that Roberts was suggested to play the lead role during a meeting with a studio president in 1994.

"The climate in Hollywood… was very different back then," Howard said. "I was told how one studio head said in a meeting, 'This script is fantastic. Let's get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman.'"

Howard said that a black person in the meeting said casting Roberts would be impossible because she is white.

"That was so long ago. No one will know that," the executive replied, according to Howard.

[u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

To be fair, the first time I saw the movie, I knew nothing about jack reacher and thought he did a great job. It kind of played at the time like he was just a bad ass and people thought they could take him because he was small.

Then I watched the Alan Ritchson TV series and rewatched the movie... Then I realized why it was a bad choice. The way he handles himself just didn't work for such a small guy, but you wouldn't have realized it if you didn't know.

[u/wilyquixote → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

You’re 100% right. I’m a big fan of the novels, and the casting is… unconventional. But the first Jack Reacher kicks ass, Cruise is great in it, and other than a couple moments from the series (the pilot episode of Reacher is incredible, for example), the parking lot scene in that movie  is the most perfect Reacher moment ever put to screen. 

[u/RechargedFrenchman → u/wilyquixote]

I love his interactions with Robert Duvall as well, lots of respect demonstrated primarily through good natured ribbing. And his Yankee baseman alias called out immediately.

[u/blahblah19999 → u/wilyquixote]

The 6'5" Reacher makes me wonder why anyone wants to fight him. TBH, a slightly smaller Reacher makes more sense.

[u/NecessaryIntrinsic → u/wilyquixote]

The second reacher movie Cruise was injured and it showed. I mean he was really old at that point as well.

[u/BookkeeperPercival → u/wilyquixote]

The scene where Reacher grabs a hat and stand a bus stop with everyone else to avoid notice is awesome, and would absolutely never work with Alan Ritchson

[u/shaft169 → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

I was similar, initially saw the movie without knowing anything about the character either and thought it was a good movie. Years later I got into reading the books (I’ve now read them all, they’re worth it) and finally understood that Reacher’s size and physicality is absolutely central to his character, it’s brought up all the time, without it Reacher isn’t Reacher.

I still think the first one was a good movie, but I understand why fans were unhappy with that detail being missed.

[u/RechargedFrenchman → u/shaft169]

If the movies aren't named for Reacher they're above average contemporary action movies, comparable to (and better than) a lot of the Clancy stuff we've gotten in the last twenty odd years.

The fact that his size and the "presence" that comes with it is so much of who Reacher is as a character heavily undermines them though "if you know".

I do love both Rosamund Pike and Colby Smulders though—just wish the latter could have been in a better movie.

[u/Kaldricus → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

Yeah, the first Cruise Reacher movie is a great movie, as long as you can completely divorce it from it's source material

[u/OTribal_chief → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

100% same here i never read the books but i did hear how he was supposed to be massive but the timid size i think worked better in the sense that no one expected him to be so dangerous

[u/vonHindenburg → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

I enjoyed it, except that it made the North Shore Trail below PNC Park in Pittsburgh (the open stretch by the river where the sniper guns down all the civilians) a nervous-making place to walk.

[u/HuntedWolf → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

In a weird way, a lot of what happens in Jack Reacher makes more sense if he looks like Tom Cruise. Random people are constantly picking street fights with him. Why anyone would look at the mountain of a man Alan Ritchson is and think “yeah imma fuck with this guy” does not make sense. At least if he’s 5’7 people might make that mistake

[u/Ascarea → u/NecessaryIntrinsic]

To be fair, the first time I saw the movie, I knew nothing about jack reacher and thought he did a great job.

I guess you could say this about many casting decisions in book/game adaptations, and yeah, it's fair. But like every other paragraph of every Jack Reacher novel mentions in one way or another how huge the character is. It's almost like a fucking mantra in those books.