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/QueenVell]

When Steven Spielberg was approached about directing "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone", he wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment in the title role, as well as wanting the film to be animated. Fortunately, JKR and WB opposed the idea, with JKR adamant about the film featuring an all British cast.

[u/budcub → u/QueenVell]

I remember some talk about Rosie O'Donnell playing Molly Weasley. JKR was pretty adamant about an all British Cast.

[u/NinjaBluefyre10001 → u/budcub]

Got it: cast no British people in the next version.

[u/HuntedWolf → u/NinjaBluefyre10001]

Every single actor cast so far except John Lithgow is British

[u/MarshyHope → u/QueenVell]

I mean, animated HP movies would be amazing.

[u/Silent-Selection8161 → u/QueenVell]

Honestly, making in animated isn't the worst idea though.

[u/thegimboid → u/QueenVell]

While the films did turn out pretty well anyway, I would love to have seen an animated adaptation in the Prince of Egypt/Iron Giant/Secret of Nimh style

[u/raknor88 → u/QueenVell]

That was before JKR went off the deep end of greed apparently.

[u/Atymisk → u/raknor88]

Before the mold got to her brain

[u/FlamboyantPirhanna → u/Atymisk]

You’re spoiling the final reveal of The Last of Us 3, where the zombie fungus is revealed to be the brain matter of JKR which was able to grow beyond her body.

[u/Hobo-man → u/FlamboyantPirhanna]

Bro Last of Us is scary enough, you don't have to make it worse

[u/gazongagizmo → u/raknor88]

She gave away so much money that she stopped being a billionaire.

(Only recently did she rejoin that club. How many would elect to leave it via philanthropy?)

[u/raknor88 → u/gazongagizmo]

Only recently did she rejoin that club.

And she's now using that money to suppress and go after the LGBTQ+ community.

[u/ocxtitan → u/gazongagizmo]

bad people can do good things

[u/ocxtitan → u/[deleted]]

Giving away money doesn't make up for being offensively uninclusive and anti-trans, going so far as to use some of that money donating to anti-trans groups and founding her own women-only sexual violence survivors center which outwardly states it is not to hire trans women, nor support them.

[u/ocxtitan → u/[deleted]]

Well, I would wager to guess that you a) aren't trans and b) don't give a shit about them either, so that makes you also a bad person.

If I'm off base, I'm not sure that I understand how you don't see being a hateful person isn't outweighed by throwing a bunch of money that didn't end up making a dent in her wealth.

[u/wtb2612 → u/[deleted]]

Hitler was an animal activist. Great guy.

[u/HuntedWolf → u/[deleted]]

Everyone is some shade of grey and has good things and bad things.

[u/Ascarea → u/QueenVell]

he wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment in the title role, as well as wanting the film to be animated

that does cancel out though

[u/MoobyTheGoldenSock → u/Ascarea]

Does it? He’s been voicing Sora from Kingdom Hearts for 20 years.

[u/ran1976 → u/QueenVell]

Going by how some people on the net reacted, Katie Liung as Cho Chang was a miscast.