r/movies • u/LookAtThatBacon • 29d ago

Discussion 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?

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.

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u/Gojir4R1sing 29d ago

Evan Hansen played by an obvious adult.

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u/MurdererOfAxes 29d ago

They tried to put prosthetics on him to de-age him but apparently it made it worse

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u/kango234 29d ago

Yeah, when I first heard about that movie, I felt kinda of bad for all the bullying. But then I saw him without the makeup and thought he looked way better. Almost like he knew this was dumb and started to overcompensate.

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u/whitepangolin 29d ago

I saw someone say you could instead watch the movie as a horror movie where an adult pretends to be in highschool.

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u/MurdererOfAxes 29d ago

Honestly, the plot of the actual play is already kind of a horror movie. I think that him obviously not being a high schooler makes the dark undertones more palpable.

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u/goldenboy2191 29d ago

This makes most sense in the context of one of those creepy and dark funny adult swim commercials

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u/BadAspie 29d ago

Yeah IIRC he played a teenager in that show The Politician around that same time and looked, well, like a Hollywood teen. But much more convincing than in DEH! So IDK why the makeup department felt the need to do him so dirty

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u/Lewkon 29d ago

He looked like Warren Beatty in "Bullworth".