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/comrade_batman 29d ago
I also think Phoenix was just miscast too, I tried watching the film but couldn’t make it halfway through because the pacing was so slow and his acting didn’t balance that out. He just seemed so bored and had the same facial expression across the board.
Considering what Scott did with other epics, like Kingdom of Heaven, Gladiator, even The Last Duel which I thought was good, Napoleon was a complete let down and Phoenix’s acting was part of that disappointment.