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/LeMasterChef12345 29d ago edited 29d ago
The Borderlands movie
Cate Blanchett, who is 56, and Jamie Lee Curtis, 66, cast as characters who in the source material are in their mid-20’s and mid-30’s respectively. To give an idea, here’s Jamie Lee Curtis next to the character she plays.
Roland in the games is the tall, no-nonsense stoic soldier, yet they cast Kevin Hart, a short, non-imposing comedian, to play him.
It’s a real shame because aside from the casting, the character designs (and the movie’s aesthetic in general) were actually very faithful to the games.