It boggles my mind why anyone would hire Keanu Reeves for any film. Why bottom-feed?

He should have disappeared off the radar after "Parenthood" and "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey"

actually I heard on tv that will smith was also up for the role of neo in the matrix

Will "Willenium, Big Willy Style, Parents Just Don't Understand, Agent J" Smith (If I wasn't so tired right now I'd laugh)

James Caan is a big guy with big hands? I've never noticed...

I guess I can see a younger Caan playing the role, but I also don't have any complaints about Jack's performance. Still, it'd be interesting...

That reminds me, when I got the Glengarry GlenRoss DVD, I was so excited when I read about the "audition tape" easter egg. I thought I was gonna see other, real, actors trying out for Alec Baldwin's role. Turns out it was just a bunch of idiots, probably the technical people who helped author the DVD. How great would it be to see different actors you recognized trying out for that part?

Well, I just checked imdb, and according to them, Caan is 6 feet even. That makes him tall for his generation (hell, still taller than the average for my generation). It also makes him like 6 inches taller than Nicholson. But was he ever a "big" guy with broad shoulders? The book makes McMurphy out to be a monster, but then again, he is described by the Chief... who is supposed to be pushing 7 feet, right? I always thought the idea was that the Chief (in the book) *percieves* McMurphy as being HUGE, and that the effect Kesey was going for was that McMurphy was such an imposing/intimidating presence that the poor old meek Chief would feel dwarfed by him. I've always considered the book a classicly unreliable narrative for several reasons. Nevertheless, in the film McMurphy's (and Nicholson's) true physical size is never an issue.

When I first read of Caan turning down the role, I couldn't pisture it because I think of Caan as a scrawny old creature with liver spots and a truly silly tuft of frizzy hair that always puffs up from the top of his head. I have seen him in his younger form, it's just that I'm more aquainted with his current shriveled state. And though I think he is a great actor, I haven't seen him do much that gels with my mental image of McMurphy. The more I think about it though, the more I see that it might have worked great. Still, as I posted above, nothing is wrong with Nicholson's portrayal.

True, there isn't anything bad you can say about Nicholson's "McMurphy," but don't you remember James Caan in "The Godfather" as Sonny Corleone? His broad shoulders are practically busting out of the tuxedo he's wearing at his sister's wedding.

Remember, there is no spoon. If an actor HAD brought something, the movie would not have been as good. Keanu brings that whole "blank slate" look; he really is confused about the matrix. Brad Pitt would have acted confused, but he would have really understood. I don't think Keanu knew what was going on. Which is great, cus Neo doesnt really know what to think either.

Not true.
http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/reagan.htm

Honk!

It's a good thing Hugo brought his bizarre 'Canadian' accent tic to Agent Smith, as it made his character memorable and strangely intimidating. Weaving himself is way too goofy-looking otherwise with his scrawny frame and huge ears & lips. It looked like Neo was fighting an angry homunculus.

Sure, I remember him as Sonny Corleone, but he didn't strike me as being particularly massive or broad. Besides, costuming is responsible for how an actor fits his clothing, not the actor's build. I normally wear a size 45 or 46 jacket. If I squeezed into a 42, I'd be busting out the seams too. And standing next to Al Pacino, I'd look like The Incredible Hulk.


btw, just for *********** and giggles, here's something that this thread reminded me of:

Mod note: Do not post pictures from ************** here. They put in gross pictures when they see that you've done that! And one letter substitutions of prohibited words is NOT allowed!

Oh, and about Keanu and Hugo in The Matrix: I really don't buy that Neo is supposed to be a confused buffoon with a blank look on his face all the time. The guy is what, a hacker or something, right? And he's s'posed to be "the one" (cue oohs and aahhs), right? So the character surely wasn't written as a retard. I think an actor like Pitt (who I think is probably one of the most intelligent guys in Hollywood) would have made the character a thousand times more interesting. On to Hugo: the dude sucks. At least, in The Matrix he sucks. And I can *barely* tolerate him in LOTR, which is a movie I love (if you can't tell, I don't really have any affection for The Matrix). In fact, all of the acting in The Matrix is SO rotten that even though the movie has a lot going for it, I really can't imagine ever seeing it again. All of the leads are either taking the "less is more" approach to its extreme, or they are hamming it up worse than Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

what the hell was that?

Wow that scarred me for life.

Anyway back on topic, Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley.
Murphy made that role

In the movie and TV show "Kung Fu", David Carradine as Caine instead of Bruce Lee (who was the show's co-creater). What I heard was that the TV network considered Bruce Lee "too Asian looking".

Carradine was OK, but if Bruce Lee was the lead actor then it would have been a real action show.

I thought Scott Foley almost single handedly destroyed the Scream franchise with his atrocious performance.

He did have help though.

MODS: The pic that I put in the [img] tags was a photoshop job where someone had mocked up a Deerhunter poster with a picture of Rodney Dangerfield holding a gun to his head... I linked to an "open this image in a separate window" address at another site, obviously, and they caught me and replaced it with that heinous other image. D'oh!

I came in here to see if the Dangerfield pic had gotten any laughs and saw that one of you had converted it to a link, so I checked the link. My eyes started bleeding as a result. So then I thought I'd edit the post, take out the link, and make an apology. When I tried that, all I saw was a warning from you guys saying that I shouldn't ever post a nasty pic like the one that the other site substituted, or I'd be facing administrative action.

Well, I'm sorry. Maybe I'm a fool- I didn't expect them (the other site) to catch me and switch the graphic. I apologize. Would one of you Mods please edit the link out of my post? I'd appreciate it.

REPOST of the post that the Mods deleted, minus the nasty link.

Sure, I remember him as Sonny Corleone, but he didn't strike me as being particularly massive or broad. Besides, costuming is responsible for how an actor fits his clothing, not the actor's build. I normally wear a size 45 or 46 jacket. If I squeezed into a 42, I'd be busting out the seams too. And standing next to Al Pacino, I'd look like The Incredible Hulk.


Oh, and about Keanu and Hugo in The Matrix: I really don't buy that Neo is supposed to be a confused buffoon with a blank look on his face all the time. The guy is what, a hacker or something, right? And he's s'posed to be "the one" (cue oohs and aahhs), right? So the character surely wasn't written as a retard. I think an actor like Pitt (who I think is probably one of the most intelligent guys in Hollywood) would have made the character a thousand times more interesting. On to Hugo: the dude sucks. At least, in The Matrix he sucks. And I can *barely* tolerate him in LOTR, which is a movie I love (if you can't tell, I don't really have any affection for The Matrix). In fact, all of the acting in The Matrix is SO rotten that even though the movie has a lot going for it, I really can't imagine ever seeing it again. All of the leads are either taking the "less is more" approach to its extreme, or they are hamming it up worse than Mel Gibson in Braveheart.