We didn't see these biopic casting choices coming! Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the casting of real-life figures that defied AND surpassed our expectations.
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00:00 Hello, I am Andy and I would like to thank you for coming to my movie.
00:09 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the casting of real-life figures that defied and surpassed our expectations.
00:16 I wanted to speak with you about your future, about what you hope to achieve.
00:22 Number 10, Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. Ray.
00:26 That's Des, Ammonite. Yeah, what's the spell backwards?
00:31 Ah, ah, ah, come on man, why don't you give me something difficult? No name.
00:36 While we now know that Foxx is an uber-talented multi-hyphenate, it's important to remember that general audiences in 2004 weren't aware of his potential for superstardom.
00:45 Prior to depicting the life of the soul and R&B legend in director Taylor Hackford's film,
00:50 Foxx was best known for his stint on the iconic sketch show In Living Color, in addition to his self-titled late '90s sitcom.
00:56 Well, what if I want to go to another company? There's a guy out there right now that is willing to pay me seven cents a record. Can you do that?
01:03 Man, I can promise you 15 cents a record.
01:06 Independently produced, then distributed by Universal Pictures, it was clear that with Ray, the studio would be taking a risk on a mostly unproven leading man.
01:14 That doubt dissipated instantly, however, when Ray was released, becoming a huge box office success and earning Foxx the Academy Award for Best Actor.
01:23 Ray Charles, who's he?
01:25 Nobody, if you don't know.
01:27 Hm.
01:28 Sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut.
01:31 Oh, no, no, then you wouldn't be you.
01:33 Number 9, Austin Butler as Elvis Presley. Elvis.
01:36 Colonel says I play the charity concert tomorrow night as the new family style, and everybody calms down and we get back on track.
01:44 When Denzel Washington himself personally calls your director to recommend you for the part of Elvis frickin' Presley, you can probably breathe a sigh of relief and assume you have it in the bag.
01:53 That's what happened to former Disney kid Austin Butler, who was Oscar-nominated and launched into instant superstardom for a starring part in Baz Luhrmann's epic biopic.
02:02 I'm gonna get on my jet plane.
02:05 The Lisa Marie.
02:07 It's named after my, uh, my beautiful daughter.
02:12 What makes Butler's casting even more surprising is the stiff competition he faced for the role.
02:17 He was reportedly up against such heavy hitters as Miles Teller, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and even pop star Harry Styles.
02:23 We hope Austin called Denzel back to say thanks.
02:26 Never met anyone like you.
02:28 I hope not.
02:30 Number 8, Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman. Adaptation.
02:34 I'd wanna let the, uh, movie exist rather, rather than be artificially plot-driven.
02:39 Great!
02:40 So many biopics are about the life of the guy who wrote them.
02:43 Originally intended as a straightforward translation of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, from the page to the screen, adaptation evolved into a meditation on making movies that only partially adapts Orlean's book.
02:54 As such, Cage was cast against type to play Kaufman, the film's neurotic screenwriter, as he experiences a mild existential crisis in trying to write the script for the movie you're watching.
03:04 We show flowers and, okay, we have to have the court case. Okay, we show LaRoche, okay, he says, "I was mutated as a baby, that's why I'm so smart." That's funny!
03:11 It's a bit of a head trip. Cage, by then already better known for his unhinged performances in action movies, returned to his character acting roots in playing not only Kaufman, but his fictional twin brother, Donald.
03:22 We told you, total head trip.
03:24 Hey Charles, I pitched my screenplay to Mom.
03:28 Don't say pitch.
03:30 Sorry. Anyway, she said it was "Sirens and Lambs" meets "Psycho."
03:35 Well, maybe you guys could collaborate. I hear Mom's really good with structure.
03:38 #7 Vin Diesel as Giacomo "Jackie" D'Norsio - Find Me Guilty
03:42 I wanna have lunch with the fellas. Every day, my marshals take me down to the Holy Self.
03:48 Technically, you're still a prisoner, Jackie.
03:50 You think I don't know that?
03:52 Even in 2006, audiences mostly associated leading man Diesel with his roles in the Fast and Furious and Riddick franchises, which clearly didn't make use of the actor's full dramatic potential.
04:02 Find Me Guilty finds Diesel playing Jackie D'Norsio, a slightly eccentric real-life mobster who is a defendant in this federal trial.
04:09 This trial, by the way, stands as the longest ever of its kind, lasting nearly two years due to extenuating circumstances.
04:16 Chiefly among them, D'Norsio's baffling choice to legally represent himself.
04:20 Could you tell all of us how you knew that those men in that restaurant was Italian?
04:25 Well, uh, I, I guess...
04:31 It's a shame that Find Me Guilty went decidedly under the radar after its release.
04:35 Diesel is highly compelling as D'Norsio. Maybe he could squeeze in another drama between Fast sequels?
04:41 And a lot of us, most of us, didn't even get through high school, except maybe college.
04:46 So you're testifying here can hurt us. Do you see what I'm saying?
04:51 It was just an honest mistake.
04:53 Number 6. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody
04:57 Buddy, you're a young man, hot man, charging in the street, gonna take on the world someday, you got blood on your face.
05:04 Possibly the film with the most troubled production on this list, there were moments when it seemed like Bohemian Rhapsody might never be made at all.
05:11 Various iterations drifted in and out of development hell, including a proposed warts-and-all version starring Sacha Baron Cohen that was shot down by the surviving members of Queen.
05:20 I'm tired of the bloody anthems. I want the energy in the clubs, the bodies. I want to make people move.
05:26 You mean disco? Why not?
05:28 Eventually, the film's producers caught Mr. Robot, the USA Network cyber drama which starred Malek, and felt they had found their Freddie.
05:35 Despite the Emmy winner's resemblance to Mercury, he, like Jamie Foxx, was untested as a movie star.
05:41 Malek has even said that, during dance rehearsals, he felt like a lost cause.
05:45 Ultimately, it worked out, with Malek winning an Oscar for his performance.
05:49 Let me get you a beer.
05:51 I wouldn't mind a beer.
05:55 Can you just tell me where we keep them?
05:59 Number 5. Kristen Stewart as Diana, Princess of Wales, Spencer
06:03 Of course. Now I know where I am.
06:06 We used to call him Bertie.
06:10 I think that's my father's coat he's wearing.
06:13 Clearly, it doesn't matter if you've been praised by critics and cinephiles for your work across multiple indie films.
06:19 When you star in five Twilight movies like Kristen Stewart did, audiences have trouble getting the image of Bella Swan out of their minds.
06:25 At that time, Stewart had been relentlessly mocked by memes, calling attention to her supposedly wooden acting.
06:32 And that stigma had led audiences to question her casting as the beloved People's Princess.
06:37 How do I look?
06:38 You look fine.
06:42 Not to mention the fact that she's American, and Diana was obviously British.
06:46 When asked why he cast Stewart, Spencer director Pablo Lorrain commented that he felt Stewart accurately conveyed the uncrackable mystery of Princess Diana.
06:54 And, honestly, it paid off, with Stewart receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
06:59 See how they insisted on weighing me?
07:02 It's just a bit of fun.
07:07 They can't change.
07:09 You got enough for 20 of us?
07:15 Yeah.
07:19 It might seem odd to think about it now, but there was a time in the 2000s when Matthew McConaughey was largely regarded as an unserious leading hunk,
07:26 forgoing his previous dramatic acting skills in favor of formulaic Hollywood romantic comedies that made money but not lasting impressions.
07:34 The juicy, real-life role of Ron Woodruff, an 80s HIV and AIDS activist, was passed from actor to actor, including the likes of Woody Harrelson, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Gosling.
07:44 But the film's producers felt that McConaughey, a charismatic Texas native, was the man for the job.
07:49 That's where I got the idea. Welcome to the Dallas Buyers Club.
07:52 It would seem that they were right. McConaughey won the Oscar for Best Actor for playing Woodruff, capping off what was informally known as the "McConaissance."
08:00 Congratulations.
08:02 I couldn't believe that girl was me. But everyone in the audience would think it was me.
08:12 On the surface, casting De Armas as the all-American icon Monroe might have raised some eyebrows.
08:17 By her own admission, the Cuban performer had only become fluent in the English language a few years before being cast as Monroe,
08:23 and still bore a strong accent at the time Blonde was filmed.
08:26 Fabie makes his wishes known. Norma's just the best.
08:30 Director Andrew Domenick was confident that he had found his Marilyn, however. He went to bat for her after her very first audition.
08:36 De Armas immersed herself in the role and Marilyn Monroe's life over the course of a year,
08:41 and despite the film's overwhelming divisiveness, with many regarding it as exploitative and disrespectful to Monroe's legacy,
08:47 she was rewarded with a Best Actress nomination at the 95th Academy Awards.
08:51 Yes!
09:02 Some rich guy calls you on the phone.
09:09 I want Mark Schultz to come visit me.
09:12 This dark wrestling drama proves that actors should never be pigeonholed into the genres they're best known for.
09:18 Initially intended for future Oscar winner Gary Oldman, the role of the mentally ill heir eventually went to comedic superstar and Emmy nominee, Carrell.
09:26 Much to the surprise of Gene McCarthy, the film's casting director, Carrell was handpicked by director Bennett Miller,
09:32 despite Carrell's limited dramatic experience and relative lack of resemblance to John DuPont.
09:36 I want you to be champions in sport and winners in life.
09:44 Carrell himself largely credited his left-field casting to Miller, speculating that he was cast because Bennett says,
09:49 "He has a benign public persona," and DuPont did too.
09:52 Whatever the case for defying typecasting, it worked out.
09:55 Both Miller and Carrell were nominated for Oscars.
09:58 Anyway, the proof is in the pudding.
10:02 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:09 Zac Efron as Kevin Von Eric, the Iron Claw, the former high school musical mines new dramatic territory in this wrestling drama.
10:16 I'm sorry, boys.
10:18 It's okay, Dad. You can cry. Everyone cries.
10:21 Yeah, what are you talking about? You cry all the time.
10:24 Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, Vice, proof that Bale can handle pretty much anything a director tasks him with.
10:30 Hello, Dick. Hello, George.
10:33 It's been a while.
10:35 Last year, foreign policy sessions.
10:38 That's right.
10:39 Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh and Eternity's Gate.
10:42 The American actor is significantly older than the Dutch painter ever was.
10:46 It's a theater play called Richard III.
10:51 Who's that Richard?
10:52 A king. The king of England.
10:55 A good king?
10:56 Oh, no. He was considered a real bastard.
10:58 Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin.
11:00 Chaplin.
11:01 Downey was Oscar nominated for his immersive performance as the iconic British filmmaker.
11:05 Twelve months ago, you were still in Vaudeville.
11:08 On top of the bill, Sid.
11:10 Yeah? Well, I still haven't seen anybody staring at you.
11:13 Yeah? What's 'cause I don't look like me?
11:16 Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wiggand, the insider.
11:19 Crowe convincingly plays much older than his 35 years at the time.
11:22 How did a radical journalist from Ramparts Magazine end up at CBS?
11:27 I still do the tough stories.
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11:45 Number 1. Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman, Man on the Moon.
11:51 In fact, this is the end of the movie.
11:56 Thank you very much.
11:59 Didn't we just say that actors should leave their comfort zones more often?
12:03 That's perhaps best exemplified by Carrey's all-in performance as the legendary comedian, actor, and provocateur Kaufman.
12:10 This unconventional biopic goes a long way in maintaining Kaufman's unique mystique.
12:15 It seems fair to say that Carrey is a crucial part of that.
12:17 Gorski, I'm Polish. You trying to do some Polish humor?
12:23 Shut up!
12:24 Beating out known dramatic actors like Edward Norton, Nicolas Cage, and John Cusack, Carrey took the role extremely seriously.
12:31 So seriously, in fact, that the level of method acting he committed to not only alienated those around him on the film set,
12:37 but those who had known Kaufman in his life felt that he was reincarnated through Carrey.
12:41 Behind-the-scenes footage of this can be seen in the Netflix documentary, Jim and Andy, The Great Beyond.
12:46 Are you Andy Kaufman?
12:48 I get that all the time.
12:51 Are there any biopics we forgot about? Any on our list that surprised you? Let us know in the comments below.
12:56 I really liked Trista-Kill, until the third act of New England.
13:00 That's not how it's pronounced.
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13:10 [music]