Mads Mikkelsen should've played Grindelwald from the very beginning.
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00:00 One of the key things filmmakers absolutely hate doing, above almost anything else, is
00:04 having to recast an actor for a sequel.
00:07 Even when the casting fundamentally works, audiences generally hate change and will endlessly
00:12 compare the new actor to the prior portrayal.
00:15 And while there are certainly many examples where recasting doesn't quite fit, or is
00:20 clearly inferior to what came before, there are also those rare winning cases where the
00:25 recast ends up improving the new movie.
00:27 So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with What Culture and here are 10 actor replacements
00:32 that actually improved movies.
00:34 10.
00:35 Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight
00:39 In Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, the role of Bruce Wayne's primary love interest,
00:44 Rachel Dawes, was played by Katie Holmes.
00:46 Holmes' totally fine performance nevertheless slides into the periphery, while up against
00:51 top shelf work from the likes of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson,
00:56 Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman.
00:59 Holmes opted not to return for sequel The Dark Knight, however, preferring instead to
01:03 shoot the crime comedy Mad Money with one of her idols, Diane Keaton, a film unfortunately
01:08 which bombed both critically and commercially.
01:11 Holmes was ultimately replaced with Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Dark Knight, and while
01:15 Holmes is far from an incapable actress, Gyllenhaal was just a much better fit for this character
01:20 in every fibre of her being.
01:22 Holmes seemed a little too young and fresh-faced to fully convince as Gotham's assistant
01:26 district attorney, while Gyllenhaal carried herself with an inherently more mature and
01:30 sophisticated air.
01:32 This is evident from the first time we see Gyllenhaal's new take on Rachel, and to
01:36 boot she also has far more persuasive chemistry with Christian Bale than Holmes ever did.
01:42 The series would have been absolutely fine if Holmes stayed on board, but Gyllenhaal
01:46 probably should have been cast in the part from the very beginning.
01:49 9.
01:50 J.F. Schreiber as Sabretooth in X-Men Origins Wolverine
01:54 Iconic X-Men villain Sabretooth made his first cinematic appearance in 2000's X-Men, where
02:00 he was played by professional wrestler-turned-actor Tyler Maine.
02:03 There's no denying that Maine brings a heft and physicality to the part, though his Sabretooth
02:08 isn't much more than a hulking brute, a blunt object who tussles with Wolverine and
02:13 ultimately gets disposed of a little too easily.
02:16 In 2009's prequel film X-Men Origins Wolverine, a younger Sabretooth is portrayed by the great
02:22 Liev Schreiber, who, while lacking Maine's massive stature, is nevertheless a live force
02:27 of nature in his own right, and one who matches it with his sheer charisma.
02:32 Schreiber gets far more of an opportunity to crack wires and show off his easy chemistry
02:36 with Jackman's Logan.
02:38 Maine did the best with what he had, but Schreiber took the character to another, more entertaining
02:42 and nuanced direction that Maine, hardly an actor of Schreiber's caliber, would have
02:47 struggled to.
02:48 8.
02:49 Don Cheadle as James Rhodes in Iron Man 2
02:53 In the original 2008 Iron Man, the role of Tony Stark's good pal James "Rhodey" Rhodes
02:58 was played by Terrence Howard.
03:00 Howard, a recent Oscar nominee at the time, commanded the highest salary on the entire
03:05 set, far more than even Robert Downey Jr., but was reportedly offered less money to return
03:10 for Iron Man 2, prompting him to bulk and be replaced by Don Cheadle.
03:15 Terrence Howard's acting skills certainly isn't in doubt here, and he did a solid job
03:19 as Rhodey in the first Iron Man, but Don Cheadle's more affable and gently sarcastic demeanor
03:24 instantly made him much easier for the audience to warm to.
03:28 Cheadle really helped take the Rhodey-Tony dynamic to the next level, and it's difficult
03:33 to picture Howard bringing quite the same to a deceptively tricky role, a part that
03:37 requires the actor to be both stern and likeable.
03:41 As with the Katie Holmes Batman situation, there's no way Howard would have sunk Iron
03:45 Man 2, but one suspects Rhodey wouldn't be nearly as well-regarded by fans had Cheadle
03:50 not taken over.
03:51 7.
03:52 Moira Kelly as Donna Haywood in Twin Peaks' Fire Walk With Me
03:57 Donna Haywood was a significant character in David Lynch's series Twin Peaks, though
04:02 also one of its more divisive major players, in part because Lara Flynn Boyle's performance
04:07 as Lara Palmer's troubled best friend split audiences right down the middle.
04:12 When Boyle couldn't return for the 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks' Fire Walk With Me due to
04:17 scheduling conflicts, she was replaced with Moira Kelly, whom many fans maintain gave
04:22 a far more vibrant and persuasive performance in a single film than Boyle did across 30
04:28 episodes of the show.
04:29 Granted, the two actresses are in many respects playing two starkly different versions of
04:34 the same person on separate sides of a traumatic, life-changing event, but even so, Kelly's
04:40 portrayal feels more well-thought-out, while Boyle's is more skittish and ultimately
04:44 irritating.
04:46 Kelly had the advantage of only performing the part for a comparatively short time, while
04:50 most fans agree that Donna's characterization veers off a cliff in the show's second season
04:55 and Boyle's performance with it.
04:58 6.
04:59 Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi in Desperado
05:03 The curious case of El Mariachi might well be the biggest no-brainer on this list.
05:08 In Robert Rodriguez's 1992 feature debut El Mariachi, the part of the title character
05:13 was portrayed by Rodriguez's friend and co-producer Carlos Gallardo, who had scarcely little acting
05:19 experience prior to taking the role and likely played it himself in order to keep the budget
05:23 down.
05:24 After the film became an indie hit, Rodriguez was approached to make a sequel and soon enough
05:28 came up with Desperado.
05:30 However, now armed with a larger budget and having to answer to major Hollywood studios,
05:35 Rodriguez had Gallardo replaced in the lead role by a more recognizable actor, Antonio
05:40 Banderas, while Gallardo remained on board as a co-producer.
05:44 It was certainly the right call - 99.8% of the people alive today couldn't compete
05:49 with Banderas's rugged handsomeness and infectious charisma, so it's difficult to
05:54 argue with the replacement of Gallardo, who all things considered did a totally respectable
05:58 job in El Mariachi.
06:00 But when you're presented with a studio budget and all the resources to make a bigger,
06:04 more successful movie, you'd be silly not to play ball.
06:08 Rodriguez did, and Desperado was a massive commercial success, enough that Rodriguez,
06:13 Banderas and Gallardo all returned for the again-successful 2003 sequel Once Upon a Time
06:19 in Mexico.
06:20 Number 5.
06:21 Carol Kane as Grandmama Adams in Adams Family Values
06:26 This is a piece of recasting subtle enough that more casual fans of the Adams Family
06:30 movies might not even notice.
06:32 In Barry Sonnenfeld's original 1991 film, Grandmama Adams was played by the late Judith
06:37 Molina in a relatively small supporting role.
06:40 For 1993's sequel, Adams Family Values, however, Sonnenfeld replaced Molina with Oscar nominee
06:46 Carol Kane.
06:47 Beyond the fact that Kane was given far more memorable dialogue to work with, Kane's
06:52 more expressive, over-the-top rendition of Grandmama simply left Molina's more subdued
06:57 version in the dust.
06:59 Sonnenfeld had never stated publicly why he decided to recast the part, though given that
07:03 Kane is a whole 26 years younger than Molina, it's entirely possible he wanted an actor
07:08 who could more easily bring a lively physicality and vibrancy to the part.
07:13 Number 4.
07:14 Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part 7 The New Blood
07:20 Friday the 13th's iconic serial killer Jason Voorhees has been played by 10 different actors
07:25 over the years, though there's undeniably one who is far and away the most closely associated
07:30 with the role, and also the best.
07:33 Friday the 13th Part 3 is where the classic hockey-mask-wearing Jason we all know and
07:38 love came into being, as played by Richard Brooker, before the part was taken over by
07:42 Ted White, Tom Morga and CJ Graham in each of the next three films.
07:47 For Friday the 13th Part 7 The New Blood, however, Kane Hodder took the role of Jason
07:52 and categorically made it his own through his intensely intimidating, wordless performance.
07:58 Hodder brought a subtle physicality to Jason, which implied a lot without actually saying
08:02 anything, enough that Hodder became a distinct fan favourite and returned to play Jason in
08:06 the series' eighth, ninth and tenth entries, more than any other actor.
08:12 While each Jason performer has in some fashion put their own sly stamp on the character,
08:16 Hodder quickly established himself as the definitive portrayal of Jason.
08:21 3.
08:22 Patton Oswalt as Max in The Secret Life of Pets 2
08:25 Illumination's 2016 smash hit animated comedy The Secret Life of Pets starred Louis C.K.
08:32 as Max, our Jack Russell Terrier protagonist.
08:35 C.K. was widely expected to return in the role for the sequel, but was dropped after
08:39 being accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in late 2017, ultimately being replaced
08:45 with Patton Oswalt.
08:47 Beyond the fact that Universal effectively had to recast the role in order to avoid a
08:51 massive PR headache, they actually settled on a much better suited actor for the part
08:56 anyway.
08:57 C.K.'s deadpan, even hangdog - pardon the pun - vocal delivery really doesn't measure
09:02 up to Oswalt's more expressive, jovial voice when it comes to casting the protagonist of
09:07 an animated movie who needs to appeal to kids.
09:10 Even though Max is supposed to have a bit of an edge to him as a character, C.K. always
09:14 felt a bit miscast in the role, even if it clearly didn't hurt the box office bottom
09:19 line.
09:20 The original made $875.5 million worldwide.
09:25 And though the sequel didn't crack even half that number, Oswalt makes Max a far more endearing
09:29 character kids and adults alike will actually want to spend 90 minutes with.
09:34 Number 2.
09:35 Mads Mikkelsen as Galert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts The Secret of Dumbledore
09:40 The world was left with their jaws on the floor when Johnny Depp made a surprise cameo
09:45 appearance at the end of the first Fantastic Beasts film, revealing himself to be the true
09:50 visage of the evil dark wizard Galert Grindelwald.
09:53 Though many lamented that Colin Farrell, who played Grindelwald disguised as Percival Graves,
09:58 didn't simply play Grindelwald also, some fans nevertheless warmed to Depp's full-on
10:02 portrayal in the otherwise highly divisive sequel The Crimes of Grindelwald.
10:07 But the franchise was thrown into a tailspin when mere days into shooting his role in threequel
10:13 The Secrets of Dumbledore, Depp was asked to resign after losing a libel case against
10:17 a newspaper that characterized him as a wife-beater.
10:21 Mads Mikkelsen was swiftly subbed in to take over the part.
10:25 While The Secrets of Dumbledore was ultimately a mixed bag of a movie, critics were near
10:29 unanimous in agreement that Mikkelsen's more mannered, menacing and less campy performance
10:34 in the role was considerably more effective.
10:37 1.
10:38 Felicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed in Creed
10:42 Throughout the Rocky franchise, Apollo Creed's wife Mary Anne has appeared five times, first
10:48 in the original Rocky as played by Lavelle Robie, and then by the late Sylvia Means in
10:52 Rocky 2 and 4.
10:54 Though Robie and Mills did fine enough work with what they had, neither of their Mary
10:58 Annes had much dimension at all as characters and so there was only so much they could do
11:02 with the part.
11:03 But Mary Anne was given significantly greater bite when she reappeared in both Creed movies
11:08 and also its upcoming sequel, as now played by Tony Award winner Felicia Rashad.
11:14 Rashad brings soul and dignity to the fore as the adoptive mother of Apollo's son, Donnie,
11:19 serving as an indispensable well of wisdom even when Donnie doesn't heed her advice.
11:25 Instantly sympathetic as a concerned parent and further elevated by Rashad's authoritative,
11:30 compassionate performance, this is a textbook example of a brilliant recast that worked
11:35 in perfect tandem with superior writing.
11:37 And that concludes our list.
11:40 If you can think of any other examples, then do let us know in the comments below.
11:43 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:47 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there and I can be found across various social medias
11:51 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:53 I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real