Wow, what a surprise, Ashton Kutcher wasn’t a great casting choice. Who could have guessed? Sometimes comedic actors switch to dramatic roles and succeed, such as Tom Hanks. Sometimes they don’t, such as Kutcher. And anyone who thought that Kelso from That ’70s Show would do well as the man who invented culture-shifting tech such as the personal computer, the iPod, and the iPhone, needs to get their dome checked.
From “Dude, Where’s My Car” to this, it just isn’t a career jump that a lot of people think works. If you’re interested in Steve but want a better actor, check out Steve Jobs with Michael Fassbender.
John Cusack as Richard Nixon in The Butler
John Cusack is quirky, lovable, and pudgy, which is why he's cast as the romantic lead in rom-coms like "Say Anything" or "High Fidelity." But casting him as one of the most unpopular presidents in recent history was a big misstep for the casting directors of "The Butler," which features him in a terrible prosthetic nose which distracts from everything else on the screen and neither looks nor sounds anything like the thirty-seventh president.
Lee Daniels directed "The Butler," and he also miscasts Cusack as a murderous maniac in another one of his films, "The Paperboy."
Keanu Reeves as Johnathan Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula
Keanu Reeves has had some bad performances to his name, but let's forget about "Point Break" for now. We're talking about Bram Stoker's "Dracula," directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola is certainly not a slouch at picking the perfect actors, and as beloved as Reeves is now, this was a misstep. Johnathon Harker is an Englishman, and Reeves is not, which led to a stilted and unnatural accent out of the actor.
Coppola has said that he wanted to do it perfectly and focused too hard, so the accent became unreal. He also had unnatural reactions and affectations.
Angelina Jolie as Queen Olympias in Alexander
Alexander the Great was one of the greatest conquerors in history, and Alexander is the worst movie made about his life. One of Hollywood's big problems is their hesitation in casting older actresses, which is why Angelina Jolie, at twenty-nine, was cast to portray Alexander the Great's mother. Actor Colin Farrell was twenty-eight while filming. They did nothing to age Jolie, and her beauty in the film – helped by Jolie's famously thick, full lips – raised a lot of eyebrows.
The movie itself is a stinker, a box office bomb, and was a Razzie favorite: worst picture, worst director, worst actor, worst supporting actress, worst screenplay, most intrusive musical score (won), worst female fake accent (won), and least "special" special effects.
Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates in Psycho
Here's another shocker. Vince Vaughn can't act his way out of a wet paper dress, and acting as the mother-obsessed killer in the remake of "Psycho" is much harder than that. It was an overall unnecessary remake (again), and Vaughn did nothing to set himself above, or even near, Anthony Perkins's original performance.
Vaughn might be passable as a fast-talking wise guy or a crass idiot like in "Wedding Crashers," but dramatic works might be beyond his reach. We'll never forgive him for ruining "True Detective" season two after such an unforgettable first season. Take your lumps, Vince.