What actor played a role so iconicly that it's unimaginable anyone else could replace them?

[ryco]

Robert Preston in the musical The Music Man. Even though the writers had Cary Grant in mind for the role. "Cary Grant declined the role, claiming that he wouldn't even watch the motion picture unless Robert Preston played the lead male role. Willson and Morton Da Costa, the director of the show, insisted that Preston play the role, as in the Broadway show. Robert Preston is the one and only Harold Hill."

Also Mickey Rourke for Barfly.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Sean Connery ZardozView attachment 5146532

"The gun is good. The mankini is bad."

 

[Tom Bomb]

 

[Wood and Wire]

I think the only conceivable excuse for this movie was that he urgently needed the money.

It's a highly original, if utterly baffling angle on a sci-fi movie.

 

[Michedelic]

It's a highly original, if utterly baffling angle on a sci-fi movie.

There have been worse things…

 

[Altitude]

I might have supposed nobody could play the Joker after Heath Ledger - but I would have been wrong.

It's a great example, actually, because a couple people have tried and the results are, at best, derivative of what Ledger did with the role. And both attempts were by top tier actors.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

I can't imagine anyone being Nick and Nora other than William Powell and Myrna Loy.

 

[BunchyMutt]

View attachment 5087671

Bryan Cranston as Walter White in Breaking Bad immediately comes to mind...

Plus Bob Odinkirk as Saul Goodman

 

[Alkali Ike]

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason. For that matter, the entire principle cast.

 

[Funky Ghost]

Pretty much the entire cast of this great movie.

 

[friskinator]

There have been worse things…
View attachment 5146633

I'd add Sacha Baron Cohen to the list. Who else could possibly play Borat?

 

[Michedelic]

I'd add Sacha Baron Cohen to the list. Who else could possibly play Borat?

Well, as the character was his invention, no one. The only others doing something similar(but not quite the same)would be Peter Sellars or Rowan Atkison.

 

[Funky Ghost]

Hollywood will certainly try at some point, but these cannot be replaced.

The King of the Geeks - 80's - He was the epitome of the geek/every man/lovable loser in a memorable string of movies. MAH also went on to play a very very good main character in Stephen Kings Dead Zone.

1990's version was these two guys who made a string of movies that carried into the 00's - Relatable for stoners and those that knew stoners. Yin and Yang vibe from the guys, with Jay's YOLO attitude and SB's quiet guidance.

The 00's had

While not quite as prevalent still a fine example of the breed.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Hollywood will certainly try at some point, but these cannot be replaced.

The King of the Geeks - 80's - He was the epitome of the geek/every man/lovable loser in a memorable string of movies. MAH also went on to play a very very good main character in Stephen Kings Dead Zone.

1990's version was these two guys who made a string of movies that carried into the 00's - Relatable for stoners and those that knew stoners. Yin and Yang vibe from the guys, with Jay's YOLO attitude and SB's quiet guidance.

The 00's had

While not quite as prevalent still a fine example of the breed.

Bonus points for going with Mallrats as an example.

 

[mongo2]

IMO...

Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy.

Dick Van Dyke as Rob Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula.

Boris Karloff as Imhotep in The Mummy

Alec Guinness as Colonel Nichols in Bridge Over The River Kwai.

Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence Of Arabia

Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Mandy Patinkin, in the Princess Bride - Inigo Montoya.

 

[Tom Bomb]

the tracker​

 

[TheBass]

He was missing out ...

Could you imagine anyone else as Ben Hur ?

Or Barbarella ?

 

[Tom Bomb]

​

 

[Bob_Ross]

Oh snap, had no one mentioned John Heder in "Napoleon Dynamite" yet? Yeah, he absolutely qualifies for this thread!

Could you imagine anyone else as ...[snip]... Barbarella ?

Truthfully? Yes: Raquel Welch