Movie stars become stars for a reason. It doesn’t matter if a film has great direction, a compelling story, or an otherwise solid cast. If the actor portraying the main character cannot hold the screen, if they cannot engage the audience, then the whole thing falls apart.
Tons of movies suffer from bad leads, and they sometimes offer enough other charms to make them worthwhile. That's not the case for these films, which would be all-time classics with another actor in front.
Instead, they're all going down in history as missed opportunities.
1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
There’s no job more thankless than following Sean Connery as James Bond, who walked away from the franchise after five movies. Australian model George Lazenby, a man with no acting experience, jumped at the chance and won the role.
Despite his enthusiasm, Lazenby never quite settles into On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. He seems awkward and cheeky throughout, a tendency not helped by an opening scene that sees him addressing the camera. To make matters worse, he stars in the most emotional and rich Bond film until the Daniel Craig era, one that requires a mature performance, not a handsome amateur.
2. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
It’s not hard to see why studios would request Orlando Bloom as the lead of a historical epic, especially in 2005. Bloom had just come off the very successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, where he played the elf Legolas — a part that matched his limited range.
Not so for Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott's medieval epic. Bloom cuts a handsome figure but cannot carry the weight of a knight during the Crusades. He does fine during the action sequences, but whenever Scott wants to explore the moral and spiritual cost of the battles, Bloom stumbles, making audiences wish the director had fought for a better performer.
3. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
The British comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral made Hugh Grant a star worldwide. Grant’s pleasant screen presence and dreamy eyes fit right in with the gentle comedy written by Richard Curtis and directed by Mike Newell. Perhaps the best sign of Grant’s star power is his ability to sell scenes shared with Andie MacDowell.
MacDowell’s wooden line deliveries and awkward performance make viewers wonder why Grant’s Charles would be so enamored of her. Defenders point out that MacDowell’s character Carrie was intended for a British performer, and the script did not change when the South Carolinian actor took on the part.
4. Do the Right Thing (1989)
Do the Right Thing is a masterpiece. Spike Lee’s study of racial tensions in a Brooklyn neighborhood on a very hot summer night blends comedy, romance, and drama, helped along by a brilliant cast that includes Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Rosie Perez, and Danny Aiello. Lee made one disastrous casting decision when he put himself in the lead as pizza delivery boy Mookie.
Everything that makes Lee a great director disappears in his acting. Mookie has no energy or presence and threatens to dull every scene in which he appears. The rest of the cast and Lee’s incredible talents as a filmmaker more than compensate for shortcomings in his performance, but it’s hard not to wonder how much better the movie could have been.
5. Under Siege (1992)
Despite his lack of on-screen charisma and even impressive martial arts skills, Steven Seagal was once a viable name in action cinema. At the height of his popularity, many pointed to 1992’s Under Siege as his best movie. Even as Seagal’s reputation has sunk as he churns out direct-to-Redbox stinkers, people still have fond memories of Under Siege.
Any rewatch reveals that Under Siege works despite Seagal’s performance, not because of it. Everyone else in the film fires on all cylinders, including director Andrew Davis (who would go on to make The Fugitive) and Tommy Lee Jones as the evil mercenary who commandeers a Navy ship.
6. The Conqueror (1956)
Old Hollywood didn’t put much stock in historical accuracy, at least not when it came to ethnicity and race. To reinforce the racism of the era, studios would cast white performers in all manner of roles, none more infamous than the Genghis Khan biopic The Conqueror. Directed by D. Powell and written by Oscar Millard, The Conqueror traces Mongol chief Temujin’s rise to power as Genghis Khan. And who does the production choose for the lead role? John Wayne.
The Conqueror isn’t a great movie, and Wayne isn’t the sole bit of unfortunate casting. Many white actors play Chinese characters, including Susan Hayward as Bortai and Lee Van Cleef as Chepei. Still, Wayne has a limited range, which makes casting on The Conqueror all the more baffling.
(Another reason the film will make viewers uncomfortable: the production filmed at a nuclear bomb test site, and much of the cast and crew later died of cancer.)
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Way too often, Hollywood takes a compelling and handsome actor and shoves them into bland leading roles. When these actors get older, they get to show off their interesting character actor side, as seen with Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The opposite is true of Brad Pitt, who works best in dull leading man roles but enjoys playing odd character actor parts.
Pitt’s difficulty in character actor work stands out in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, written and directed by Andrew Dominik, from the novel by Ron Hansen. Dominik surrounds Pitt, who plays Jesse James, with great character actors, including Sam Shepard and Sam Rockwell. They bring a natural richness to the film, which clangs against Pitt’s desperate attempts to match their energy.
8. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
When Prince John challenges the authority of Robin Hood, the archer turns towards the camera and declares, “Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent.”
That line from the Mel Brooks comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a shot at Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the big-budget blockbuster that spent millions recreating Sherwood Forest but cast all-American Kevin Costner in the lead.
Directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by Pen Densham and John Watson, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves combines 90s action filmmaking with the lushness of a major budget, making for a rollicking good time. Unfortunately, Costner feels out of place throughout the entire thing, making viewers wish the film had a proper English actor.
9. Pacific Rim (2013)
For some unknown reason, director Guillermo del Toro has Hunnam do a flat American accent for his character Raleigh Becket in Pacific Rim. Too focused on maintaining his accent to give a compelling performance, Hunnam waters down the otherwise enjoyable movie about giant robots punching giant monsters.
Perhaps the most galling part of the casting is that the sci-fi world features an international organization; thus, the character need not be English. After all, Idris Elba, who often plays American, gets to keep his natural accent. If del Toro wanted a British actor, he should have cast one, letting the lead match the rest of the movie’s intensity.
10. The Irishman (2019)
In most cases, it would be an act of blasphemy to suggest that Robert De Niro be replaced, especially in a Martin Scorsese picture as soulful as The Irishman. Based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, The Irishman follows the life of mob hitman Frank Sheeran. Filled with actors from the great director’s filmography, including Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci, The Irishman examines the weight of a violent life.
De Niro dominates the screen as the older Sheeran, carrying the full guilt of his terrible decisions. However, Scorsese decided to use anti-aging technology for scenes with the younger Frank, distracting from the movie’s powerful themes and otherwise great moviemaking.
11. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets opens with a fantastic sequence tracing the evolution of the Earth’s relationship with extraterrestrials. The sequence sets high hopes for the rest of the movie, which promises to match the tone of the French comics Valérian and Laureline that inspired it.
However, writer and director Luc Besson chooses two awful leads for the movie, making even the fantastic visuals a slog to enjoy. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne play Valerian and Laureline, two space-faring warriors who are supposed to have romantic chemistry and roguish charm. Neither actor rises to the occasion, making Valerian a movie best turned off after twenty minutes.
12. Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
As an animated movie, Kubo and the Two Strings gets away with most of its white-washed casting. All the characters are supposed to be Japanese, but Irish actor Art Parkinson makes for an energetic Kubo, and Charlize Theron has rough charm as his Monkey guide. When Matthew McConaughey’s Texas drawl comes out of a Beetle/samurai, the movie’s reality breaks.
McConaughey gives a touching and comic performance, which fits the tone of the delightful stop-motion film directed by Travis Knight and written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler. He never feels like a character from Japanese folklore, just a guy who got lost on his way from Texas.
13. Gravity (2013)
Gravity boasts mind-bending visuals and fantastic special effects, but writer and director Alfonso Cuarón, working with son and co-writer Jonás Cuarón, has much more than mere spectacle in mind. Gravity intends to tell the story of the human spirit and the process of rebirth, focusing on the travails of an astronaut returning to Earth after getting stranded in space. Most of the movie focuses on just one character, save for a brief appearance by George Clooney as a fellow astronaut.
The role requires someone with screen presence and the ability to play depth. Cuarón casts Sandra Bullock in the lead, an actor who works best in fun rom-coms. Bullock feels out of place throughout the movie, not just because her character floats through space, turning the astronaut’s ordeal into something annoying instead of thrilling.
14. The Happening (2008)
In all fairness, no one could turn The Happening into the thoughtful horror thriller that writer/director M. Night Shyamalan tried to make in the 2010s. With a better lead, The Happening could have been a nasty, pulpy Shyamalan entry, more in line with the over-the-top entries that helped revive his career.
The Happening can’t be anything but a flop with Mark Wahlberg in the lead. Wahlberg works fine in self-serious action flicks but fails to capture the intelligence and gravity of the science teacher he portrays in The Happening. With a more believable lead, the extremes of The Happening would have made it an enjoyable B-film.
15. Ghost in the Shell (2017)
The manga and anime Ghost in the Shell are considered highlights of their respective media; examples of what Japanese storytelling can do in various formats. The property has enough of a following in the United States to prompt a big-screen adaptation but not enough of a following to make the studio handle it with respect.
Thus, Scarlett Johansson gets the lead as the Major Motoko Kusanagi. To its credit, the live-action Ghost in the Shell does try to acknowledge the oddity of a Japanese character played by a white actor and wrap it into the story’s themes of identity performance. The additions don’t connect, derailing what could have been a solid adaptation.
16. Flash Gordon (1980)
When he brought characters from the long-running Alex Raymond Flash Gordon comic strip to the big screen, director Mike Hodges had a specific image in his head for the lead character. He had to be big and strong and blond, and that was it. So when he saw former football player Sam J. Jones, Hodges had the kid dye his hair blond and cast him as Flash.
Jones has real affection for the part and does his best. However, he cannot give a convincing performance nor match the film’s campy tone. Everyone else goes for it, including Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless and Brian Blessed as a birdman, but Jones can’t get out of his own way. At least we still have that amazing soundtrack from Queen.
17. Hulk (2003)
Moviegoers in 2003 didn’t know what to make of Hulk, director Ang Lee, and co-writer James Schamus' gentle and psychological take on the smashing Marvel monster. Over the years, fans have come to appreciate the movie’s compelling visuals and interesting themes.
Fans have not come to accept Eric Bana in the lead as Bruce Banner. Bana has done good work elsewhere, and Banner shouldn't show a lot of emotion. A different actor could have played depth in stillness instead of staying flat and dull like Bana. With a better lead as Banner (hi, Mark Ruffalo), Hulk would have made a better impression on its initial audience.
18. Tenet (2020)
Christopher Nolan loves confusing movies with unclear plots and dialogues that work thanks to the vibes and great performances. The time-splitting James Bond homage Tenet has the potential to work on that indescribable level were it not for its lead character, the Protagonist, played by John David Washington.
As the son of Denzel Washington, John David Washington lives in the shadow of one of the greatest actors who ever lived. Even when compared to less spectacular performers, John David Washington lacks charisma. Unable to hold the screen, Washington fails to involve viewers, leaving them with the hopeless task of making sense of Tenet’s plot.
19. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
No Jurassic Park sequel can match the grandeur and beauty of the original, but at least director J. A. Bayona tries something different with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Working from a script by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, Fallen Kingdom leans hard into cloning and a secret underground lab before becoming a haunted house movie with dinosaurs.
Yet, no inventive visuals can compensate for Chris Pratt’s character, Owen Grady. Connolly and Trevorrow have no character idea for Grady other than “coolest dude who ever existed,” and Pratt seems lost. Unable to play the goofy losers that work so well in Guardians of the Galaxy, Pratt feels anything but cool as Grady, diminishing an otherwise solid outing.
20. Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
A Cannon Films cheapie about Soviet terrorists who attack a Florida town, Invasion U.S.A., never pretends to be high art. It’s a low-brow action movie, and everyone gets the assignment, including veteran genre director Joseph Zito and Richard Lynch as the Russian villain.
It’s unclear if lead Chuck Norris, who co-wrote the script with James Bruner, understood the movie's direction. In fact, it’s not clear what Norris is feeling at all, as he sleepwalks through the film with no enthusiasm. Everyone, including the audience, has fun with the ridiculous lengths Invasion U.S.A. goes to, but Norris feels disinterested throughout.
