15 Roles Specifically Made for Actors (And Vice Versa)

Movies are made by committee (separate pieces all grafted together, literally), but it’s been like that from before the first camera was ever clicked on. Even before words are put down on a page, sometimes dozens of people are pulling a movie in all sorts of directions. So when a script is being written, often the writers don’t know if it’s going to be a sequel, live-action, or ever get made. Very rarely do the creators of the movies have any say in who is in the film… but “rarely” doesn’t mean “never.” Sometimes, the producer, writer, or director has an actor in mind for a role before the story is ever even finished. Sometimes an actor inhabits a role so well that it’s like they were born for the role… or the role was made for them. Sometimes, hey, that’s exactly what’s going on. Sometimes there’s no other choice, no one else who could ever be that role, not really. These are those times.

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Characters made for their actors Escape from New York Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken The studio wanted Tommy Lee Jones, but there was only ever one Snake in John Carpenter's mind. CRACKED.COM

Source: Collider

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Characters made for their actors Good Will Hunting Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as Will Hunting and Chuckie Sullivan The duo wrote their own roles for themselves. CRACKED.COM

Source: BuzzFeed News

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Characters made for their actors Hellboy Ron Perlman as Hellboy Mike Mignola and Guillermo del Toro agreed to reveal their first choice at the same time. They both said Perlman's name. CRACKED.COM

Source: IMDb

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Characters made for their actors Justic Clerks Jason Mewes TF and Kevin Smith as Jay and Silent Bob Smith wrote the role of Jay for his friend Mewes, and for himself he wrote the role... of Randal. It was only after realizing how stressful that'd be that he changed roles. CRACKED.COM

Source: PopEntertainment

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Characters made for their actors Lost Jorge Garcia as Hugo Hurley Reyes Despite being the literal savior of everything throughout the show, Hurley almost didn't exist. The role was written for Garcia after seeing him in an audition. CRACKED.COM

Source: LOST-TV (via archive.org)

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Characters made for their actors A Fish Called Wanda Jamie Lee Curtis as Wanda Gerschwitz After seeingCurtis in Trading Places, John Cleese realized she could be sexy and funny, and wrote the role for her. CRACKED.COM

Source: IMDb

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Characters made for their actors The Usual Suspects Chazz Palminteri as Detective Dave Kujan The detective was written with Palminteri in mind, but he couldn't make it. Casting continued fruitlessly until his schedule opened up. Не shot all his scenes in a week. CRACKED.COM

Source: Screen Rant

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Characters made for their actors Ferris Bueller's Day Off Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller The role was written for Broderick specifically. Who else could be Bueller? CRACKED.COM

Source: Showbiz CheatSheet

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Characters made for their actors Glee Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel After Colfer auditioned for Artie and lost the role, they wrote a new role to accommodate him. CRACKED.COM

Source: Glee Wiki

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Characters made for their actors Aladdin Robin Williams as The Genie Williams was the only choice for the Genie, and the creators even made a cinematic based on his stand-up routines to prove it. CRACKED.COM

Source: Reddit

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Characters made for their actors MCU Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury Before Jackson was cast, the comic established that the Ultimate Universe version of the character could only be played by him. CRACKED.COM

Source: Den of Geek

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Characters made for their actors The Golden Compass Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter Long before the books were ever adapted, Philip Pullman had Nicole Kidman in mind as Mrs. Coulter. Не even made her blonde later to match. CRACKED.COM

Source: Philip Pullman/Twitter

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Characters made for their actors World t Events the ne ly/week ents th 3 U Boston Public с Jeri Ryan as Ronnie Cooke David E. Kelley wrote the character specifically for Ryan, even though they had never met. You can try to resist loving Ryan, but it's futile. CRACKED.COM

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Characters made for their actors Annie Hall Diane Keaton as Annie Hall Keaton was not just Woody Allen's first choice for the role - she was the inspiration. CRACKED.COM

Source: Britannica

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Characters made for their actors It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds The Always Sunny team was forced to add a known face to their floundering show, and wrote the character of Frank for DeVito. CRACKED.COM

More: Frank Reynolds Only Exists Because Of An 'It's Always Sunny' Ultimatum