16 Miscast-Seeming Actors Who Surprised Everyone And Knocked Their Role Out Of The Park

Jimmy is also supposed to be young, something between 28 and 29. Remember, Robert De Niro's 47 when he played Jimmy, and was still incredible in the film.

Rachel McAdams was also way too "old" for her role as a high school junior in Mean Girls. In fact, at 26 she was closer in age to her onscreen mom, Amy Poehler (32), than some of her teenage counterparts, like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried. Still, she absolutely nailed the role.

Another actor who was far too old for his role? Alan Rickman as Snape in the Harry Potter films. Snape would have been 31 when Harry first went to Hogwarts, according to the books. Alan Rickman was 54 when he first began starring in the series, and 65 when it ended (at which time his character would've been 37).

However, the role ended up being one of Rickman's most iconic, with close to universal acclaim over his portrayal.

When Hugh Jackman was cast as Wolverine in the X-Men films, he was largely known as a suave Broadway star. He's also a full foot taller than Wolverine is supposed to be. Wolverine is supposed to be stocky, muscular, probably smelly, and generally unpleasant.

Meanwhile, Jackman is tall, svelte, and charismatic. He still did a fantastic job. But he is physically the polar opposite of the character.

A bunch of the Game of Thrones actors looked nothing like their characters from the books, but the most glaring example is probably Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. Tyrion is supposed to be hideous and much shorter. The show also didn't take pains to change his eye color, and they gave up on his hair color pretty quickly. Even Tyrion's scar just serves to make him look badass and rugged rather than more hideous like in the books.

However, no one can deny he was right for the role. He was nominated for EIGHT Emmys during the show's run, winning four.

Heath Ledger was largely seen as a romantic lead – his most noteworthy roles had been in 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain. He was certainly not who anyone would've pictured as the Joker, especially since the role had memorably last gone to Jack Nicholson (known for playing more unhinged characters).

However, he ended up winning an Oscar for the role, and some would argue his performance eclipsed Nicholson's.

Michael Keaton also had many doubters when he was cast as Batman. At the time, he was best known for starring in comedies like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice. Fans were so convinced his casting was wrong that they actually began a letter-writing campaign against his casting.

However, after the film's release, Keaton became beloved in the role – and in fact, was ranked by Entertainment Weekly as the best actor to play the role.

Cruise, perhaps best known as the action star of Top Gun, had never played a villain. Even the book's author, Anne Rice, publicly disapproved of the casting. However, Rice ended up changing her mind after seeing him in the role, along with many fans. He was so good, so gaunt looking and I didn't think about him being Tom Cruise.

One of Morgan Freeman's most iconic roles was playing Red in The Shawshank Redemption. However, he looked a lot different than his character in the novella, who was a white, red-haired Irishman. Turns out, this was hardly important to the role, and Freeman was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal.

Fans were initially reluctant to accept him in the role. Casting director Debbie McWilliams remembered that "stuff would come out about [how] he couldn’t walk and talk, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t drive a car properly, so much stuff which was completely and utterly untrue," after Craig was cast.

Fans also felt the fact that he was blonde and only 5'10" made him a bad Bond. However, pretty much everyone was convinced he was perfect after seeing Casino Royale.

Keanu Reeves not only seemed a strange choice to play the titular character in Constantine, but the movie took basically no pains to make him more like the character. Constantine is famously blonde, wise-cracking, and British — Keanu spoke in an American accent, took the role seriously, and kept his brown hair. However, many fans ended up preferring Keanu over the original.

In fact, many can't wrap their fingers around their head when Chris played the space adventurer, considering his main claim to fame was playing the lovable doofus Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation.

But like the others on this list, when Guardians of the Galaxy came out, Pratt proved himself a bona fide movie star. His comedic timing made the film one of the most beloved Marvel entries.

Playing a real-life person is hard, and modern films take pains to use prosthetics and makeup to help an actor immerse themselves in character. But frankly, when the actor is good enough, it doesn't really matter what they look like. Take Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator — he looks nothing like Howard Hughes and was way too young for the role. Still, he pulls it off.

Besides them both being older white men, John Lithgow looks exactly nothing like Winston Churchill, despite playing him in The Crown. He still won an Emmy and a SAG award for his portrayal.

Not only was he not British, but he was primarily known as a hip-hop star. It was also an example of "color-blind casting": the character's race was not named in the book, but some fans had pictured him as white. But the race of the character was not as important (he's not even human; he's an alien), and Mos Def nailed his own take on the role.

Absolutely nobody in Grease looks like a teenager. But it doesn't matter! It's a great film!

Did you ever have a moment of doubt, scratching your head over an actor's casting choice, only to be blown away by their brilliance on the big screen? Share your experiences in the comments below and let us know which actors left you gobsmacked, turning doubters into believers.