A Star is Found

Casting is a part of filmmaking that most people never think about -- but once you become aware of it, you might be startled at how central these decisions are to your experience of a film. Just recall Hollywood's casting legends -- Casablanca, for example. The studio's first choice for the role of Rick was George Raft, then a major leading man. Only when Raft wasn't available did the studio grudgingly accept minor contract player Humphrey Bogart, known mainly for playing gangsters in a slew of second-rate crime films. Matching Bogie with Rick turned the actor into an icon for world-weary, cynical heroes with hearts of gold -- and it endowed the film with near-mythic status. Who knows what would have happened if George Raft had been the one to murmur "Here's lookin' at you, kid" -- but it's hard to imagine that a new type of film hero would have been the result. Bogart seemed so right that, once he was cast, the part seemed made for him -- even though he hadn't actually been anyone's first choice.
Or think of The Wizard of Oz with first choice Shirley Temple as Dorothy. When MGM couldn't get ''America's sweetheart," they reluctantly awarded the role to Judy Garland, then known mainly for her teen musicals with Mickey Rooney. Of course, even without Judy, Oz would have been endowed with magic, a gripping story, and a stunning score, but Garland brought to the film her extraordinary combination of vulnerability, longing, sweetness, and hope -- qualities that made a potentially good movie into a great one.
Or consider The Godfather, early candidates for which were Ernest Borgnine and Ryan O'Neal. Just take a moment to picture those two in the roles that Marlon Brando and Al Pacino ultimately played. At this point, the roles seem to have been written with Brando and Pacino in mind -- but that's only because they did, finally, get cast in them; it was hardly a foregone conclusion. Likewise, Charles Grodin has long been notorious as the guy who turned down the part eventually played by Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate. Perhaps the movie would have been equally good with Grodin in the part -- but at the very least, it would have been a different movie if Grodin, not Hoffman, had been the one to stammer, "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"
The essence of a good casting decision is that you simply take it for granted. Only when you imagine a cast being different do you realize how great an impact a casting choice can have. To take a relatively recent example, think of the movie Good Will Hunting, which introduced Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to a broad audience. We didn't cast this movie, so we're commenting on it purely as viewers. In that film, Matt plays the innocent math genius; Ben is his tough and knowing friend -- casting choices that seem to work very well. Now imagine the two actors swapping roles -- think of Ben as the math whiz and Matt as the working-class guy who's left behind. We're not saying the movie wouldn't have worked that way, but it becomes a different picture. Imagining these roads not taken helps illuminate the kind of magic that can be generated when an actor's persona, talent, and style mesh perfectly with his or her role.