Lesson From Oscar-winning Movies: Making Smart Casting Decision

"The essence of a good casting decision is that you simply take it for granted."


"Hanna Schmitz" in the Oscar-awarded film The Reader should have been played by Nicole Kidman. "Ennis del Mar" in the critically-acclaimed movie Brokeback Mountain should have been played by Mark Wahlberg.

How come these A-list Hollywood stars did not end up with the Oscar-winning roles?

According to Janet Hirshenson, a casting agent who has already worked with big Hollywood films like A Beautiful Mind and A Few Good Men, big roles are taken for granted by the actors who are the casting agents’ early choices.

Hirshenhon and her casting partner, Jane Jenkins, say that there are two typical reasons why actors pass their starring roles to others: money and time. There are actors who demand a rate higher than what the budget allocates. Others, on the other hand, have to attend to other important business or obligation. Aside from these two usual reasons, there are also stars who take a project for granted simply because they are not interested or uncomfortable with the roles that they are going to play. This “picking” of roles is typical for Hollywood’s A-list actors whose star images are greatly affected by the roles they play on film.

This is the reason why making the right casting is very important to a film’s success. Needless to say, an actor (and her/his public image) is crucial to a movie’s success or failure. Typically, the first choices of casting agents are those popular actors who are box office figures.

It is the responsibility of the casting director to make sure s/he got the right casting for the project because it is her/him who works with the directors, producers and studio executives. Jane Jenkins who is also the co-author of the book A Star Is Found: Our Adventures of Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies believes that when one have the right casting for the project, it is impossible to think any other stars doing the film. “It only sticks out like a sore thumb when it doesn't work, but usually those movies don't do well enough for anybody to even notice.”

As for the question why Nicole Kidman did not end up doing Kate Winslet role in The Reader, the reason is that she did not have much time anymore – she got pregnant with Sunday Rose. In the same not-so-lucky fate, Mark Wahlberg refused the starring role in the film that earned Heath Ledger an Oscar award and earned an estimated $180 million at the worldwide box office because he was "a little creeped out by the gay cowboy storyline and sex scene."