History Main / HypotheticalCasting

** Meyer's choice for [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Bella Swann]] was Creator/EmilyBrowning. Meyer also said she pictured Creator/HenryCavill when writing Edward Cullen, but by the time the movies were made, he was considered too old for the role, making it the ''second'' part he's lost to Creator/RobertPattinson (the first being [[Literature/HarryPotter Cedric Diggory.]])

* In Website/{{Usenet}} discussion of ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Creator/TerryPratchett suggested Creator/PetePostlethwaite as his conception of Sir Sam Vimes (which then became ComicBookFantasyCasting in the children's picture book ''Where's My Cow?''), and Creator/JamesSpader for Havelock Vetinari. He's also reportedly specified "the bad guy from ''Film/DieHard''" (Creator/AlanRickman) for the role of Vetinari.

Compare ComicBookFantasyCasting, where the appearance of a character in a visual medium is overtly derived from a real celebrity without being an explicit parody of that celebrity; NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, where a character is a blatant parody or fictionalized version of a real person, and TextualCelebrityResemblance, where a character's resemblance to a celebrity is mentioned within the work. See also CreatorChosenCasting, when the creator actually does get to choose who plays the characters.

The purpose of a hypothetical cast may be to give the reader of a fictional work a better picture of how a character looks and acts. This is common practice for online virtual series and sometimes used by authors of commercially published works. Many times, when a creator is pitching a work to a production company (such as a new series to a TV network), the creator will use existing photos from previous works to help others visualize the characters - as mentioned below, Jeff Eastin used a photo of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio circa ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan,'' to help visualize the gentleman rogue con man of ''Series/WhiteCollar'''s Neal Caffrey. It can also be done in interviews or other extratextual materials, such as screenplays or via LineToGod.

* Website/TheAvocado feature [[https://the-avocado.org/tag/muppet-casting/ Muppet Casting]] is built around this, recasting famous movies using Franchise/TheMuppets.
* Website/{{Wattpad}} allows authors to write their cast list in the corner of each chapter. Amusingly, real person fanfics often have the real person [[AsHimself playing themselves]].

* Creator/DickVanDyke felt he was miscast as Bert in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and felt that an English comic actor like Creator/JimDale or Creator/RonMoody would have been more appropriate. P.L. Travers suggested actors like Creator/RichardBurton, Creator/AlecGuinness, Creator/RichardHarris, Creator/RexHarrison, Creator/LaurenceHarvey, Creator/RonMoody, Creator/LaurenceOlivier, Creator/PeterOToole, and Creator/PeterSellers for the role, in keeping with the British nature of her books.

* One of Sgt. Alvin C. York's conditions for his life story being adapted into ''Film/SergeantYork'' was that Creator/GaryCooper play him.
* Creator/JoanCrawford was asked who should play her in a film. She picked Creator/FayeDunaway after seeing ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. The result was ''Film/MommieDearest''.

* Creator/PhilipPullman was ecstatic when Creator/NicoleKidman was cast as Marisa Coulter in ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'', as she had been his personal favorite for the role (he had wanted Creator/JasonIsaacs as Lord Azriel, but that role went to Creator/DanielCraig). He even approved the AdaptationDyeJob - Mrs Coulter was black-haired in the book and blonde in the film - by saying "I was wrong. She has to be blonde."
* Creator/BetteDavis gave Creator/SusanSarandon her nod to play her in a hypothetical film adaptation of her life. After several projects that never got off the ground, she got her wish in ''Series/{{Feud}}''.
* In the screenplay for ''Film/TimeBandits'', Agamemnon takes off his helmet to reveal...Creator/SeanConnery, "or an actor of equal but cheaper stature". Creator/TerryGilliam and Creator/MichaelPalin had no idea they'd actually get Connery, but to their amazement, he got the script, loved it and agreed to do it.

* According to ''Easy Riders and Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll Generation Saved Hollywood'', Creator/DennisHopper met with UsefulNotes/CharlesManson in prison, because Manson wanted Hopper to play him on film after seeing him in an episode of ''Series/TheRifleman''.

* In the back of ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', Cornelia Funke mentioned that she always imagined Mo to be a bit like Creator/BrendanFraser, and then the casting went like that for the movie.

* Creator/JKRowling had her own ideal cast for ''Literature/HarryPotter'' long before the first movie was made, and was lucky enough to see several of her choices (Creator/RobbieColtrane as Hagrid, for one, and Creator/MaggieSmith as Minerva [=McGonagall=], for another) actually used.
** Rowling's first choice for Severus Snape was Creator/TimRoth, who turned down the role. It subsequently went to Creator/AlanRickman, who then gradually overwhelmed Rowling's own image of Snape and influencing how she wrote his dialogue (just ''try'' not hearing some of Snape's dialogue in the books written after the first film was made in Rickman's voice).
** Rowling described Dumbeldore as a "Creator/JohnGielgud-type, quite elderly and – and quite stately".

* Creator/AynRand:
** Her choice to play Howard Roark in the film version of ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' (which she had complete control over) was Creator/GaryCooper.
** She wanted Creator/FarrahFawcett to play Dagny Taggart in a film version of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', as she was a fan of ''Series/CharliesAngels''.

* In the book ''Down and Dirty Pictures'', Creator/BernadoBertolucci said that if he were to make a film based on his experiences with Creator/{{Miramax}} on ''Little Buddha'', he would have cast Creator/JamesGandolfini as Harvey Weinstein after seeing ''Series/TheSopranos'' and seeing some of Weinstein's behaviour patterns in Tony Soprano.

** For ''Literature/TheHost'', she pictured Creator/HilarySwank as Melanie, Creator/MattDamon as Jared, Creator/RobertRedford as Jed, Creator/CaseyAffleck as Ian, and Creator/BenAffleck as Kyle.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1640643003040890000 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

* Creator/DickVanDyke felt he was miscast as Bert in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and felt that an English comic actor like Creator/JimDale or Creator/RonMoody would have been more appropriate.

Compare ComicBookFantasyCasting, where the appearance of a character in a visual medium is overtly derived from a real celebrity without being an explicit parody of that celebrity; NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, where a character is a blatant parody or fictionalized version of a real person, and TextualCelebrityResemblance, where a character's resemblance to a celebrity is mentioned within the work.

The purpose of a hypothetical cast may be to give the reader of a fictional work a better picture of how a character looks and acts. This is common practice for online virtual series and sometimes used by authors of commercially published works. Many times, when a creator is pitching a work to a production company (such as a new series to a TV network), the creator will use existing photos from previous works to help others visualize the characters - as mentioned below, Jeff Eastin used a photo of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio circa ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan,'' to help visualize the gentleman rogue con man of ''Series/WhiteCollar'''s Neal Caffrey.

* ''Anime Insider'' has a regular column that listed whom the editors would like to see in a live-action adaptation of an anime.
* This is a very popular past-time in many anime and voice actor sites in Spanish-speaking countries, partly due to the long voice-acting tradition of those countries.

* ''Wizard Magazine'' has a regular column about what actors should play what roles in comic book movies.

* ComicBook/XMen:
** Even before a movie was announced, Creator/PatrickStewart was the fans' ''only'' choice for ComicBook/ProfessorX.
** Creator/ChrisClaremont's ideal choice for ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} was Creator/BobHoskins, largely based on the film ''Lassiter'', specifically the scene where he threatens Creator/TomSelleck. He also envisioned Creator/AngelaBassett as ComicBook/{{Storm}}.
** ''Wizard Magazine'' once suggested Creator/AlanCumming for Comicbook/{{Nightcrawler}}. Guess who played him in ''Film/X2XMenUnited?''

* The fan favourite choice to play Hal Jordan in ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' was Creator/NathanFillion, who voiced him in various animated productions.
* For years, Creator/VincentPrice was the favourite candidate to play ComicBook/DoctorStrange. Given that he was the visual basis for the character, this is unsurprising.

* For years, Creator/PatrickStewart was the favourite choice to play Spider Jerusalem if ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' ever got a film adaptation.
* Real life couple Creator/JohnKrasinski and Creator/EmilyBlunt were fan-favourite choices to play Reed Richards and Sue Storm should the ComicBook/FantasticFour get rebooted (again).

* Brazilian magazine ''Set'' had a dedicated feature on this, "De Cara Nova" ("A New Face"), which also added a director to the cast and accepted reader input (it served as a contest, often for [=DVDs=] of the discussed movie). While mostly it were for remakes - the very first was for ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', suggesting Creator/BrendanFraser as Indy - there were also {{Live Action Adaptation}}s - from ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' to ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'', and even a ''Film/SmallSoldiers'' actioner making the toys life-sized warring factions - and some different ideas - ''Film/HarryPotter'' as adults, ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' done right (only Creator/GeorgeClooney remained, and Batgirl was excised), and in PostModernism, an ''Film/OfficeSpace''-inspired movie based on ''Set'' ("well, at least those battles with the printer happen daily here!").
* DiscussedTrope in ''Film/Scream1996''-- Sidney says "with my luck they'd cast Creator/ToriSpelling". In the sequel when they have indeed made a FilmWithinAFilm about the events, Sidney is played by...Tori Spelling (who found it ActuallyPrettyFunny).
* Prior to the announcement of Creator/ScarlettJohansson being cast as the Major for the Hollywood adaptation of ''Film/GhostInTheShell'', a lot of fans wanted Creator/RinkoKikuchi to play the role. Likewise, fans also want Creator/RonPerlman to play as Batou before it was officially announced that Creator/PilouAsbaek would play the role.
* Several ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fans cast Michael Ealy as the reboot's M'Benga.

* There have been many, ''many'' candidates to play Film/JamesBond over the years:

** Creator/CliveOwen was a fan-favourite choice to replace Creator/PierceBrosnan. It turned out he was neither offered the part nor seriously considered.

* Believe it or not, some critics thought that Creator/CaryGrant was miscast as Walter Burns in ''Film/HisGirlFriday'' and that Creator/ClarkGable would have been a better choice.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OWYrEue9l8 This fan-made credit sequence]] for a hypothetical ''Literature/GoodOmens'' movie.

** Rowling's first choice for Severus Snape was Creator/TimRoth, who turned down the role. It subsequently went to Creator/AlanRickman, who then inverted this trope by gradually overwhelming Rowling's own image of Snape and influencing how she wrote his dialogue (just ''try'' not hearing some of Snape's dialogue in the books written after the first film was made in Rickman's voice).
* Creator/StephenieMeyer's choice for [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Bella Swann]] was Creator/EmilyBrowning. Meyer also said she pictured Creator/HenryCavill when writing Edward Cullen, but by the time the movies were made, he was considered too old for the role, making it the ''second'' part he's lost to Creator/RobertPattinson (the first being [[Literature/HarryPotter Cedric Diggory.]])

* In Usenet discussion, Creator/TerryPratchett has suggested Creator/PetePostlethwaite as his conception of Sir Sam Vimes (which then became ComicBookFantasyCasting in the children's picture book ''Where's My Cow?''), and Creator/JamesSpader for Havelock Vetinari.
** He's also reportedly specified "the bad guy from ''Film/DieHard''" (Creator/AlanRickman) for the role of Vetinari.
* Virtually every fan of ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'' seems to think that Creator/JoeFlanigan would make an ideal Mackenzie Calhoun. Just go look at all the fan-made intro vids on Youtube!
* Lot of ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' fans wanted to see Creator/MattBomer in the role of Christian Grey. A producer said that Matt wasn't straight enough for it, causing much outrage.

* Fans of ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'' immediately envisioned Creator/ClarkGable as Rhett Butler, so it was inevitable that he be cast in the film. Margaret Mitchell was so convinced that her book wouldn't work as a film that she suggested Creator/GrouchoMarx.
** On ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'', the duo picked their choices on who to play Scarlett and Rhett. Creator/GeneSiskel picked Creator/DemiMoore and Creator/AlecBaldwin, while Creator/RogerEbert picked Creator/MerylStreep and Creator/TimothyDalton (who played Rhett in the mini-series adaptation of ''Literature/{{Scarlett}}'').

* Creator/MirandaCosgrove from ''Series/ICarly'' wants Creator/TinaFey to be Carly's MissingMom.

* On ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', the town's mayor, Walter Gunderson, has never appeared onscreen. Creator/AmyPoehler says they'd like Creator/BillMurray for the part. Creator/DanHarmon wanted Murray to play Jeff's dad on ''Series/{{Community}}''.

* Nine out of ten ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' fans are desperate to see Creator/CatherineTate as Harriet Watson.

** Creator/CharlesDance was a popular candidate to play the Master opposite Creator/PeterCapaldi.

** When ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' aired, many fans of both shows wanted to see Creator/BenedictCumberbatch play the Doctor. He ruled himself out, stating that he didn't want to be in lunchboxes and the like. Funnily enough, he would later play [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange a different kind of Doctor]].

* Many fans of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' had their bets on who to play certain characters in [[Series/GameOfThrones its TV adaptation]] before it aired. The only popular fan-favorites to make the cast are Creator/PeterDinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Creator/SeanBean (Ned Stark), and Creator/CharlesDance (Tywin Lannister).
* The first choice to play the role of The ComicBook/{{Huntress}} in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' was Creator/LaurenCohan.
* The fan-favorite to play the role of Jay Garrick in ''Series/TheFlash2014'' was Creator/JohnWesleyShipp, who played [[Series/TheFlash1990 the previous]] live-action ''Flash''. He was cast as TheHero's father instead. [[spoiler:He eventually appears as said character, though.]]
* ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'':
** While Creator/MelissaBenoist eventually owned the role of the titular protagonist, her runners-up Creator/ClaireHolt and Creator/GemmaAtkinson were the fan-favorites.
** The fan-favorite to play her cousin Franchise/{{Superman}} were either Creator/TomWelling in a [[AlternateSelf sort-of]] RoleReprise from ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' or Creator/MattBomer (who was the original choice for the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' to play the character and the voice of the character himself in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanUnbound'').
** Benoist said in an interview that she wanted co-star and on-screen adoptive sister Creator/ChylerLeigh to play their version of ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}. Interestingly, Leigh's character has most of ''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}''[='=]s defining characterizations such as being a redhead with a bob cut, the show's resident BadassNormal, and eventually even hooking up with the character's canonical LoveInterest, Maggie Sawyer.

* The [[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Chromatic_Recasting chromatic recasting meme]] on Website/LiveJournal and Website/DreamWidth, in which posters recast parts in TV shows and films with actors of color to prompt conversations about race in the media.
* On deviantART, this is known as a casting call.
* In online [=RPGs=], players often use pictures of real people (actors or otherwise) to represent their characters. This is called a PB, or "played by".
* Amusing things happen when this is done with ''Literature/HarryPotter'' characters before they are cast for real:
** Before ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Creator/RalphFiennes was a popular fan casting choice for Lupin. Ironically, Creator/RalphFiennes went on to play Lord Voldemort, which is about as far away from mild-mannered Professor Lupin as you can get. There are still plenty of fans who think Ralph Fiennes would have been a better Lupin than Creator/DavidThewlis.
** In this 2006 FanVid [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3L8an9LUCE about Barty Crouch, Jr.]], Bellatrix Lestrange is represented by footage of Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter from ''Series/{{Merlin|1998}}''. Carter would go on to play Bellatrix in the [[Film/HarryPotter actual films]].
** This 2005 [[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20431232_1085589,00.html Entertainment Weekly article]] speculates on who should play characters in the then-upcoming ''Potter'' films. Helena Bonham-Carter is suggested... for the part of Merope Gaunt.

* Whole groups on Polyvore are dedicated to "dreamcasting" characters, mostly from the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon.

* The site [[https://www.mycast.io/ Mycast]] is an entire site devoted to this.
* Creator/BenBarnes was an extremely popular choice amongst ''[[Literature/TheGrishaverse Grishaverse]]'' fans for the Darkling, a major character in the series. This ultimately became an AscendedFanon when he was officially cast for the character in Netflix's ''Series/ShadowAndBone'' adaptation.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' tabletop RPG makes a lot of hay out of the televised nature of its inspiration; the GM position is called 'The Director', and individual adventures are called 'Episodes' and meant to be part of a larger 'Season'. To top it all off, the rulebook encourages players to identify the actor who would play their character if the game they were in was actually a TV show.
[[/folder]]

* When the rumor mill started that Disney would do a live-action VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic tie-in, photomanips abounded of who would be cast for Revan. Top contender? Creator/KeanuReeves. Played with in the case of Kreia from [[VideoGame/KnightsOftheOldRepublicIITheSithLords second game]], where the discussion on Website/{{Reddit}} just cut to the chase and said that the actress who voiced her would be the best fit to reprise it for live-action.

* For ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'' and ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'', Vivienne "Vivziepop" Medrano has a number of "headcanon" voices for characters that haven't spoken yet:

* ''Webcomic/LegostarGalactica'' (particularly its wiki) occasionally includes information on who is playing the various (Franchise/{{Lego}}) characters. One of them is played by Scott Bakula, apparently.

* This is the entire point of the "Casting Couch" episodes on the ''WebVideo/TheBlockbusterBuster''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has an in-universe example: In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E18IAmFuriousYellow I am Furious (Yellow)]]", in response to a remark about who should play Homer in a live-action "Angry Dad" movie, Bart suggests Creator/JohnGoodman, but Homer strangles him and exclaims, "Isn't it obvious?! It should be Creator/GaryOldman!"

* During season 5 of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers,'' Creator/AdultSwim encouraged fans to submit their ideas via Twitter and the official message boards for who would play the characters in a hypothetical live-action version of the show. As one would expect, the ideas were all over the place, but a few stood out as good fits, including Creator/MichaelCera as Dean Venture, Creator/HughLaurie as Phantom Limb, Creator/EdwardNorton as the Monarch, and Creator/PeterDinklage as Jonas Jr.
* In many sites, even in Wiki/ThisVeryWiki, many fans suggested the hypothetical Japanese voice cast for the dub of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. One of the most interesting voice choices were Creator/MariyaIse as Twilight Sparkle and Creator/ArisaOgasawara as Applejack, partly due to both [=VAs=] working on ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' as the titular heroines, and both characters resemble quite a lot like those characters from MLP. Ironically enough, when the proper Japanese dub came out, Ise ''did'' work in the dub, but as voicing ''Scootaloo'' instead, while Ogasawara did not get any role there.

* When the miniseries ''Series/TinMan'' aired, the reaction from the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' fan list to Creator/NealMcDonough amounted to ''"How the hell did Zach Foxx end up in Oz?!"''

The purpose of a hypothetical cast may be to give the reader of a fictional work a better picture of how a character looks and acts. This is common practice for online virtual series and sometimes used by authors of commercially published works. It can also be part of a hypothetical discussion by fans of a work. Many times, when a creator is pitching a work to a production company (such as a new series to a TV network), the creator will use existing photos from previous works to help others visualize the characters - as mentioned below, Jeff Eastin used a photo of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio circa ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan,'' to help visualize the gentleman rogue con man of ''Series/WhiteCollar'''s Neal Caffrey.

* Larry David wanted Creator/MichaelDouglas to play him in ''Film/ThePeopleVsLarryFlynt''.

** Creator/IanFleming's personal choice was Creator/DavidNiven, while Creator/AlbertRBroccoli wanted Creator/CaryGrant.

* When choosing the voice of the Guide in ''Radio/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Creator/DouglasAdams wanted someone with a "Peter Jonesy sort of voice". After several rejections, he simply asked Jones himself.

** Creator/TomBaker suggested Creator/DawnFrench as a female Doctor.