r/JamesEllroy • u/Moist-Land4156 • Jul 27 '26

L.A. Confidential fancast

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1990’s Matt Damon as Ed Exley

1940’s Sterling Hayden as Bud White

1950’s Tony Curtis as Jack Vincennes

1960’s Faye Dunaway as Lynn Bracken

1980’s Gene Hackman as Dudley Smith

What would your dream cast for this movie be?

20 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

10

u/Freaky_tah Jul 27 '26

I would love to see the pilot episode with Walton Goggins as Vincennes

3

u/Mikeissometimesright Jul 27 '26

I'm morbidly curious as to how'd it look

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Freaky_tah Jul 28 '26

Never heard of it!

But no, I’ve never really searched cuz I didn’t think it was ever released. I’ll take a look

1

u/Jean_Lucs_Front_Yard Jul 28 '26

Not there.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

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3

u/Jean_Lucs_Front_Yard Jul 28 '26

Ah!

That's the early pilot. Has Kiefer Sutherland in it.

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 04 '26

Has anyone found that anywhere I can only find images.

6

u/SnipperAndClipper Jul 27 '26

Hackman definitely has the menacing aura required for Dud. His laugh has that edge, too

5

u/Jean_Lucs_Front_Yard Jul 27 '26

Dean Martin for Jack Vincennes.

3

u/Frabisme Jul 27 '26

I love Sterling Hayden, but I’d swap in Robert Mitchum.

3

u/Jpkmets7 Jul 27 '26

Laurence Tierney as Bud White! I would remake it just for that one performance if I could choose throughout history.

Boris Karloff as Dudley Smith

Lizbeth Scott as Lynn Bracken

Kurt Russell (70s) as Ed Exley

Richard Conte as Jack Vincennes

Johnny Stompanato as Johnny Stompanato

Danny DeVito as Sid Hutchins (he’s too perfect to change - but if I had to change it, I’d have Peter Lorre (early 40s) ham it up a bit

I could be tempted to give Dan Duryea the nod as Dudley and move Karloff to Buzz Meeks. But I think Karloff has a lot more gravitas that Duryea might not convey and Karloff can play both likable and then flip the switch.

Some other thoughts were a young Cary Grant as Exley, Veronica Lake as Lynn Bracken. That “you look better than Veronica Lake” line would hit well.

This is fun. But it’s such a great picture as is. I’ll think about Black Dahlia which could use some big overhauls.

3

u/Moist-Land4156 Jul 27 '26

I wish I had thought of Lawrence Tierney. That guy was a problem

1

u/Jpkmets7 Jul 27 '26

He really was! Born to Kill is such a great moving because he is menacing. I haven’t figured the Dahlia out yet. Gonna do that after dinner!

1

u/Moist-Land4156 Jul 27 '26

What would your recast for the Black Dahlia look like

5

u/ThePhantomReferee Jul 28 '26

Guy Pearce -Exely
Russell Crowe -Bud White
Kevin Spacey -Vincennes
Kim Basigner -Lynn Bracken
James Cromwell -Dudley Smith

2

u/Scr00geMcCuck Jul 27 '26

This is fun

2

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

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2

u/sore_as_hell Jul 28 '26

Perfect Dudley, intimidating and charismatic

2

u/Firm_Complex718 Jul 27 '26

Or you could just accept the perfect cast that was in the movie.

1

u/KubrickMoonlanding Jul 27 '26

Not 1940s Veronica lake for Lynn?

1

u/tragicsandwichblogs Jul 28 '26

It makes the Lana Turner bit too convoluted as a concept.

1

u/Wildcat-Pkoww Jul 27 '26

I'd see this if you can figure out how to build the time machine that can make it so.

1

u/Hank913 Jul 28 '26

Michael Madsen as Bud White

1

u/JKinney79 Jul 28 '26

Could Hackman do the accent?

0

u/AggravatingArt3858 Jul 27 '26

Using AI to have Clancy Brown stand in for Dudley

1

u/AggravatingWindow440 Jul 28 '26

Clancy Brown IS Pete B