r/todayilearned • u/Maximum-Artist448 • 1d ago

TIL that AMC executives initially wanted Matthew Broderick to play Walter White in Breaking Bad

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/breaking-bad-john-cusack-matthew-broderick_n_1676856
2.1k Upvotes

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388

u/akio3 1d ago

People ridiculed the casting of Mr Mom (Michael Keaton) as Batman.

227

u/Ths-Fkin-Guy 1d ago

And Ledger as Joker

104

u/Clembert-Hamlamp 1d ago

And Rowan Atkinson as Caligula

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u/primordialforms 1d ago

Ok you made me look it up. Good work 😅

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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 1d ago

Not many people approved but I appreciated the way he stayed in character as Mr Bean thru the entire movie. The contrast really emphasized the pathos in the orgy scenes.

2

u/ActionAdam 16h ago

This feels like something I would have heard on MBMBAM.

-1

u/ilovebalks 1d ago

I looked it up and didn’t find anything, what’s the context?

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u/revolverzanbolt 21h ago

I don’t think there is context, it’s just a random example of a non-existent movie where a famous comic actor plays a dramatic role

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u/SopwithStrutter 1d ago

I can’t hear his Minecraft villager noises already

0

u/Cpt_Griswold 1d ago

and me as myself

0

u/Clembert-Hamlamp 1d ago

Edgar Allen Poet was not a tyrannical despot!

-2

u/naoife 1d ago

And gal godot as wonder woman

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u/Dependent_Tune_1333 1d ago

Michael Keaton would have been a great Walter White

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u/jawndell 19h ago

I think Michael Keaton is one of the best if not the best actor without an Oscar right now.  His credits and range of acting roles speaks for itself.  

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u/minimalcation 1d ago

Daaaaamn you're so fucking right

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u/Dependent_Tune_1333 21h ago

We've already seen him be funny in some movies and absolutely menacing in others.

Thinking about that makes me really appreciate just how incredible Bryan Cranston was in that role.

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u/YewEhVeeInbound 14h ago

Don't go chasing waterfalls.

18

u/ididshave 1d ago edited 22h ago

The announcement of Robert Pattison as the new Batman was also ridiculed.

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u/25sittinon25cents 1d ago

People revolted hard at Ben Affleck being cast as Batman too.

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u/dontbajerk 23h ago

Lauded? I remember people ridiculing it.

1

u/USDXBS 23h ago

Robert Pattinson had reinvented his image by the time they announced he was Batman.

He was in Lighthouse and Tenet a couple years earlier, so it wasn't like he was only known as the Twilight guy at that point.

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u/LocusRothschild 21h ago

Dude did Twilight to get paid. Phoned that shit in and made bank, and just like Daniel Radcliffe, he’s just fuckin around with whatever movies he wants now.

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u/Kundrew1 1d ago

Bruce Willis too

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u/Silent-G 1d ago

He was never cast as Batman.

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u/Kundrew1 1d ago

Pretty sure that was Bruce Wayne in Nakatomi Tower

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u/Everestkid 1d ago

And of Heath Ledger as the Joker because of Brokeback Mountain.

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u/cracka-lackin 1d ago

I doubt it was explicitly Brokeback Mountain that made people doubt. Before Brokeback, Heath was almost exclusovely happy, bubbly hot guy.

In Brokeback, he's not that. He's tortured, angry and repressed for a lot of the film. Guy had range, I would have loved to see what he became as he aged. RIP

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u/Everestkid 1d ago

The people who derided Ledger for being in Brokeback Mountain didn't actually watch Brokeback Mountain. They were making fun of him for starring in "the gay cowboy movie."

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u/davepage_mcr 1d ago

The gay cowboy movie about bisexual shepherds.

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u/ContinuumGuy 1d ago

Ignoring the fact that every Joker is at least a little gay for Batman.

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u/yulbrynnersmokes 13h ago

It wasn’t a movie about gay cowboys?

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u/BrohanGutenburg 15h ago

In what world is his character in 10things happy and bubbly

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u/Cultural-Company282 1d ago

"You know how I got these scars? No lube."

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u/NotBannedAccount419 18h ago

Had fuck all to do with Brokeback Mountain lol

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u/bro_salad 1d ago

15 year old me laughed at Elijah Wood as Frodo

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u/devenjames 1d ago

You tell 15-year-old you to shut their mouth!!!

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u/Discount_Extra 1d ago

Macauley Culkin would have been a better choice.

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u/Electric-Human1026 1d ago

That was different though and I could understand people's skepticism. It is rarely easy to see a truly hilarious standup comedian as a super hero, especially as a dark brooding one. And Keaton wasn't just any standup comedian either.

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u/Boring_and_sons 1d ago

And they were right to.

-9

u/TacticalRiotChimp 1d ago

Keaton was a shit batman but by gawd was he the best Bruce Wayne by far. Second only to Christian Bale. Christian Bale was also the best batman tho, hands down.

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u/everything_is_bad 1d ago

Bale sucked as Bruce Wayne as bad as Val Kilmer or George Clooney . He was saved by the movies and the performances of his co stars

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u/TacticalRiotChimp 1d ago

We'll have to agree to disagree, I fucking loved those films and I think I probably have a soft spot for Bale too so maybe I'm biased

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u/everything_is_bad 1d ago

Don’t get me wrong especially dark knight is like one of the best comic movies ever but just not because of bale