Top 20 Actors Who Look Nothing Like the Book Describes
#20: Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
"X-Men" Franchise (2000-)
Top 10 Hugh Jackman Moments
It’s hard to imagine any other actor embodying the rage and sarcasm that is the X-Men’s Wolverine. However, Jackman almost missed out on the role because of his height. In the comics, Wolverine stands at a powerful 5’3”, but his big screen counterpart is a foot taller. In the first film, careful camera angles were used to make Jackman appear shorter. In addition, his castmates were often put on platforms, meanwhile Jackman spent a lot of time crouching low with his shoes off to give the appearance that he was shorter than he is. Lucky for him, though, after the first film, nobody worried that fans would object to his towering stature. Jackman’s growling charisma meant we’d have trouble picturing anyone else in the role.
#19: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards
"The Running Man" (1987)
Top 10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Films
This late ‘80s dystopian film is very loosely based on a book of the same name written by Stephen King. The movie version has Arnold Schwarzenegger’s falsely-accused police officer fighting for his life on a violent game show. In the book, the character is a regular guy trying to escape poverty. King also described Ben Richards as scrawny and even sort of sickly. These aren’t exactly words you’d use to describe Schwarzenegger at any point in his career. Sometimes changing the physical details of a character doesn’t really matter. However, in a story about a life or death battle, a change this big made a huge difference.
#18: Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck
"Dune" (2021)
Top 10 Josh Brolin Performances
Since “Dune” is one of the world’s best-selling science fiction novels, fans have strong opinions about who should play the characters on film. Josh Brolin’s turn as Gurney Halleck in the 2021 movie doesn’t quite match the book description. The novel sums the character up as “an ugly lump of a man”. He’s a combination of musician and warrior with balding blonde hair and flat features–not to mention a “lumpy face”. Although they could have altered Brolin’s ruggedly handsome face for the film, we’re selfishly glad they didn’t. In any case, despite the differences in physical appearance, Brolin perfectly captures the fierce loyalty to House Atreides that’s so important for the role.
#17: Idris Elba as Roland Deschain
“The Dark Tower” (2017)
This series by Stephen King is a combination of fantasy and classic western. The main character is a knight-like “gunslinger” in search of the fabled Dark Tower. The books describe Roland Deschain as tall and lanky with salt-and-pepper hair and blue eyes. Since his cowboy-like character is often detached and unsympathetic, it’s no wonder the comic illustrations bear a striking resemblance to Clint Eastwood. So, it might have surprised audiences to learn that Idris Elba would be taking on this role for the film. Despite the differences in appearance, Elba clearly embodied the strength, dedication and taciturn nature of the character.
#16: Kate & Edwina Sharma
"Bridgerton" (2020-)
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When the stories of the Bridgerton family moved from page to screen, one of the biggest changes was the setting. Unlike the novels, the TV series takes place in an alternate version of London that is racially integrated. This allows for a more diverse cast that includes Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran as Kate and Edwina Sharma. These two love interests of Anthony Bridgerton are of Indian heritage, which is a change from their pale, blonde counterparts in the novels. Not only do these actresses perfectly portray these two sisters, the change also gives the opportunity for some beautiful expressions of their heritage in the show.
#15: Gerard Butler as The Phantom
"The Phantom of the Opera" (2004)
This classic story has been brought to life on stage and screen, and is famous for its mysteriously masked musical virtuoso. In the 2004 film, Gerard Butler’s handsome face was clearly on display despite the Phantom’s mask. However, in the original story by Gaston Leroux, the reclusive Erik is described as resembling something that’s really closer to a corpse than a healthy human being. He has yellowed skin stretched tight across his face, no nose, and barely any hair. Lon Chaney’s portrayal in the 1925 film seems to come much closer to the original description. Since the musical film starring Butler was centered on romance and not horror, we can see why the change was made.
#14: Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates
"Psycho" (1960)
Author Robert Bloch described Norman Bates as a middle aged man who is short with a stout figure, and not particularly good-looking. When Alfred Hitchock brought it to the big screen, he decided to take the character in an entirely different direction. He cast handsome heartthrob Anthony Perkins as Bates, because he wanted the audience to sympathize with him more. Since Janet Leigh’s character dies so early in the film, the audience needed someone to root for. Perkins’ boy next door look fit the bill perfectly. Of course, when he shifts from a sad young man that needs comforting to a smiling lunatic, it’s even more terrifying.
#13: Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
"Harry Potter” franchise (2001-11)
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The film casting for the incredibly popular “Harry Potter” book series was pretty heavily scrutinized, with the choice of Emma Watson for Hermione definitely causing a bit of a ruckus. Book fans thought the young actress was too cute to play the clever Gryffindor. The first film did a fair attempt at the bushy brown hair that was an essential part of the book-worm’s character, but the large front teeth were left right out. Funnily enough, they did try to give Watson fake teeth for the films. She wore them for one scene before they abandoned the idea. Even though Hermione’s overall look didn’t quite match up with the novel’s, Watson’s strong performance made us forget there was any difference at all.
#12: Mandy Moore as Jamie Sullivan
“A Walk to Remember” (2002)
It’s not always necessary to have an actor dye their hair or wear a wig if it’s not essential to the plot of the film. But it seems strange that blonde Mandy Moore dyed her hair brown to play Jamie Sullivan. After all, the minister’s daughter in the novel by Nicholas Sparks is described as being blonde. Moore revealed in an interview that the hair change helped her step out of her blonde pop persona into an acting career. She felt that the darker locks helped her fully become the character and changed the way others saw her as an actress. After this film, Moore fully embraced being a brunette and didn’t look back.
#11: Lily Collins as Clary Fray
“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” (2013)
The description of Clary Fray in this popular teen fantasy series brings to mind the character of Merida in “Brave.” The fiery Shadowhunter has carrot-colored hair, fair skin, green eyes and freckles. So, imagine the shock of fans when they were presented with Snow White on the big screen instead. Lily Collins’ darker hair and eyes may have annoyed fans of the book, but author Cassandra Clare had no problem with it. She explained that making Collins’ hair a lighter red would have caused it to fall out. The author emphasized that the acting was the most important thing, and of course we have to agree.
#10: Taylor Momsen as Jenny Humphrey
“Gossip Girl” (2007-12)
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If you never read the Gossip Girl books and jumped right into watching the show, you’re about to be in for a rude awakening. Though the blonde and leggy Taylor Momsen made for a great TV Jenny, she couldn’t have been further than what Cecily von Ziegesar wrote in the series. Book Jenny is short and her defining feature is her disproportionately enormous breasts. Similarly, Vanessa in the books isn’t the cool boho chick portrayed by Jessica Szohr, but more of a goth girl with a shaved head.
#9: Shailene Woodley as Tris Prior
“Divergent” franchise (2014-16)
These differences may seem kind of minor, but for fans of the book series, they made all the difference. Shailene Woodley has become known for playing the everygirl, or even the plain Jane, and this does somewhat fit Tris’ descriptions in the book. What doesn’t match is that Tris is supposed to be blonde with blue eyes, with a narrow face and a long, thin nose. Woodley may not match this description, but considering how talented of an actress she is, most people were seemingly willing to move past these differences.
#8: Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields
“Pretty Little Liars” (2010-17)
In the “Pretty Little Liars” book series, Emily is described as having strawberry blonde hair and green/blue eyes. And the model who portrays her on the book covers, Erin McQuatters, pretty much fits this description to a tee. When it came time to cast the TV series though, the producers decided on Shay Mitchell, who is of Irish and Filipino descent and has a much darker complexion. Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin is similarly different from her on-page self in terms of looks, with her book counterpart being described as extremely thin with long dark hair.
#7: Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher
“Jack Reacher” (2012)
Top 10 Actors Who Look Nothing Like the Book Describes
There was an amount of understandable outrage when Tom Cruise was announced as being cast to play Jack Reacher in an adaptation of Lee Child’s book series. Why, you might ask? Well the book character is ex-military and is once described by another character as "one of the largest men she had ever seen outside the NFL.” He’s supposed to be 6’5”, weigh in between 210 and 250 pounds, and boast a 50-inch chest. So notoriously short statured actor Tom Cruise isn’t exactly his physical match… to say the least.
#6: Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet
“Pride and Prejudice” (2005)
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In one of the most famed pieces of literature in history, Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”, the protagonist is notable for not necessarily being the most beautiful woman in town. In fact she’s considered just the second prettiest of her sisters, and is described as having asymmetrical features. Enter Keira Knightley, one of the most striking and notably gorgeous actresses in the business. While she does an excellent job of playing Elizabeth Bennet, it’s hard for anyone to believe that she could be considered anything other than a stunning beauty.
#5: Nina Dobrev as Elena
“The Vampire Diaries” (2009-17)
When the producers of “The Vampire Diaries” TV series considered Elena, they decided to change her character from selfish queen-bee to girl-next-door. They believed the audience would be more likely to root for a brown-eyed brunette than a blonde bombshell. Having Nina Dobrev take on the character, also meant a change to Elena’s evil ancestor, Katherine Pierce. The originally German character was changed to Bulgarian to match Dobrev’s own ancestry. Although author L.J. Smith was originally thrown off by the casting, she was eventually won over by Dobrev’s acting skill.
#4: Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
“The Hunger Games” franchise (2012-15)
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This is one example of an actress going through quite the transformation in order to fit the description that was given in the book. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jennifer Lawrence managed to do a pretty great job transforming into the dark-haired Katniss, but skin tone is, of course, not as easily matched. When the film came out, many had things to say about Lawrence’s body type, claiming that, in a dystopian world where food is scarce, she would never look like that. Notice how no one mentioned Gale looking too jacked though...?
#3: Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase
“Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (2010)
Sometimes casting directors seem to select an actor for a role despite how they look, and not because of it. For example, even though the main characters of this fantasy series are supposed to be twelve years old, the actors portraying them were in their late teens and early twenties. (X-ref) Even worse, Annabeth Chase is described as having long, curly, blonde hair “like a princess”, tanned skin and an athletic physique. The actress they chose to portray her however, Alexandra Daddario, is kind of her polar opposite when it comes to looks. Fans of the books naturally had a hard time getting used to this casting decision, but in the end Daddario managed to win them over with her onscreen presence.
#2: Emma Stone as Skeeter
“The Help” (2011)
Top 10 Emma Stone Performances
It happens far too often that Hollywood decides to cast a beautiful actress in the role of a woman who is supposed to be quite ordinary looking, or even unattractive. “The Help” is yet another example of this. In the novel, Skeeter is described as being “painfully tall” and lanky, with frizzy red hair and a crooked nose. The character describes herself as “bony” and as having “almost translucent eyebrows”. Emma Stone, of course, is gorgeous, and while they did their best in hair and makeup, she never came close to looking like the book described.
#1: Cara Delevingne as Margo Roth Spiegelman
“Paper Towns” (2015)
After the success of “The Fault in Our Stars”, John Green fans were clamoring for another one of his novels to be adapted for the big screen. They got their wish when it was announced that “Paper Towns” was happening, but once casting news was announced, not everyone was pleased. The story’s manic pixie dream girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman, is described as a curvy Jewish girl. Cara Delevingne is a model and obviously very slim, which kind of undermines some of the positive themes present in the novel.
