Bond, Jesus, Scrooge. Certain parts live on and on. From film to film, it turns into a tradition or rite of passage for performers. Is there a role that deserves everyone trying it? What is it?
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Such a concept is tradition for The Doctor and has been for for 6 decades now. Batman, too, though it would mean more if we got different versions of Batman, instead of “I’m so dark and broody.” You don’t have to go full Adam West (though you can and I would be absolutely happy with that); Batman: The Brave And The Bold is a good example of finding just the right middle ground.
And, for what it’s worth, Diedrich Bader does not get near enough credit for his work. He managed to find a voice similar to the late great Kevin Conroy and deliver his lines in an Adam West style. Well done.
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Every great actress should play Queen Elizabeth I
My favorite, comes from Cate Blanchett
Historical purest grouse about the inaccuracies, but when you’ve seen as many Elizabeth’s as I have, taking artistic license is okay with me… keeps things surprising and fresh. Plus, the character arc, Cate’s journey from young innocent to hard as nails leader, was pretty incredible.
Other Elizabeth I’s on film
- Glenda Jackson (Elizabeth R, etc)
- Flora Robson (Fire Over England, etc)
- Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love)
- Bette Davis (The Virgin Queen, etc)
- Helen Mirren (Elizabeth I)
- Miranda Richardson (Blackadder II)
- Jean Simmons (Young Bess)
- Katharine Hepburn (Mary of Scotland)
- Margot Robbie (Mary Queen of Scots)
to name a few
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And I’ve listed my favorite Jesus’s elsewhere.
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The first one that comes to my mind is the Phantom. I’ve only seen the ones with Ramin Karimloo and Ben Lewis, but I know there have been many, many more than that.
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Since I just watched 1931’s Dracula last night, I’ll toss in that many, many actors have donned the Count’s cape through the years. Lugosi and Lee are iconic depictions, of course, but there have been many, many others on stage and screen: Gary Oldman, Frank Langella, Raul Julia, Jack Palance, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, and even (hoo boy) Judd Hirsch. And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
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Too many to list here-
Leonard Nimoy played him on stage. I bet that was interesting.
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King Arthur is a good example of this. A few notable Arthurs:
- Graham Chapman
- Sean Connery
- Richard Harris
- Michael York
- Richard Burton
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Don’t forget the Superheroes!
Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman (And usually their close friends/allies) have all had a bunch of actors portray them, and a bunch more have had at least 2.
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Pictured left to right are Tsutomu Kitagawa, Haruo Nakajima, and Kenpachiro Satsuma. Their claim to fame? They’re Godzilla suit actors!
I would very much like to see the following actors take their shot at this bigger-than-life role:
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Perhaps this post should come with a trigger warning for MST3K fans, because they may experience some PTSD symptoms upon reading the following word.
Hamlet
Or really any/all of the acclaimed Shakespearean roles – King Lear, Othello, the Scottish fellow in the Scottish play, Romeo, Juliet, Falstaff, Richard II, Henry VIII . . .
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Another good role in the category “Historical British Figures Who Never Actually Existed” is Robin Hood:
Errol Flynn
Kevin Costner
Russell Crowe
Brian Bedford
Sean Connery
Cary Elwes
And many moreeeeeeee
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Is Fat Schlub with a Hot Wife a character? 
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Darth Vader:
- David Prowse
- James Earl Jones
- Robert Anderson
- Sebastian Shaw
- Hayden Christensen
- Jake Lloyd
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Many actors have also played Elvis. Some notable Elvis’s (Elvi?):
Kurt Russell - Directed by John Carpenter!
Don Johnson
Val Kilmer
Bruce Campbell
Jack White
Michael Shannon
Austin Butler
Harvey Keitel
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Captain Ahab. A man hellbent on revenge damning everyone around with him. John Barrymore, Gregory Peck, Patrick Stewart, and William Hurt have all played him and Ricardo Montalban as Khan in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) quotes Ahab liberally in his own hunt of Admiral Kirk.
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There are those plays, roles, every actor wants to do, Shakespeare was mentioned - also Tennessee Wiliams (many), Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and Albee’s Virginia Woolf.
Nora in A Doll’s House is a ‘must do’ for actresses, whether on stage or screen. I’ve seen several, including the movie with Jane Fonda, and a made for TV production titled Nora Helmer (1974)
It was directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and stared the great German actress Margit Carstensen (who I just read, passed away earlier this year)
Other Nora’s include…
Gillian Anderson
Liv Ullmann
And even Ruth Gordon, in a 1937 stage adaptation
For a fuller list of Nora’s
Though one they left out was Julie Harris, who played her in a live TV play, with Christopher Plummer as Torvald, in 1959.
Side note: As many Beatles fans know, the White Album, was originally going to the called “A Doll’s House”
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Many actors have portrayed Hercule Poirot:
Tony Randall
Albert Finney
Peter Ustinov
David Suchet
Kenneth Branagh
Same for Philip Marlowe:
Dick Powell
Humphrey Bogart
Robert Montgomery
James Garner
Elliot Gould
Robert Mitchum
Liam Neeson
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