Any untouchable characters?

[Venom75]

Now,obviously I'm a HUGE Freddy Krueger fanatic. Alot of people were pissed when Robert Englund was replaced with Jackie Earle Haley for the remake. I was,at first,too. But I realized that Freddy is an icon and eventually another film would have been made without Robert. Robert will always be Freddy to me,but I thought Jackie did a good job.
But,are there any movie or TV characters that you can see other actors playing? For example,Harrison Ford will always be seen as Indiana Jones,Bruce Campbell as Ash;etc,etc. But can they even be replaced?
To be honest,I don't think there's any character out there that can't be played by another actor. For example,with Indy...Harrison will always be viewed as Dr. Jones,but I can see another actor playing him(in fact,a few others did like in the Indiana Jones series). The only exception for me is Rocky Balboa. Stallone really embodied that character,not only his mannerisms and actions,but his looks as well.

 

[Project862006]

John McClane

 

[Spider-Vader]

I agree with Indiana Jones & John McClane. Those two roles are defined by their actors & vice versa.

 

[8wid]

Luke Skywalker

 

[Secret Fawful]

I don't think Indy is untouchable, but Han Solo is. People forget Indy has been played by three actors. When? Young Indiana Jones.

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

EDIT: Scratched out my old one. Alex DeLarge, played by Malcolm McDowell.

 

[Sawyer]

I don't think Indy is untouchable, but Han Solo is. People forget Indy has been played by three actors. When? Young Indiana Jones.

Not to mention the two actors during Last Crusade.

 

[Soapy]

OP already gave my answer for me.

I don't think there's any character out there that can't be played by another actor.

Anyone who thinks otherwise has let nostalgia cloud their mind.

 

[8wid]

Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe will be him for life.

 

[Warhammer]

I honestly don't see any studio trying to remake the Harry Potter films in my lifetime or my unborn children's lifetime.

 

[Airwings]

Indiana Jones is one of those top-untouchable characters. He will always be brought up when someone asks this question.
He IS the actor, just as Sean Connery WAS the true James Bond (and still is, for certain people). But just as they changed Bond, they can change Indy too. It will be very different in the beginning if they try it, though. The film(s) will flop and be hated by most fans.
But as time pass by, new people will start to watch films, an audience with no personal connection to the previous version. And the character can get big again, with a generation that has its own Indiana Jones.
Truth is, the original actor can't play the role forever. One day he will be too old, and if the studio still wanna make the films, they must either switch actor or invent a new and younger character in the same invironment/time era. For example, a son or daughter.

But just as they did with 007, the introduction of a new actor can also be followed by new directors and writers, and that the tone of the film suits the new actor better. Ford did a pretty light, humorous version.... what if they change Indy to be more serious, dramatical, violent.... to make the franchise feel more modern. It could appeal to younger people, you know!

 

[Timstuff]

I don't think Indy is untouchable, but Han Solo is. People forget Indy has been played by three actors. When? Young Indiana Jones.

Actually I think it's the other way around. Yes, multiple actors have played Indy, but only in supplementary appearances with Harrison Ford having always been the "real" Indiana Jones. Han Solo has been played by other actors outside of the 3 Star Wars movies that Harrison Ford acted in as well in the various Star Wars video games and the radio dramas. If they ever do that Star Wars live action series, an appearance by a young Han Solo at some point or another is going to be pretty much inevitable, which means an actor other than Harrison Ford playing him. Harrison Ford is always going to be the Indiana Jones an the Han Solo, but both roles have been touched by other actors. We haven't seen the last of it either, with more Indy and Star Wars games coming out as well as the various Star Wars TV projects, so they are not truly "untouchable," even if the characters are always going to be tied directly to Harrison Ford's portrayal.

 

[Secret Fawful]

You guys both pretty much just proved Indy isn't untouchable, though. In fact, Timstuff, you proved both Han Solo and Indy are not untouchable. I do think, though, that if a character is loved partially because of the actor, it's a lot harder. However, you can work the same magic with the same character and a different actor.

 

[The Morningstar]

Jack Burton. Kurt Russell IS Jack Burton. Jack Burton IS Kurt Russell.

 

[Wolfwood]

Arnold as the T-800. I'm pretty sure he'll always be the T-800. Any other replacement will continue to be different models.

 

[B]

Rocky
Martin Riggs & Roger Murtaugh
Casey Ryback
Hannibal Lecter
Dutch
Terminator (T-800 anyway)
Jack Sparrow
Rambo

These are a handful of movie characters from various films that have been defined by certain actors because of their performances in the role & the traits they have given each respective character.

2 more that I'd potentially add are Wolverine & Superman (& for me personally, only Superman, not Reeve's performance of Clark Kent which was too goofy for my tastes.. I loved it, but it can & has been beaten in my view.)

 

[B]

Arnold as the T-800. I'm pretty sure he'll always be the T-800. Any other replacement will continue to be different models.

 

[The Morningstar]

What about John McClane?

 

[chamber-music]

Rocky
Martin Riggs & Roger Murtaugh
Casey Ryback
Hannibal Lecter
Dutch
Terminator (T-800 anyway)
Jack Sparrow
Rambo

These are a handful of movie characters from various films that have been defined by certain actors because of their performances in the role & the traits they have given each respective character.

2 more that I'd potentially add are Wolverine & Superman (& for me personally, only Superman, not Reeve's performance of Clark Kent which was too goofy for my tastes.. I loved it, but it can & has been beaten in my view.)

Brian Cox played Hannibal Lecter before Anthony Hopkins in Micheal Manns Manhunter.

But Hopkins totally did a better Lecter and made the role his own.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I guess it depends on whether the character's origin is in the film medium itself, or in another source. If the character is a film-only one, then we tend to think of the main actor in the role as the one who "created" it.

We can easily accept different actors playing Superman, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and Batman because their origins are from books or comics, so they kind of belong to the universe.

 

[Dave McFly]

Doc Brown - Christopher Lloyd
Marty McFly - Michael J Fox (SO glad they recast Eric Stoltz)

 

[Evil Twin]

Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) from Annie Hall. The character is too biographical to exist outside of Allen.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Comic book characters shouldn't even be untouchable. Yes, they can be portrayed by great actors and have, but these people are fictitious. They have been around before us and will be around after us.

Now Indiana Jones in untouchable. I can't see anyone else playing him. Yes I love Ford, and it's half because of this movie. He makes it his own. Before even McClane, in the 80's of action movies, he was this fallible protagonist. If there's any truth to "evetything happens for a reason" Ford was meant to play this character. He was an original creation. Ford constantly came up in the discussions even before he was cast. Despite Lucas not wanting him because he didn't want to have his "Bobby DeNiro" he was cast. Please, can you imagine Selleck playing Indy? I sure as hell can't.

Please tell me who else can play Indy. Because if you do and explain why, it's all because of what Ford did. That actor most likely has Ford traits. That just says it right there. Therefore, it's wrong to cast somebody who has that Ford quality.

 

[kedrell]

I agree about comics characters and pretty much ANY character that existed and had a draw prior to showing up on the big screen. That's why the James Bond situation doesn't suprise me at all but back when Connery gave up the role to someone else it was probably quite a shock to most movie going folk.

 

[:eek:]

Eliot Ness