There was an article on BuzzFeed last month titled: 20 Book-To-Movie Castings That People Actually Kind Of Hated. It's a fun but throwaway piece in which various people talk about actors in movies who, in their opinion, were miscast. In my opinion, 19 of them are up for debate, but there's one that I'll brook no argument over -- John C Reilly as Mr Crepsley in the Cirque Du Freak movie!!!

Look, I know not everyone approved of John C Reilly when he was cast, or when they saw the movie, but I think that was really only an issue for people who'd seen him in his comedies and who thus had a preconceived opinion of him as someone who only does farce. Whereas I was familiar with him from movies like Boogie Nights, The Perfect Storm, and Gangs of New York, so I knew he was a versatile, talented actor who could handle all sorts of differing roles.

I was excited by John C Reilly's casting, and when I saw the finished movie, he was my favourite thing in it. I felt he put in a damn good turn, and the movie really came to life whenever he was on screen. Also, as I've said many times before, while I did enjoy the movie on its own terms, it's not MY movie -- the writer/director only very loosely based the script on my books, and brought a load of his own ideas and style to the film. If John C Reilly had had his way, that wouldn't have happened. He read all 12 of the books and pushed to have the film be more faithful to them. Sure, his Mr Crepsley was rather lighter and more flippant than the Mr C in the novels, but that was down to the script -- if the script had been darker, I've no doubt John C would have turned in a much darker performance to match, and maybe it would have fared better at the box office as a result.

Anyway, in short, while everyone's entitled to their own opinion, in MY opinion, if you don't approve of John C Reilly as Mr Crepsley, you're as barking mad as Murlough in The Tunnels Of Blood!!!! :-) I'd love, if the series ever gets rebooted, if he gets cast again, but as one of the other characters this time (as he's too old now, I would think, to play the orange-haired one). In my mind's eye I can see him playing a certain grizzled old quartermaster in Vampire Mountain, whom the new Mr Crepsley introduces this way -- "Darren, meet my old mentor, Seba Nile..."

(And surely, if that ever happens, they'll find a way to include a part where Seba looks at Larten, raises an eyebrow, and murmurs, "Is it my imagination, or were you a more handsome looking fellow a few years back?)

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasminnahar/book-to-movie-castings-people-actually-kind-of-hated

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