Miscasting

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2007)

This film is badly miscast. Helena Bonham Carter is too young to play Mrs. Lovett and Johnny Depp is too young to play Todd. Actually, Alan Rickman should be playing Todd and someone like Jane Lapotaire should be playing Mrs. Lovett. I can't believe that nobody seems to know the least bit about the original Broaday musical, in which Angela Lansbury played Lovett (later also played by Patti Lupone) and Len Cariou was Sweeney Todd. I suppose casting younger actors is supposed to be some way to pull in what the studios consider a saleable demographic or some other idiotic thing. This is a brilliant musical, one of the best Sondheim ever wrote, and miscasting like this makes me sick.
I thought Bonham Carter was completely wrong for the Harry Potter movie, too. But then, the casting for those films NEVER matches up with either the author's descriptions or my imaginings.