Casting mis-steps

[Carol]

Carol earlier:
> > However, zanooda wanted an example of miscasting. I'll try to find one that everyone can agree on. How about Judi Dench as Narcissa Malfoy or Hugh Grant as Wormtail? I was going to say Keira Knightley as Professor Sprout, but that's too extreme, right? No one would ever consider it.
> > 
> > Carol, tossing out what she considers to be humorous casting ideas

> Montavilla47 resonded:
> 
> Hugh Grant would be a hoot as Wormtail!  True, he's not a blond, but that would be the only drawback.

Carol:
Was Wormtail blond? All I remember is that he was short and, as an adult, formerly fat (he might have had some skin hanging off him-ugh!). He had a pointy nose and possibly a weak chin. As a kid, he was a "little lump of a boy." So I can't imagine Hugh Grant in the role. He's just too good looking.

Montavilla47: 
> I always imagined Umbridge as being Judi Dench.  I so wanted her to play that part--especially if they had left in the cat fight between  McGonagall and Umbridge.  But, barring that, Imelda Staunton was a great choice.

Carol responds:
Big difference in age, though. Judi Dench at, say, 50--perfect! Failing that, we can settle for Imelda, who had the right walk and voice but wasn't sufficiently toadlike. Then, again, who'd want her Umbridge to be more repulsive and despicable than she already was?

BTW, Sir Ian McKellen is campaigning for more parts for older actresses (with Judi Dench in mind). Both Imelda Staunton and Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) have signed a petition originated by the actors union Equity, presumably at Sir Ian's instigation. Go, Gandalf!

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001767/news#ni0820477

Montavilla 47: 
> As for Keira Knightley as Professor Sprout--I suppose it would  depend on your conception of the part.  I don't think Madam Sprout is described much at all, other than being short?  Is she even referred to as short?  It's not like Keira Knightley can't get muddy.  She was  very muddy at times in "Pride and Prejudice."
>
Carol responds:

I thought that Professor Sprout was dumpy and middle-aged (by WW standards)--a squat little witch with flyaway hair and patches on her clothes, according to CoS. A pretty, perky, slender young woman just wouldn't be right even with the patches, IMO. I think that Miriam Margolyes has the right look. Madam Hooch (I forget who played her) was well cast, too. James Potter, OTOH--much too old. Unless, possibly, the parents in the mirror were supposed to be the age they'd be when Harry was eleven--but the Lily protecting Harry and the Lily in the mirror are the same age, that can't be the case. JKR should have said something to prevent that problem. (It's odd that Book!Harry himself didn't notice that his parents looked only ten years older than he was at the time. Even an eleven-year-old can tell a twenty-something from a thirty-something!)

I second whoever said that Robbie Coltrane is perfect as Hagrid. I also think that Emma Thompson was brilliant as Trelawney. Too bad she can't come back to drop a few crystal balls on DEs' heads for DH2.

Carol, who would have liked to see Keira Knightley as Tonks