The Best (and Worst) Cast choices

About the only one I didn't really care for all that much was Molly Ringwald as Fran. I thought that her acting was okay here, but not great. The main problem I had with her was that she just seemed to be badly miscast. To me, she just wasn't Fran.

Stu, Nick, Tom, Ralph, Glen, Lloyd, were the best choices, I think. The rest of them were all good choices, except, as I said earlier, for Fran. Like you, I didn't care for the choice of Molly Ringwald as Fran at all.

Bill Fagerbakke *was* Tom Cullen. I didn't expect to like Gary Sinise as Stu, but he was awesome. I was doubtful of Rob Lowe as Nick, but he ended up being great. I liked the Judge, Glen , Ralph, and Joe/Leo. The girl they got to play Julie, Shawnee Smith, was teriffic.

I like Molly Ringwald, but she was woefully miscast as Fran. Corin Nemec was *not* Harold, though he did okay. Nadine... no. Larry... no (though the actor was cute, and I liked him in Mystic Pizza).

Fran is supposed to be a natural beauty, girl-next-door type. I picture her with long hair, very natural looking, like a "Breck Girl" (for those of you from the US who were around in the late 70's/early 80's.). Molly will always be Samantha Baker from Sixteen Candles, to me.

I loved all the actors except Ms Ringwald. I even liked Harold, even tho he was different from the Harold of the book. No matter what else I see him in, Gary Sinise is always Stu to me, lol.

But my absolute favorite character was trashcan man, and the actor did a wonderful job!! His name is escaping me right now.....which seems to be happening a lot lately :(

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" - John Lennon

To be honest, I really liked all the people they chose to play the characters WITH THE EXCEPTION of MOLLY RINGWOLD (as Fran) and LAURA SAN GIACOMO (Nadine). I absolutely thought they bombed big time playing Fran and Nadine. Not to mention I think Laura San Giacomo is absolutely HIDEOUS looking!!!!

They made some excellent casting choices in the movie, as well as some horrible ones. I'm just gonna go through the IMDB cast list, removing a few characters if their part is too small or if I don't have anything important to say (for example, who really cares who plays Denninger? Elder is the one who ultimately came for Stu anyway):

Gary Sinise ... Stu Redman - As much as I like Gary Sinise, he just wasn't Stuart Redman. The best casting choice I can think of would be Robert Redford, a la Butch Cassidy.

Molly Ringwald ... Frannie Goldsmith - It's pretty much unanimous on this one: Molly Ringwald was a horrible choice for Frannie, and I agree. I'm not precisely sure who I would cast as Frannie, but I can see her perfectly in my head. I'll get back to this one...

Jamey Sheridan ... Randall Flagg - Flagg did not look right in the movie, at all. While I'm sure some amount of makeup work, as well as a white hair dye job, would have to be done, perhaps Michael Wincott, with his very distinctive and somewhat scary look, would make a good Flagg. Offhand, I can't think of anyone better (imagine him from Strange Days, except with white hair; there's a fairly decent picture of Flagg towards the end of the book Eyes Of The Dragon, but none in The Stand).

Ruby Dee ... Mother Abigail - She was alright. Whatever variation the actors will provide to the role of a 108-year-old woman, I think makeup will provide more.

Miguel Ferrer ... Lloyd Henreid - Pretty good job here. I don't recall exactly how I pictured Lloyd when I first read the book, but I think Miguel Ferrer played it pretty well.

Corin Nemec ... Harold Lauder - Bad casting manager! Bad, BAD! Harold Lauder as played in the film (and who everyone with, I think, the exception of Larry Underwood kept referring to as Harold "Louder") is perhaps the single most poorly-cast role in the history of movies. Harold was tall, fat, (somewhat) long-haired, and greasy, the exact opposite he appeared (except, perhaps, greasy) in the movie. There was a guy I knew back in high school who fit the image of Harold Lauder to a "T", but as far as celebrities go, and I know he's not an actor, but, the only person I can see in the role of Harold is a (obviously much younger) Michael Moore.

Matt Frewer ... Trashcan Man - I recall imagining Trashcan Man a little differently when I read the book, but Matt Frewer did such an amazing job that I can't complain, except perhaps to say that his hair should've been a little longer (down around his ears), and he should've been a little heavier (atleast until his trek to Ciabola, bumpty, bumpty, bump).

Adam Storke ... Larry Underwood - What can I say? They nailed it. Adam Storke was so close in appearance to Larry Underwood that I can't think of any way to improve him.

Ray Walston ... Glen Bateman - And yet again. Ray Walston was Glen Bateman. Perfect casting choice.

Rob Lowe ... Nick Andros - I was somewhat dubious about Rob Lowe when I first saw the movie, but he ended up playing a very convincing Nick. His hair should've been a bit curlier instead of so straight, but that's a minor issue.

Peter Van Norde ... Ralph Brentner - I can't complain at all here either. Peter Van Norde looked just like Ralph Brentner.

Bill Fagerbakke ... Tom Cullen - Another perfect casting choice. Looks, behaviour, everything... I can't imagine a better Tom Cullen

Laura San Giaco ... Nadine Cross - Okay, now this is a hard choice, because Laura San Giaco looked a lot like Nadine Cross in some ways, but not so much like her in others. Nadine was supposed to be beautiful beyond compare, and when I hear that description (black hair is a bonus), I think immediately of Liv Tyler. Still, I think that perhaps another actor, Selma Blair for example, would've been ideal.

Ossie Davis ... Judge Farris - Excellent casting choice here. Looked just like the Judge.

Rick Aviles ... Rat Man - I cannot argue that when someone says "Rat Man", this is precisely the guy I picture.

Bridgit Ryan ... Lucy Swann - It's been nearly twenty-five years since I originally read the book, and nearly twenty since I first saw the movie. I know that the difference between how Lucy Swann appeared in the movie and how she appeared in the book is significant enough that I noticed the disparity, but it's been too long for me to remember my initial impression, and so I don't know that I can recommend a better casting choice at this point in time. The same applies to Dayna Jurgens and Susan Stern, so I'm including the two of them here.

Billy L. Sulliv ... Joe - Joe (Leo) was vaguely Asian in the book. Otherwise, he was okay.

Shawnee Smith ... Julie Lawry - I may've imagined her slightly different, but after seeing Shawnee Smith play Julie Lawry, it's hard for me to think of someone better.

Kareem Abdul-Ja ... Monster Shouter - In the book, the Monster Shouter was a shortish old white guy with glasses and stringy hair. They didn't quite capture this look with Kareem.

Okay, I'll play.

I loved the casting of:
Stu, Glenn, Tom, Julie, Dana, Harold, Flagg, Lloyd, Ralph

I'm meh with:
Mother Abigail, Lucy, Joe

I hated the casting of:
Fran, Nadine

To expound, I hadn't envisioned Gary Sinise as Stu, but I thought he was perfect. As was Fagerbakke as Tom and Ray Walston as Glenn. Those three in particular made me love their characters just as much as I did in the book.

I also hadn't imagined Corin Nemec as Harold, but I thought he did a great job of portraying a nerd turned psycho.

I really couldn't stand Molly Ringwald. I thought she was such a great, natural teen actor in The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, and she's just awful in this. I'd say she ruined Fran for me but, to be fair, I never really liked Fran anyway.

On first viewing, I thought Ruby Dee was a fantastic Mother Abigail, but on repeat viewings ... I don't know, just every once in a while there's something about her delivery that just feels off. Also in her appearance in some of the close-ups. Maybe it's just the effect of all the prosthetics it took to make such a pretty woman look 106 years old.

Jamie Sheridan, depite having so much less screen time as the other main actors, continues to creep me out as much as did the first time I saw those glowing eyes. In fact, for the longest time I had a hard time watching him in Law & Order: CI because of my visceral reaction to seeing him.

I pretty much went over the casting choices that I hated in another thread, but hey, I'm willing to play here!

HATED: Fran, Nadine, Flagg, Nick, Harold
LIKED: Larry, Lloyd
MEH: Everyone else

Since her ER days, I have thought maybe L Inda Cardinelli (also of Freaks and Geeks) would have made a good Frannie. She is about 10 years older than she looks, so the timing might have been off-she would have looked too young even though she wouldn't've been.