12 Popular Characters Who Went Through Significant Appearance Changes From Movie To Book

Robert Downey Jr. looks nothing like the original Holmes

Damjan

• Published in Film & TV
• March 8, 2022

Both cinema and literature have great ways of transporting us to other worlds and possibilities. They both provide us with one-of-a-kind experiences through their characters, and each does so in their own unique way.

On the one hand, the book describes certain aspects and leaves room for imagination, whereas the movie depicts the exact details. And that's bound to cause problems.

Movie directors are also artists. And when one artist interprets another artist, it can bring strange results. We understand them entirely since appearance is not so important in books, but it is crucial in movies, which are more visual art.

So directors create characters' appearances in line with the whole movie they've envisioned. And they sometimes turn out to be completely different than the original characters.

But, it is impossible to find actors who look exactly like characters from the book. Of course, we are aware that this will once again spark the eternal debate of movies vs. books.

But you know what the best way to settle it once and for all is? Reading these books. That way, you can choose your favorite form of art.

We're going to show you how some film directors didn't do the finest casting for their roles. Take a look:

1. Sherlock Holmes

It is undeniably difficult to play one of modern fiction's most legendary characters, such as Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey Jr.'s casting as the world's most famous detective was quite unusual.

Physically, he is nothing like the literary character, who is described as being over 6 feet tall and so wiry that he gave the sense of being even taller. "His eyes were piercing and penetrating, [...] and his small, aquiline nose gave his face a lively and determined look."

2. Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

We don't doubt Kenneth Branagh's acting abilities, which no doubt inspired Chris Colombus' decision to cast him as the divisive Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second Harry Potter film. However, the original character was envisaged as younger and more "beautiful."

3. Jo March from Little Women

Jo March, who is 15 years old and has light brown hair and gray eyes, stands out in the novel Little Women. However, it appears that when casting Saoirse Ronan for the 2019 adaption, those qualities were neglected.

4. Pennywise from It

Stephen King expertly crafted this monster, who feeds on his victims' terror. He wears an all-silver suit with orange buttons and has white skin.

He is depicted as a bald, white-faced clown with a crown of red hair around his head, a red nose, yellow suspenders with orange buttons, gloves, and a full-body yellow outfit in the television adaption. He also carries balloons in his hand on occasion.

On the other hand, in the movie he wears a vintage silver Victorian clown outfit with white lace cuffs, pom-poms, and red thread embroidery.

5. Count Dracula from Dracula

The most renowned Dracula is Bela Lugosi. But the truth is that, while he is attractive and gallant, his portrayal of the monster in the book is completely different, with the monster being described as a "tall, clean-shaven old man, except for a long white mustache, and dressed in black from head to toe, without a single spot of color anywhere."

6. Rochester from Jane Eyre

In Charlotte Bront's novel, Edward Rochester is an unattractive man. The author describes him in this manner on purpose for the sake of her novel.

Michael Fassbender didn't have a stern visage or bushy eyebrows in the 2011 film adaption. In truth, he's far from unattractive.

7. Beatrice “Tris” Prior from Divergent

Shailene Woodley portrayed Veronica Roth in the film adaptations of the saga. However, she has little to do with her character, Tris, physically.

She is described as having blonde hair and big blue eyes in a thin, elongated face.

8. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games

In the movie, actress Jennifer Lawrence is nothing like a 16-year-old girl with a thin body due to food shortages.

9. Alice from Alice in Wonderland

It is assumed that Alice was a 7-year-old girl, although this is not confirmed. Alice is presented as a 19-year-old lady in Tim Burton's version, in which she is played by Mia Wasikowska.

10. Elsa from Frozen

Elsa is the adaptation of the Snow Queen. The queen is represented as a living ice queen clad in white and veiled in sparkles in Hans Christian Andersen's original story, but she is depicted as a person in the adaption.

11. Skeeter from The Help

Skeeter was played by Emma Stone in The Help, an Oscar-nominated film based on Kathryn Stockett's novel. Emma wowed everyone with her portrayal, despite the fact that she didn't look anything like Skeeter in the book, who was characterized as a tall, bony woman with a crooked nose.

12. James Bond from Casino Royale

Daniel Craig is one of the best James Bonds. But the truth is that Craig and Ian Fleming's character are nothing alike. Bond was always characterized by the author as a 5'9′′ man with long hair that fell over his brow.

Movies are a visual form of art, and some of these characters sure turned out differently. But did it make the movies better or worse?

Is following the original book to the letter important when it comes to adaptations? What other novel characters do you believe could have benefited from a big-screen adaptation?

Damjan