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(#12) Jane Bodine In 'Our Brand Is Crisis,' Played By Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock took on the role (a “female Karl Rove”) intended for the film’s producer, George Clooney, after looking around for strong roles for women and finding the search to yield few results. “About two-and-a-half years ago, I just put out the feelers saying, ‘I’m not reading anything I’m excited about. Are there any male roles out there that they don’t mind switching to female, as long as it works?’”
The writers didn't really change anything about the character besides her gender.
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(#11) Delacourt In 'Elysium,' Played By Jodie Foster
Foster had wanted to work with Neill Blomkamp since she saw District 9. As he was casting Elysium, he decided to make Defense Secretary Delacourt female. But once he made the decision to change the character’s gender, he didn’t know if Foster would do it. “I thought, ‘That would be f*cking awesome, but there’s just no way,'” he said. “But then, within, like, a day, I had a meeting with her and she said, ‘I want to play it.’ I was like, ‘Holy sh*t!’”
Foster’s Delacourt proves women can be just as elitist as men when it comes to sharing snooty orbiting space real estate.
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(#5) Karsi In 'Game Of Thrones,' Played By Birgitte Hjort Sørensen
She only appeared in one episode in Season 5, but Karsi left an impression with viewers. In “Hardhome,” Sorensen’s clan chief and Wilding elder is tough and ready to kick White Walker butt. Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the episode, said that Karsi was originally written as a man.
They wanted to show another dimension to the Wildling plight as the dark forces closed in on the north. When the warrior and mother faces off with White Walker children, the end result is powerful.
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(#4) Evelyn Salt
Edwin Salt became Evelyn Salt, though the role was created for Tom Cruise. Cruise passed and Jolie became the CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy. Once Jolie got the part, she had to fight to keep the character from turning into a stereotype.
Director Phillip Noyce caused a stink when he said he didn’t want the male characters to be “castrated” by a female hero. Jolie said: “When they write something on purpose for a woman, it's always about being a woman - using your femininity, all these kind of female obvious things. So we said let's just keep all the things about it that are tough, and it's about being what she is, it's about the journey. And if anything, we have to make it darker and we have to make it meaner than the boys."
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(#13) Hobson
Sir John Gielgud was fantastic in 1981’s Arthur - so fantastic, he won an Oscar for best supporting actor. Mirren’s Hobson in the 2011 remake was no less hilarious and deadpan. Her performance had Gielgud’s same restrained tolerance for Arthur’s antics as well as the love of a parent. Well-played on both accounts.
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(#15) Alicia Clark
Close has always had the cojones to take on any role and she was no different when it came to 1994’s The Paper. Writer Stephen Koepp said that he did adjust the character a bit, but Close played the character as close to the original as possible.
They even kept in a fistfight between her character and Michael Keaton’s. Technically, only Close intentionally punches Keaton.
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About This Tool
When we think of “Women in speculative fiction, ” we often think of the roles once called “scream queens, ” actresses who appear in the second act of the next day and escape alien invaders from Earth or scuffling with aliens on an alien ship. You’ll find one or two regulars on the list below, but our intent is not to stir up familiar faces from sci-Fi genres but to honor the actors who have created some of the most distinctive and iconic roles.
The random generator tool collates 17 entries, recording 17 iconic roles that should have been played by men, but was instead played by women. As Ellen Ripley, M, Paula, Evelyn Salt, Starbuck and others, but they were very successful and impressed the audience.
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