Actors who suggested a change to their character’s design, personality, or lore because they thought the original script/concept was too lame

[u/Routine_Phase_8980]

Lucius Malfoy (Harry Potter) - Jason Isaacs

The studio originally wanted him in a modern Muggle pinstripe suit with short hair. Isaacs thought that looked like a boring businessman rather than a powerful wizard. He demanded the long platinum wig, wizard robes, and personally added the snake-headed walking cane that conceals his wand.

The Thin Man (Charlie's Angels 2000) - Crispin Glover

In the original script, he was just a generic, chatty action movie villain. Glover thought his lines were incredibly cliché and boring, so he suggested cutting all of his dialogue. He turned the character into a completely silent, hair-sniffing creep, making him the most memorable part of the movie.

Count Dooku (Star Wars) - Christopher Lee: In Episode II, George Lucas originally scripted/choreographed Dooku to use a standard, straight lightsaber. As a real-world world-class fencer, Lee found the standard hilt design clumsy and "lame" for a master duelist. He convinced the team to give Dooku the curved hilt, completely changing the character's fighting style and lore to fit elegant, fencing-based Makashi forms.

Superman (Superman 2025) - David Corenswet Following Henry Cavill's trunkless suit, director James Gunn and DC Studios initially leaned toward a "no trunks" design for the reboot, fearing that the classic red briefs looked too outdated, silly, or hard to make look "cool." However, David Corenswet passionately advocated for the trunks. He argued that Superman shouldn't care about looking cool. Instead, the trunks are intentionally a little silly and theatrical — like a professional wrestler—making an immensely powerful alien look approachable and safe, ensuring that everyday citizens and kids wouldn't be afraid of him.

[u/CloverThyme]

That's such a weird directing choice... I have not read a lot of comics, so I'm not sure if the British accent has any sort of precedence there. However, aside from the films, the other main piece of Marvel media that I have seen T'Challa in was the animated show, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. That show predated the films by years and T'Challa certainly had a (non-specific) African accent in it. I think the same is true for the sequel show Avengers Assemble.

Marvel having an established sound for him and then initially trying to backtrack it is odd. I also think the apparent underlying thought process of "refined, intelligent, wealthy = British" is... not great. Especially for a character like T'Challa and what he is intended to represent. I'm glad Chadwick pushed back.

[u/dankristy → u/CloverThyme]

Unfortunately, as a white person who grew up in the Bay area (and specifically Oakland, Vallejo), there is a VERY real bias among some (often white but not always) people that an accent that sounds "ethnic" always sounds less intelligent than proper English, and that "British English accent" is the take it to 11 version of this.

I can assure you that some of the smartest people I have spoken with have some VERY different accents and dialects to mine - and I loved the choice they made in Black Panther to keep Wakanda sounding African, but also distinguished and educated at the same time.

I think the real root problem - is that doing this was work. Whereas using a stupid fake posh English accent to underline "these people are smart" is lazy - which is why the lazy version often gets done instead. I will take new and interesting over lazy stereotyped easy path every time.

[u/TheNicronomicon → u/CloverThyme]

I wouldn’t be surprised if that suggestion had come down directly from Perlmutter. 

[u/ShustOne → u/CloverThyme]

I think it's more that England colonized much of the area, so it would reflect his upbringing under a colonized Africa. As though England was forced upon him. But his point about Wakanda not being colonized was good push back and the director was obviously receptive to that kind of feedback.

[u/thegreedyturtle → u/CloverThyme]

Expedition 33 went the other way and imo it hurt the game.

So much French culture is embedded in the world and they sound like bloody brits.

But then again, all the Vowel sounds are French so that's at least one FU to the Brits.

EDIT: The studio made the decision because they believed French accents would not be received well for whatever reason. I wish they did not have to make that hard decision and could have gone with French accents, but it's a complex one that I've never made.

[u/The-Senate-Palpy → u/thegreedyturtle]

French accent doesnt always translate how you intend it to. The french studio decided their vision was best served with a particular voice, and i trust their vision

[u/OceanChild89 → u/thegreedyturtle]

The French studio were the ones who chose the voice actors.

[u/OptionFour → u/OceanChild89]

Sure, but that doesn't mean it was a good decision.

[u/OceanChild89 → u/OptionFour]

They’re the French ones and it was their choice. Who’re you to judge? (If you aren’t French/France based. Kinda arrogant of you aren’t)

[u/OptionFour → u/OceanChild89]

That's absurd. It's like saying every decision made about an American character must be objectively correct if it's made by an American. It's a silly line of thought.

[u/OceanChild89 → u/OptionFour]

So, you're American? Opinion immediately disregarded. You don't get to talk for other cultures just because you have none (unless you're Native American).

[u/CrowB0ne → u/thegreedyturtle]

When I started playing the game I set the va to French with English subtitles because the game seemed so overwhelmingly French that it would have been off putting to hear English. I haven’t gotten past act 1 but so far I’ve really enjoyed the game this way.

[u/Vuirneen → u/thegreedyturtle]

I'm sure the French language version is suitably French.  It's fine. They went with the best English speaking vas they could get.  

Of course, I say this as someo e who is biased in a different way. I hated the last adaption of the three musteketeers I saw, because of the very American accent dartagnian had, instead of the "proper" English one I was used to from the old films. It took a while to get used to.

As for claire obscure, a bad French accent would have been worse.  And at least one of them would have been terrible.

[u/kaladinissexy → u/CloverThyme]

Yeah, posh British English beinf the default for a "sophisticated" accent really hurts a lot of things, especially anything centering on the Romans. They so often get fucking BBC accents instead of anything even remotely resembling what an actual Roman accent would've sounded like. 

[u/TheNicronomicon → u/kaladinissexy]

Right—imagine explaining that the an actual Roman. “You made us sound like…the filthy western barbarians? The feral things that live on that big island? You made US sound like THEM??”