History Main / AbilityOverAppearance

* ''Film/TheLittleMermaid2023'': The black Creator/HalleBailey was cast as the white, redheaded Ariel because she gave the strongest audition, full stop -- but she ''does'' play her as a redhead.

* ''Series/TheLastOfUs2023'': Creator/BellaRamsey looks nothing like Ellie from [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs the game]], but the critical praise she got for the series proved she has the acting chops.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': Creator/CillianMurphy's casting as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow gained some ire from Batman fans due to his [[AdaptationalAttractiveness youthful good looks]], but his performance has generally been well praised.

* Creator/MichaelCaine portrayed Joseph Stalin in ''World War II: When Lions Roared". It's hard to imagine any man who resembles Joseph Stalin less than Michael Caine.

** Similarly, Roadhog (an Australian) is voiced [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent with a typical American accent]] by the American Josh Petersdorf, though the performance is as [[BadassBaritone deep, threatening, and growly]] as you'd expect for [[FatBastard his visual design.]] This is mainly notable due to his partner, Junkrat, who ''does'' use an appropriate Aussie accent despite also being voiced by an American.

* Creator/PatrickStewart, Creator/MichaelGambon and Creator/AnthonyHopkins have all played ''Theatre/{{Othello}}, the Moor of Venice''. Gambon and Hopkins played the role in blackface. Hopkins played Othello in 1965 when blacking-up was still acceptable; Gambon played Othello in 1990, and his blacking-up was a deliberate artistic choice. In Stewart's case, the entire play was cross-cast (Othello's white, everyone else's black), making an interesting social experiment.

* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': The very white, very British Creator/BenedictCumberbatch was cast as (the AlternateTimeline version of) a specifically-ethnic character named [[Characters/StarTrekTheOriginalSeriesKhanNoonienSingh Khan Noonien Singh]]. The fact that the character had an in-universe alias of "John Harriman" did not quell accusations of RaceLift (nor stop anyone from predicting his real identity). After the film came out, however, his performance was acclaimed; in fact, it's one of the few areas of the film that the vast majority, including Trekkies who complained about the Race Lift, applaud. Additionally, a couple [[AuthorsSavingThrow Authors' Saving Throws]] have come out: one a tie-in prequel which made the RaceLift in-universe canon to hide his identity, the other WordOfGod about how, given the character's acts of terroristic violence within the film, casting someone of the proper ethnicity might have generated unneeded controversy. Finally, it's worth noting that the character has a history of merely being AmbiguouslyBrown; the original actor approached for the role was Creator/BenicioDelToro, and the actor originated the PrimeTimeline role in the 60s was Creator/RicardoMontalban.

* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': The very white, very British Creator/BenedictCumberbatch was cast as (the AlternateTimeline version of) a specifically-ethnic character named Khan Noonien Singh. The fact that the character had an in-universe alias of "John Harriman" did not quell accusations of RaceLift (nor stop anyone from predicting his real identity). After the film came out, however, his performance was acclaimed; in fact, it's one of the few areas of the film that the vast majority, including Trekkies who complained about the Race Lift, applaud. Additionally, a couple [[AuthorsSavingThrow Authors' Saving Throws]] have come out: one a tie-in prequel which made the RaceLift in-universe canon to hide his identity, the other WordOfGod about how, given the character's acts of terroristic violence within the film, casting someone of the proper ethnicity might have generated unneeded controversy. Finally, it's worth noting that the character has a history of merely being AmbiguouslyBrown; the original actor approached for the role was Creator/BenicioDelToro, and the actor originated the PrimeTimeline role in the 60s was Creator/RicardoMontalban.

* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': The very white, very British Creator/BenedictCumberbatch was cast as a specifically-ethnic character, [[spoiler:the Sikh-descended Khan Noonien Singh]]. It was criticized at the time as a case of RaceLift. After the film came out, however, his performance was acclaimed; in fact, it's one of the few areas of the film that the vast majority, including Trekkies who grew up with a non-white version of the character, agree on as spectacular. Additionally, a couple [[AuthorsSavingThrow Authors' Saving Throws]] have come out: one a tie-in prequel which made the RaceLift in-universe canon to hide his identity, the other WordOfGod about how, given the character's acts of terroristic violence within the film, casting someone of the proper ethnicity might have generated unneeded controversy. (It's also worth noting that the original actor approached for the role was Creator/BenicioDelToro.)

** The role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in ''Film/ANewHope'' was originally written for Creator/ToshiroMifune. When Mifune wasn't available, they went with Sir Creator/AlecGuinness, who was much older, whiter, and less physically strong than what they had in mind, more Shakespearean than Samurai. He ended up delivering one of the best portrayals of a mentor figure in a sci-fi film ever, if not the very best.

*** Creator/AldenEhrenreich looks almost nothing like a young Creator/HarrisonFord, something that raised no shortage of hackles online when he was cast as the title character. Despite his lack of resemblance, he absolutely nails Ford's mannerisms and special brand of jackass charm, for which he was praised by many fans, including [[ApprovalOfGod Ford himself.]]

* Jafar of ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' is, in animation, a LeanAndMean villain. He is voiced by Jonathan Freeman, who is slightly chubby but got so much into the spirit of the character that his expressions and gestures were worked into the animated role. And Freeman later reprised the role in the Broadway adaptation.

* ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': During the beginning stages of making the movie, Creator/DouglasAdams made only one request regarding the casting: that Arthur Dent must be played by a British actor. Other parts could be cast as the producers saw fit. In the final product, Creator/MartinFreeman was cast as Arthur, with American actors Creator/ZooeyDeschanel and Creator/SamRockwell as Trillian and Zaphod respectively, and American rapper Mos Def as Ford Prefect.

* ''Series/TheCrown2016'': UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill was 5'6 and had a famously round and baby-like face, but he's played by the 6'4, long-faced Creator/JohnLithgow, who nonetheless pulls off a very memorable performance.

* Lynda Carter was bluer eyed, three inches taller, wider hipped, bustier and less athletically lithe than the Golden Age comic book ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' she was based on. However, Marston's son thought her attitude and facial expressions were perfect for bringing the character to life. The Golden Age Wonder Woman tended to keep being drawn as she always was in comic books, but the Silver Age, Post Crisis, newspaper comic strip and most other versions of the character were given an extra three or four inches in height and an extra cup size or two. It was to the point people complained when the brown-eyed and less-endowed Creator/GalGadot was cast to play Wonder Woman in the 2017 movie, although the producers of ''that'' film also insisted that her attitude was perfect for the more martial Wonder Woman they were adapting. (Gadot's performance was also lauded, incidentally.)

* Lynda Carter was bluer eyed, three inches taller, wider hipped, bustier and less athletically lithe than the Golden Age comic book ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' she was based on. However, Marston's son thought her attitude and facial expressions were perfect for bringing the character to life. The Golden Age Wonder Woman tended to keep being drawn as she always was in comic books, but the Silver Age, Post Crisis, newspaper comic strip and most other versions of the character were given an extra three or four inches in height and an extra cup size or two. It was to the point people complained when the brown eyed and less endowed Gal Gadot was cast to play Wonder Woman in the 2017 movie, although the producers insisted again that her attitude was perfect for the more martial Wonder Woman she was adapting.

* Hickey is described by Rocky the bartender to the police in the final scene as "that fat guy over there." Since Hickey was often played by non-overweight actors, perhaps most notably Creator/JasonRobards, the line was changed to "that guy over there" so as not to seem out of place.

* Willy Loman in ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'' is described as overweight and ridiculed as a "walrus" in the play. When Creator/DustinHoffman played Willie, this obviously didn't work, so "walrus" was changed to "shrimp."

** Creator/AlysonHannigan also bagged the role of Willow precisely because she was the only actress that didn't portray the character as a stereotypical {{Nerd}}.

* ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'': Despite Rupert Friend's Grand Inquisitor looking very different from the live-action Pau'ans seen in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', as well as the animated depiction of the character in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', many were won over by Friend's performance.

* A somewhat blurry example can be found in the live-action adaptation of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': in the comics, Death of the Endless was typically drawn as an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, much like her brother Dream, so there was some controversy when Netflix cast Creator/KirbyHowellBaptiste in the role, though even Creator/NeilGaiman was extremly vocal in his praise of her and how well he felt she embodied the character. What makes it blurry is that even in the comics it was canon that none of the Endless actually look like how they're depicted, and that Death absolutely ''could'' take the form of whatever ethnicity (or ''species'') she wants, with Dream himself doing exactly that on several occasions.

** Creator/SissySpacek was widely thought to be too pretty to play Carrie White, the character in the book being described as chunky, mousy-haired and covered in pimples with Spacek being a tall, thin redhead with clear skin. But Spacek's Oscar nomination speaks for itself. The character was then rewritten slightly, adapting Carrie's own observation from early in the book, that she would be pretty if she made an effort to tidy herself up a bit.