History Main / StuntCasting

*** For example, Beryl Reid as [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ellen Ripley]]-esque space freighter captain in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]", a role that was... not quite what you'd expect to see Beryl Reid playing.

** On ''Series/{{Friends}}'' this was taken to the ultimate when Chandler's dad was played by Creator/KathleenTurner.

* In its early days Creator/DreamWorksAnimation was extremely blatant with doing this in addition to making use of the InkSuitActor. In some cases, like Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' it won the company critical acclaim. In others, like Creator/WillSmith in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' and Creator/JerrySeinfeld in ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'', [[DorkAge it got the company a lot of ridicule]]. [[GrowingTheBeard Starting with]] ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda,'' the company started putting [[SubvertedTrope less emphasis]] on the actors they hire for movies.

** The 1996 revival of ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}'' is a notorious example -- still running in TheNewTens, its longevity is partially due to casting numerous well-known actors and actresses (and, occasionally, rock/pop/country singers) in all three of its principal roles.

* ''Theatre/{{Seussical}}'' was a TroubledProduction and over its brief 198-performance run on Broadway did this several times in a desperate attempt to drum up business -- both Rosie O'Donnell and Cathy Rigby (a former Olympian and highly-regarded stage Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1954}}) played Literature/TheCatInTheHat even though that's a ''male'' character, and country music child star Billy Gillman played Jojo for a time as well as Teen pop star Aaron carter.

* The 2013 Broadway adaptation of ''Theatre/CinderellaRodgersAndHammerstein'' did this in 2014 when it brought in pop singer Music/CarlyRaeJepsen to play the title character and Creator/FranDrescher to play the evil stepmother. Jepsen's successor to the role was [[Series/TrueJacksonVP Keke]] [[Film/AkeelahAndTheBee Palmer]], who also fits this trope for what it's worth.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' stunt-cast many people previously involved in the Franchise/{{Superman}} franchise, including Creator/ChristopherReeve, Creator/MargotKidder, and Creator/TerenceStamp (as the voice of Jor-El!) from ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'', Creator/DeanCain and Creator/TeriHatcher (as Lois's mother) from ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Creator/HelenSlater from ''Film/{{Supergirl}}'' (as Kara's mother), and so on.
** The practice arguably started with the casting of [[Film/SupermanIII Annette O'Toole]] as Martha.

* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' did this too, most notably bringing back the original Jimmy Olsen from ''[[Series/TheAdventuresofSuperman The Adventures of Superman]]'', Jack Larson, to play Jimmy after he'd been hit by an aging ray.

** ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' takes this UpToEleven by doing it all the time. [[VillainOfTheWeek Villains Of The Week]] have included Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan, Nicole Richie, Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, Creator/RobertEnglund and Creator/MarkSheppard ([[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 a.k.a. Romo Lampkin]]).

** A trend on {{Game Show}}s since the middle of TheNewTens has been to have a big name on its staff as creator or executive producer, especially if that person has had no association with the genre beforehand. These include [=LeBron=] James on ''Series/TheWall'' and Music/JustinTimberlake on ''Series/SpinTheWheel''.

*** Music/KylieMinogue the episode's guest companion in the 2007 Christmas Special "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]" is probably the most extreme example of this in ''Series/DoctorWho'' history. To be fair, it worked; that episode still holds the record for the most viewers in the history of ''New Who''!

*** e Creator/CatherineTate as Donna Noble in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride The Runaway Bride]]" was initial meant to be this on a one-off basis. However, she made such a positive impression that she ended up coming back as a series regular a year later.

*** Comedian John Bishop as companion Dan Lewis for Series 13 and the subsequent specials.

** Music/KylieMinogue the episode's guest companion in the 2007 Christmas Special "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]" is probably the most extreme example of this in ''Series/DoctorWho'' history. To be fair, it worked; that episode still holds the record for the most viewers in the history of ''New Who''!

*** They have been known to use big stars for the specials though, most notably popular comedienne Creator/CatherineTate as Donna Noble in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride The Runaway Bride]]" (who later became a series regular), and Music/KylieMinogue crops up in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]" as a one-off companion!

*** Season 7 has had several notable faces (possibly to tie in with the series' 50th anniversary), including Ben Browder from ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy A Town Called Mercy]]", Mark Williams from the ''Film/HarryPotter'' movies in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E2DinosaursOnASpaceship Dinosaurs on a Spaceship]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E4ThePowerOfThree The Power of Three]]", Jemma Redgrave in "The Power of Three" and a number of episodes hence, the voice of Creator/IanMcKellen in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen The Snowmen]]", Creator/DavidWarner in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E8ColdWar Cold War]]", Creator/DianaRigg and her daughter Rachael Stirling in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]", Creator/WarwickDavis in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver Nightmare in Silver]]", and Creator/JohnHurt as [[spoiler:a previously unknown regeneration of the Doctor]] in the 50th anniversary special itself "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]".

*** Creator/JohnCleese has a tiny role in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath The City Of Death]]" due to his friendship with Creator/DouglasAdams, who was script editor at the time.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has had Creator/JamesCromwell play a role (he returned to play Zefram Cochrane in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'').

* Both 60s spy series ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' and its SpinOff ''Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE'' were given to stunt casting; e.g. [[Music/SonnyBono Sonny]] and Music/{{Cher}} (in "The Hot Number Affair"), Music/NancySinatra (in "The Take Me To Your Leader Affair") and ElsaLanchester (in "The Brain Killer Affair") in ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' and Creator/BorisKarloff (in "The Mother Muffin Affair") in ''Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE''.

* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' is famous for this, particularly in casting musicians in roles as immortals. These include Music/JoanJett, [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]], [[Music/FineYoungCannibals Roland Gift]], [[Music/SpandauBallet Martin Kemp]] and Sheena Easton. Also notable are Creator/MarcSinger, Wrestling/RoddyPiper, and Nia Peeples.

* Both 60s spy series ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' and its SpinOff ''Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE'' were given to stunt casting; e.g. [[Music/SonnyBono Sonny]] and Music/{{Cher}} (in "The Hot Number Affair"), NancySinatra (in "The Take Me To Your Leader Affair") and ElsaLanchester (in "The Brain Killer Affair") in ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' and Creator/BorisKarloff (in "The Mother Muffin Affair") in ''Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE''.

* During the first season of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', the show had low ratings but high retention[[note]]the people who ''did'' watch the show stuck around for the whole half-hour[[/note]]. Since the show was cheap to produce, the executives greenlit a second season on the condition that they hired a famous actor to draw more attention to the series. They ultimately landed on Creator/DannyDeVito, introducing him into the main cast as Dennis and Sweet Dee's [[CorruptCorporateExecutive former executive]] father. It worked ''[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools incredibly]]'' [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools well]], turning the show into a big hit with both audiences and critics.

* Executives loved the first season of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', but it was a complete flop in the ratings. They greenlit the show for a second season on the condition that they hired a famous actor to bring more attention to the show. They ultimately landed on Creator/DannyDeVito, introducing him into the main cast as the deadbeat parent of Dennis and Sweet Dee. It worked ''[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools incredibly]]'' [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools well]], turning the show into a big hit with both audiences and critics.

* ''Film/MarieAntoinette'' casts lots of people who are children of Hollywood stars - the most notable being Creator/AsiaArgento (daughter of Creator/DarioArgento) as Madame du Barry.

[[folder:Eastern Animation]]

** They attempted to cast Music/BritneySpears as Warren's android girlfriend April in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou}} I Was Made To Love You]]".
** Broadway veteran Joel Grey was cast in a relatively small but plot-pivotal role as NotSoHarmlessVillain Doc in a few episodes in the second half of Season Five.
** Much later, they attempted to cast Miss Spears again in a one-off villain role for Season 7. The part eventually went to slightly less famous fellow pop singer Ashanti.

* When the 60s' ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' took off, all of a sudden many big name actors who normally wouldn't do television wanted a chance to play a Bat-villain. The second season especially is loaded with this, name actors playing one-shot villains created just for them, with the network playing up the guest-villain bit. Among these performers were Creator/ArtCarney, Shelley Winters, Van Johnson, Liberace, Michael Rennie, Creator/TallulahBankhead, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Creator/OttoPreminger... and many more.