Even though it might seem fair to assume that a professional with a considerable amount of experience is always the best choice for a job, at times, it's not necessarily the case. Especially, in terms of acting. In fact, some movie and TV show directors out there prefer to look for fresh faces and pull them off the street or hit them up on Instagram instead of hiring someone who's already proven to be talented at acting.
With that being said, Bored Panda invites you to look through a list of some of the most iconic non-actors that managed to absolutely nail their parts. As always, don't forget to vote for your favorite ones and leave a comment!
#21 Gilbert R. Hill As Inspector Douglas Todd In 'Beverly Hills Cop' (1984)
Hill was an American politician and police officer. He was discovered when the director of the movie was looking for shooting locations in Detroit.
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71points
#22 Henry Golding As Nick Young In 'Crazy Rich Asians' (2018)
Golding was a show host when he was offered the role of Nick Young. The accountant that was working in the film’s Malaysian production office suggested Golding, who she had met a few years before.
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69points
#23 Rob Brown As Jamal Wallace In 'Finding Forrester' (2000)
Turns out, Brown arrived at a casting call for extras during preproduction on the 2000 film Finding Forrester. Instead of that, he was offered the leading role.
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68points
#24 Dean Brooks As Dr. Spivey In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' (1975)
Brooks was an American physician. In 1975, he was the head of Oregon State Hospital—the place where One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was filmed, and that's why he stars in the movie.
65points
#25 Miyavi As Sgt. Mutsuhiro "The Bird" Watanabe In 'Unbroken' (2014)
Miyavi is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer. In 2014, he was offered a role in the movie Unbroken by the director Angelina Jolie.
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64points
#26 Björk As Selma Ježková In 'Dancer In The Dark' (2000)
Björk is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Björk was asked to write and produce the musical score for the film Dancer in the Dark, and eventually was asked to play the leading role of Selma.
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63points
#27 Lebron James As Himself In 'Trainwreck' (2015)
In 2015, the professional basketball player LeBron James was invited to play a comedy version of himself in the movie Trainwreck, and absolutely nailed it.
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58points
#28 Hunter Schafer As Jules In 'Euphoria' (2019-Present)
Hunter Schafer is an American fashion model and LGBTQ rights activist. Schafer has modelled for Dior, Miu Miu, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Versus Versace, Emilio Pucci and many other famous fashion houses.
In 2019, she was offered the role of Jules in HBO's Euphoria.
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50points
#29 Bria Vinaite As Halley In 'The Florida Project' (2017)
Sean Baker, the director of The Florida Project, spotted Vinaite's Instagram post and decided to approach her. Bria was offered the role, and after three weeks of acting classes, the filming began.
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47points
#30 Abraham Attah As Agu In 'Beasts Of No Nation' (2015)
Attah was discovered by the director Cary Fukunaga in Ghana while skipping class to play soccer.
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46points
#31 Gary Stevens As Jockey George Woolf In 'Seabiscuit' (2003)
Stevens is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who played the jockey George Woolf in 2003 movie 'Seabiscuit.'
The producer Frank Marshall and the film’s director, screenwriter and co-producer Gary Ross approached Stevens at the Santa Anita Park racetrack where they went for research. And even though Stevens turned them down at first, they managed to convince him to take the role.
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45points
#32 Felicia Pearson As Felicia 'Snoop' Pearson On 'The Wire' (2002-2008)
Pearson had a tough childhood and when she was only 16 years old, she was convicted of second-degree murder after the shooting of a girl named Okia Toomer and was sentenced to two eight-year terms. After six and a half years, she was released from prison.
Pearson was offered the role on The Wire after she met Michael K. Williams, who played Omar Little on the show, and was invited to come to the set, where she met the writers and the producers.
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43points
#33 Sasha Lane As Star In 'American Honey' (2016)
Lane was at the beach in Miami when Andrea Arnold, the writer/director of American Honey, approached her and offered her the role of Star. Before becoming an actress, Lane worked as a waitress at a restaurant.
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41points
#34 Kevin Garnett As Himself In 'Uncut Gems' (2019)
Garnett is an American former professional basketball player. Garnett was approached by the Safdie brothers, the directors of the thriller, and was offered the part.
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40points
#35 Thomas Horn As Oskar Schell In 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' (2011)
Horn was participating in Jeopardy! Kids Week when he was noticed by the producers and offered the role of Oskar Schell in the 2011 movie called Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
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37points
#36 Arielle Holmes As Harley In 'Heaven Knows What' (2014)
The Safdie brothers, who are the directors of the movie Heaven Knows What, scouted her off the street while working on another film. The movie was based on Holmes' unpublished memoir.
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27points
#37 Mariah Carey As Ms. Weiss In 'Precious' (2009)
Lee Daniels, the director of Precious, wanted Carey to play the character of Ms. Weiss, a social worker, since he was extremely impressed by her performance in 2008's Tennessee.
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27points
