50 Cent, David Bowie And More: 6 of the Most Unexpected Movie Casting Choices
02 September, 2026Hollywood’s casting choices are certainly no stranger to your fair share of “why though?” But most of the time reception is fairly lukewarm.
In comes the new Street Fighter movie directed by Kitao Sakurai, which reads like a who’s who of questionable, albeit very interesting casting choices. Why is 50 Cent Balrog? Jason Momoa as Blanka I can get on board with. Then WWE stars Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes as Akuma and Guile, and country musician Orville Peck as Vega- certainly unconventional choices, even if most of them have some acting experience.
Street Fighter has prioritised for the most part action skills and martial arts ability with a cast that also includes Andrew Koji, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Valkanovski, professional wrestler Hirooki Goto and bodybuilder Olivier Richters. This movie reminds us that Hollywood doesn't always go for the obvious choice, so let's take a look at some of the most unexpected casting decisions in movie history.
50 Cent as Balrog – Street Fighter
I mean, we’ve got to address this one. Whilst 50 Cent isn't exactly a stranger to acting, making his film debut in 2005’s Get Rich or Die Tryin', Curtis Jackson has appeared in films including Escape Plan and Den of Thieves, while his television work on Power has made him an established presence in Hollywood. Even so, seeing him step into the role of Balrog isn’t something that anybody would’ve expected.
The former boxing champion is physically based on Mike Tyson and one of the most recognisable characters in the Street Fighter games, and 50 Cent has the physical presence for the role, and his connection to boxing culture and his training over the years certainly helps. Balrog’s character is also money-obsessed, aggressive, larger-than-life ex-boxer who has a reputation for being a bit of a thug- similar to the persona 50 Cent crafted during his career. But there is still something wonderfully unexpected about one of the biggest rappers of the 2000s turning up as a video game boxer.
Shaquille O'Neal as Steel – Steel
Although this list is 99% musicians, Hollywood’s unexpected casting choices have also stretched into sports stars. I mean, we could do a whole list on that just based on the upcoming Street Fighter alone, but I digress. Long before superhero movies became the biggest thing in Hollywood, basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal decided to try his experienced hands at being a robot Superman.
O'Neal starred as John Henry Irons in 1997's Steel, based on the DC Comics genius inventor who built a mechanical suit that mirrored Superman’s powers, intending to replace him after his death in the “Death of Superman” storyline. The idea wasn't completely ridiculous on paper: Steel is a physically imposing superhero, and Shaq certainly had the physical presence for the part. He was also one of the biggest celebrities in the world at the time, making him an obvious choice from a marketing perspective.
Still, it was an unusual choice, not to mention that the film was written as a spin-off for a Superman movie that never happened, causing Steel to sit in developmental hell before going ahead without the film it was supposed to be attached to. Needless to say the film did very little for DC, and didn't launch a franchise as was intended. But it has become a fascinating example of the very different direction superhero movies could take before the modern Marvel and DC eras.
With DC now once again building towards a new generation of films and television shows, including the recently debuting Lanterns series to rave reviews, perhaps Steel deserves another look. Although we probably shouldn't expect Shaq to return to the suit.
David Bowie as Nikola Tesla – The Prestige
David Bowie had already established himself as an actor by the time he appeared in Christopher Nolan's 2006 mind-bender The Prestige, but casting one of the world's most famous musicians as Nikola Tesla was still a choice that, upon my first watch of the film, made me go “Wait, is that David Bowie?!”
Bowie played a fictionalised version of the real-life inventor who becomes involved in the rivalry between the competing magicians played by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Tesla was an eccentric and mysterious genius, while Bowie had spent decades becoming known for his equally distinctive persona, so it’s not one that feels completely out of place when you think about it.
It is a good example of how an unexpected casting choice can actually make it far more interesting. Bowie might not have been the obvious choice for Tesla, but once you see him in the role, it becomes difficult to imagine anyone else quite fitting that part the way he did.
Madonna as Eva Perón – Evita
Madonna playing Eva Perón sounds like classic celebrity stunt casting, but Madonna had actually been determined to play this role for years. She even sent director Alan Parker a four-page letter explaining that she was the best person to portray Eva and would be fully committed to the role. And she did, falling sick many times due to the intense emotional effort required for the role.
At that point, Madonna had already become one of the biggest stars in the world, and taking on one of Argentina's most famous historical figures in actress-turned-politician Evita was no small task.
Her casting was certainly unconventional, particularly given that her acting career had been considerably less successful than her music career. But it was a gamble that paid off, with her performance receiving widespread praise and earning her a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Madonna would go on to say that she was prouder of Evita than anything else she had done.
Sting as Feyd-Rautha – Dune
Before Denis Villeneuve's Dune made Frank Herbert's stories a worldwide phenomenon, David Lynch attempted his own adaptation in 1984. Among the film's many strange and memorable choices was the decision to cast Sting as Feyd-Rautha, the sadistic heir to House Harkonnen- a role taken on by Austin Butler in the modern adaptations.
By this point in 1984, Sting was already an established actor, but it was still quite a leap for The Police frontman. Thanks to the film’s distinctive visual style, Sting’s space-speedo wearing character has remained engraved in our memories- whether for better or for worse- and now it's engraved in yours too.
There was a pretty large volume of musicians crossing into acting during the 80s and 90s, and even with Sting’s acting resume, Sting playing a villain in Dune still would have sounded quite strange at the time.
Orville Peck as Vega – Street Fighter
Coming back to Street Fighter, 50 isn’t the only musician taking an unexpected role. But actually, this one is kind of perfect… Orville Peck, the masked country musician known for his distinctive stage persona, has been cast as Vega, the masked, metal claw fighter known for his distinctive look and fighting style. So beneath the surface, Peck playing Vega is actually a surprisingly natural fit.
That seems to be the story of the new Street Fighter movie in general. It has one of the most unconventional ensembles in recent blockbuster cinema. Whether all these unusual choices work remains to be seen, but the film looks like a whole bunch of fun, with Cody Rhodes delivering some genuinely funny quips as Guile in the trailers. If anything, so far, the film has given us plenty to talk about leading up to its release.
Unexpected casting choices don't always work, but that's part of what makes them so interesting. Sometimes they give us performances we never saw coming, and sometimes they simply leave us wondering what they were thinking. As for Street Fighter, we'll have to wait and see whether 50 Cent as Balrog- and the others- turn out to be a stroke of genius or another Hollywood fumble.
Check out more on casting:
- From The Last of Us to Tomb Raider: The Best (and Worst) Video Game Casting Choices Ever
- 6 Movie Recasts Ranked- 3 That Worked, And 3 That Totally Backfired
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