Bill Hader should have been Prince Edward in Enchanted (2007)

haderfan87

SNL Buff
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
The title says it all. I've been thinking about it, and it really makes sense. Imagine, instead of James Marsden (who did do an admiral job), it was Bill Hader delivering classic lines, like "Thank you for taking care of my bride, peasants." It might even be funnier if he did with his Al Pacino impression. (If you haven't seen it, you can find it on YouTube.) Anyway, regardless of what impression he does, I believe his mannerisms, characteristics, and downright funny delivery would take Enchanted, a solid 8/10 movie, and turn it into a 10.
 


Yeah it’s pretty clear that the OP is a Bill Hader fan. I agree that he is great but quite honestly I don’t see how that could have happened. The movie was released in 2007 but filmed in 2006. Hader had just been hired as a feature player on SNL in the 2005-2006 season. It really would have been a gutsy casting decision to cast an unknown gangly bit player on SNL known as an impressionist as the stereotypical handsome Prince character.

Not only does that character naturally play to James Marsden’s strengths but it also has some fun with his own history as a leading man. The straight man or the square.

Its always interesting to “re-cast” roles based on hindsight. Certainly casting Bill Hader would have given the movie a weirder vibe. But both at the time and in hindsight James Marsden seems like the right call.
 
@starry_solo I would recommend looking up some compilations of him on YouTube. The Al Pacino impressions are pretty funny.

@PrinceEricsBich Understandable.

@jpakstis Honestly, you're right. I am, indeed, a pretty big fan, but with that reasoning, it does makes sense that James Marsden was cast instead of Bill Hader. I do still think there's unrealized comedic value without Bill Hader as Prince Edward, but it certainly was a safer bet for Disney to bring on James Marsden. That's show business, baby!
 
I LOVE Bill Hader - he played Custer in "Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian", and his turn as Vincent Price in several SNL sketches is fantastic! (they're on YouTube if anyone wants to check them out.) Right now he's getting a lot of acclaim in the series "Barry."

That being said, he wouldn't have worked as Edward. He's too arch and sarcastic to be able to pull of someone as naively self-absorbed and clueless as Edward. And - although Hader is by no means ugly, he lacks the conventional fairy-tale-prince handsomeness needed for the role.
 



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