The initial results from our “Who Would You Cast in the Upcoming Liar’s Ball?” movie poll are in, and it looks like there is a lot of agreement among our readers about which actors would be right for which roles.
A whopping 73 percent picked Sexy Beast and Gandhi actor Ben Kingsley to play Sam Zell, with Michael Gambon (best known for playing Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies) coming in a very distant second with 12 percent of the votes.
It was a similar case with media mogul and Boston Properties’ head Mort Zuckerman. A full 50 percent of respondents voted for House of Cards’ Kevin Spacey to play Zuckerman. Spacey may have had his breakout role as a suburban husband in American Beauty, but remember him as a Hollywood studio boss in Swimming with Sharks?
The votes on which actor should play the closest role to the “protagonist” in the film, New York real estate developer Harry Macklowe, were a bit more evenly split. A plurality of 38 percent felt that Law & Order star Sam Waterson is the right choice, while another 30 percent picked British actor Alan Rickman (Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies/Hans Gruber in Die Hard/Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses) for the part.
Donald Trump may be losing in the polls for the best person to play him to Gary Busey (Busey got 44 percent of the vote to play Trump), but still made a very respectable showing, coming in second, with 37 percent of the vote. So if the Presidential bid doesn’t work out, Trump may have a future in the movies. Incidentally, like Trump, Gary Busey is currently best known for being Gary Busey.
Finally, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan star Tom Hanks was deemed to be the best choice to play Simon Property Group CEO David Simon by 31 percent of the respondents. The Newsroom’s Jeff Daniels came in a close second, with 27 percent of the vote.
The results are based on 270 responses. To continue voting, go here.