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Message: <blockquote data-quote="humble minion" data-source="post: 8213914" data-attributes="member: 5948">Smart casting directors identify talented actors who are perhaps being underused due to being out of favour, unfashionable, typecast, aging beyond the typical 'romantic/action lead' age bracket, mostly known for foreign films or TV, etc, and give them an opportunity to stretch their legs as leads.  Medium-sized names with upside, if you want a 'moneyball' cliche.  You pay less than you would for a bona fide A-list big name, they're hopefully less prone to prima-donna-ing all over the place and throwing their clout around to mess up your script (I'm looking at you, Brad Pitt and World War Z...) and the actors you pick will often see this as a big break or a chance to revitalise their career and will give it their all.  LotR did this with McKellen, Lee, Mortensen etc.  Marvel memorably did it with Downey Jr, but Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen, and Chris Hemsworth were great pickups for them too, and the wouldn't have cost much (first time round at least) compared to a major star.  If you want an ensemble movie (and for D&D I reckon you really 100% do because D&D is all about the group) then it's a pretty good way to assemble a cast.  You get a spread of talent across the cast so you're not all on one actor's shoulders, and the film isn't just a vehicle for one guy, which almost always is corrosive to the plot.</blockquote>