MovieChat Forums > Flashdance (1983) Discussion > Why was Jennifer Beals cast?

Why was Jennifer Beals cast?

posted 16 years ago by KryptoKO
20 replies | jump to latest

I watched this film last night and it was glaringly obvious that she was not present at all during the last dance number. Why couldn't an actress with actual dancing talent have been cast? Was Jennifer Beals so strong that lack of dancing ability was not an issue? Sorry to sound so harsh, but the obviousness that the dancer in the audion was a double instead of the lead ruined the moment for me.

Why not cast Irene Cara in the lead roll. She could both act and dance.

[–] valro 16 years ago

Jennifer was cast for her looks. There were two other contenders for the part. They were Leslie Wing and Demi Moore. Their pictures were shown to the person responsible for casting and Jennifer Beals was chosen. Jennifer has since proven to be a decent actress but she was sorely miscast for this movie. She was not a dancer and using stunt doubles could not hide that fact. They were so obvious since they were different heights and had different body types.

[–] dreamweaveruk 15 years ago

I watched a documentary about the movie and the director said that they were very torn between the three actresses. So they gathered together a large group of the most burly, chauvinistic men they could find and got them to look at the girls audition tapes and pictures. After which they were all asked "which girl would you most like to have sex with?". Jennifer Beals won by a landslide and got the part.

Illegitimi non carborundum

[–] workingonzen 15 years ago

What dreamweaveruk said ^^^^
And one of the other three was Demi Moore.

[–] eastcoastguyz 14 years ago

"... chauvinistic men..."

So a hetro male that finds a girl attractive is considered to be chauvinistic? Nonsense.

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[–] TMC-4 9 years ago

http://lebeauleblog.com/2015/11/11/what-might-have-been-wednesday-demi-moore-in-flashdance/

In honor of Demi Moore‘s birthday, we’re looking one of the actress’ early missed roles.

When casting the lead role in the 1983 movie Flashdance, Paramount narrowed the list of candidates down to three; Leslie Wing, Demi Moore and Jennifer Beals. Rumor has it that when executives couldn’t decide who to cast, they found a group of construction workers on the lot and showed them pictures of the three finalists. The story goes that the construction workers showed a strong preference for Beals who was ultimately cast.

[–] creaturefeeture 15 years ago

I actually felt Jennifer made the movie. I'm not sure how I would feel about it if she wasn't the lead. She is so beyond gorgeous in it. She balances the character's innocence, independence, and sex appeal magnificently all while maintaining a overall charm. The movie overall was pretty cheesy but I felt if anyone shouldn't have been cast it wasn't Jennifer but the leading man!

Voting History: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=26598711

[–] alison1963 15 years ago

I think I agree with you - I thought that if Cynthia Rhodes had been younger she would have been perfect (she had a smaller part in the film and obviously was in Dirty Dancing too) and I think that, although Jennifer Beals was rather flat as an actress, they were looking for an actress rather than a dancer because (unlike fame) this was more story lead with set dance pieces, less real and just really an 80's love story with good soundtrack and some great set dances.

Michael Nouri - I could have shot him, always hated him since the day I saw Flashdance, always had a smirk on his face, was waaaaaaaay too old and just awful!

"If you build it, he will come"

[–] ChitoRaffferty 15 years ago

I'm not sure how importantant it was to get a dancer/actress in a small film like this. Given the money it made maybe they would have done a few things differently but it was far from a sure thing. Beals exoitc good looks probably carried things more than an attempt at authenticity which probbably wasn't worth all that much anyway.
This film's success was driven by MTV and FM radio rather than its content.

[–] lylesanford 14 years ago

Easier to use a professional dancer in the final montage than to teach a professional dancer to act.

[–] eastcoastguyz 14 years ago

When the movie was released, it wasn't obvious they used a dance double. With the benefit now of the internet and access to so much, people can discuss all the details of any film. Unless someone can find an article published from 1983, the year the film was released that makes note of the dance double, I don't believe it was noticed by the mass audience. There was no scandal or jokes made in the media that a dance double was used.

The thing that was most important about this film when it was released, was the music and the story, and Beal's look. I don't know why anyone would get hung up about them using a dance double, when in film and TV they use stunt actors all the time.

[–] horsenbuggy 9 years ago

I didn't watch the movie at the time but I watched the videos on MTV which showed the dance sequences from the film. I was a kid. I could tell it was a body double. Maybe watching so much Solid Gold helped.

[–] dianesellers 14 years ago

Jennifer Beals was cast because: 1) she is incredibly beautiful, 2) she is a fabulous actress, which was (obviously) more important than her ability to perform the dance sequences; they wanted an unknown actress so the movie would be her break-through performance and establish her as a star (which they accomplished - no matter what Jennifer Beals does with the rest of her career, she will ALWAYS be THE ONE who got her start in Flashdance and helped the film live on forever), the chemistry between her and Michael Noori was obvious, undeniable and makes you want to see more. And the filmmakers were right on all counts: the film was a smash, the soundtrack was a top seller, Jennifer Beals was established as a star, and the film lives on even all these years later. In fact, you and I are still posting about it today!

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[–] jefgg 10 years ago

One story about how Beals was chosen is that Paramount president Michael Eisner asked women secretaries at the studio to select their favorite actress after viewing screen tests.