Their competition wasn’t that fierce, Luis Guzman is a great actor, especially when being comical, but he very much is NOT Gomez Addams. But no matter who it was, I doubt they’d be able to beat Raul Julia or Anjelica Huston.
It also doesn't hurt that Anjelica is always illuminated like she's from another movie altogether (credit to CinemaTherapy). The director turned the glamor factor up to 11 in every scene without breaking anything. It's impossible to follow that.
Raul, somehow, manages to be a complete ham yet relatable, lovable, and most importantly, believable.
The scene in the addams family where the light that falls across her eyes is already on her mark so when she steps into place the light just falls into place kills me every time
Perhaps this will be unpopular, but it was all Raul Julia. He definitely out-Gomezed John Astin, but Carolyn Jones was something else.
I don't mean to sleight Anjelica Huston, but it would be difficult to fail working opposite Raul, and Carolyn Jones was frequently the one carrying John Astin in the series.
Not to speak ill of Astin either, because he was good, but he played it differently
Overused characters who don't have a lot of range, it would basically be watching Depp and Ryder in a romance together with some funny dialogue.
Gomez and Morticia require a style of acting that calls back to early romance movies and is overplayed and over-the-top while remaining classical and debonaire and oozing with romance. I can't see that chemistry with Depp and Ryder.
It happens with television sometimes. Just like when you think Sherlock Holmes you think Jeremy Brett or Hercul Poirot portrayed by David Suchet. Some actors are so good they end up defining the character itself.
Benicio maybe, he is a tad too subdued in all of his performances, but maybe he could muster some energy for the role. Javier Bardem, while one of our greats, is a hard pass, mainly due to his energy only being able to hit a max of like level 2 or 3 out of ten in anything I’ve seen him in. (Now here come the downvotes) Diego Luna is a no, I’ve only ever seen him in Andor and Rogue one, and he showed 0 charisma in those, so I can’t see it for him. Efren Ramirez, fuck you, Pedro is never to be Gomez.
I’ve seen that movie hundreds of times (one of my favorites) but that was almost 30 years ago now. If they’d made a sequel at that point in time with him as Gomez I can see it working, but in the current time I don’t know if he still has that same spark.
Really? I'd have to vote Guzmsn over Raul. Don't get me wrong I love Raul and he was my og Gomez. But Guzman just had a better craziness I feel. That being said I watched them years apart, and Guzman had a few wildly amazing roles that might be swaying me.