Recasting The Graduate If It Was Made Today

Mike Nichols’ The Graduate is one of the most seminal and influential films of the 1960s. Along with Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde and Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider, The Graduate was one of the early movies that established New Hollywood. Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of the aimlessness of an angsty kid fresh out of college bolstered Nichols’ masterpiece as a quintessential, universally relatable coming-of-age story. From the moment Benjamin drifts along the moving walkway at LAX, audiences can see themselves in his youthful disillusionment.

But if Charles Webb’s source novella wasn’t adapted until today, Hoffman couldn’t play Benjamin Braddock, Anne Bancroft couldn’t play Mrs. Robinson, and Katharine Ross couldn’t play Elaine. Instead, the lead roles could be filled by contemporary stars like Timothée Chalamet and Hailee Steinfeld.

6 Scarlett Johansson As Mrs. Robinson

In the ‘60s, when Nichols’ adaptation of The Graduate first went into development, Mrs. Robinson was a highly sought-after role among Hollywood starlets. Many A-listers lobbied for the part, but the one who landed it – Anne Bancroft – was undeniably the perfect choice. A lesser actor would’ve just played Mrs. Robinson as an older woman who likes sleeping with younger men, but Bancroft digs into the character’s human side, exploring why she feels the need to cheat on her husband.

The role requires an actor who, like Bancroft, can play both the seductive femme fatale that Benjamin sees and the complex human being that Mrs. Robinson really is. Scarlett Johansson proved she could play this role brilliantly with her performances as an extra-terrestrial femme fatale in Under the Skin and an unhappy wife in Marriage Story.

5 Andy Buckley As Mr. Braddock

The role of Mr. Braddock, originally played by William Daniels, needs an actor who can play the “straight man” opposite Benjamin’s angst. Benjamin wants to rebel against authority and societal expectations, but he’s not opposed to anything in particular. In his parents’ eyes, he’s just acting out instead of getting his life together, which they’re not used to seeing from their studious, hard-working, college-educated son.

This role could be played brilliantly by Andy Buckley, who made his name as the ultimate “straight man” on NBC’s remake of The Office. In the role of David Wallace, Buckley masterfully played the straight man opposite Steve Carell. If he can be a deadpan foil for Michael Scott, he can be a deadpan foil for Benjamin Braddock.

4 Hailee Steinfeld As Elaine Robinson

Played by Katharine Ross in the ‘60s original, Elaine Robinson is easily the most likable character in The Graduate. Benjamin acts selfishly throughout the whole movie and Mrs. Robinson cheats on her husband and makes up lies about her lover to keep her daughter away from him. Elaine is the moral compass and the heart of the movie.

Hailee Steinfeld is one of the most popular actors in Hollywood right now, having given likable lead performances in crowd-pleasers like Bumblebee, The Edge of Seventeen, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Based on her Oscar-nominated early-career turn in the Coen brothers’ remake of True Grit, Steinfeld has the chops to convey the pathos of Elaine’s fading smile in the ambiguous final shot.

3 Kathryn Hahn As Mrs. Braddock

Much like her husband, Mrs. Braddock’s character acts as a counterpoint to Benjamin’s rebelliousness. She and Mr. Braddock are what he is rebelling against. She was played in the original movie by Elizabeth Wilson, but Kathryn Hahn could do a terrific job with the role today.

Hahn is a bigger name than ever after emerging as the breakout star of WandaVision and she played a similar conservative mother to hilarious effect in We’re the Millers. Based on her performances in Adam McKay’s tongue-in-cheek satire Step Brothers and the HBO miniseries Mrs. Fletcher, Hahn would nail Nichols’ offbeat take on life in the middle class.

2 Jon Hamm As Mr. Robinson

Murray Hamilton, best known as the mayor from Jaws, gave an impeccable performance as Mrs. Robinson’s cuckolded husband in The Graduate. There’s a particularly powerful scene in which he confronts Benjamin about the affair. Hamilton initially plays the scene with anger, then tragically turns to despair.

This role needs an actor who can handle that kind of raw, explosive emotion. Today, the part could be played by Jon Hamm, the man who brought wit, charm, and nuance to Don Draper, the only “Golden Age” TV antihero whose antiheroism doesn’t lean on a life of crime.

1 Timothée Chalamet As Benjamin Braddock

Dustin Hoffman gave a star-making turn as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate. More than half a century later, Hoffman’s performance remains one of the most essential portraits of a young person trying to figure out what to do with their life after they leave education behind. If The Graduate didn’t make it to screens until today, the role of Benjamin could’ve been filled by Timothée Chalamet.

Chalamet gets just about every leading role that’s up for grabs these days, from Paul Atreides to Willy Wonka, but he’d be particularly well-suited to this one. Chalamet brought real nuance to teen angst in Call Me By Your Name and nailed an ironic parody of it in Lady Bird. Since the role of Benjamin is somewhere in between, Chalamet could be perfect for it.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3465 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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