Retro-Cast: Casting Anchorman In The 1970s

For the most part, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a wacky, absurdist romp that transfers the uniquely zany comic sensibility that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay developed at Saturday Night Live to the big screen. But with its ‘70s setting and chauvinistic protagonists, it’s also a satire of the gender politics of a bygone era.

In 2004, Ferrell was backed up by a supporting cast including Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, and Steve Carell. But if Anchorman was made in the decade it satirized, then it could’ve starred Gene Wilder, Faye Dunaway, and Steve Martin.

9 Gene Wilder As Ron Burgundy

Ferrell wrote the part of Ron Burgundy for himself to play. After the success of Old School and Elf, Anchorman solidified Ferrell as a bankable movie star. This is a tricky role to recast because it’s so inextricably tied to Ferrell’s screen persona.

Ferrell has his own unique brand of overacting. Not a lot of comic actors could handle the “glass case of emotion” scene. If anybody could pull it off in the 1970s, it would be Gene Wilder, who became a master of comedic overacting in Mel Brooks’ delightfully off-the-wall spoofs.

8 Faye Dunaway As Veronica Corningstone

Originally played by Christina Applegate, Veronica Corningstone is the voice of reason opposite Ron and the news team. She’s smart, focused, and ambitious (everything they’re not). Veronica is the first female reporter hired by the station in an effort to adapt to an evolving society.

Faye Dunaway played a similar character in a dramatic capacity in Network. Anchorman satirizes the same thing as Network – which won Dunaway and two of her co-stars Oscars – just with a much more absurdist bent.

7 John Belushi As Champ Kind

It’s not easy to make a role like Champ Kind funny. The comedy is broad and his brash, boorish manner could be unlikable and off-putting in the wrong hands. David Koechner – best known as The Office’s own brash, boorish, borderline-hateable supporting character, Todd Packer – played the part brilliantly in the 2004 movie.

In the 1970s, this part could’ve been played by John Belushi. Belushi spun comedy gold out of a similar obnoxious, immature loudmouth in the groundbreaking comedy hit Animal House.

6 Peter Sellers As Ed Harken

Ed Harken is the station manager played by the late, great Fred Willard. Ed is always exasperated, whether he’s dealing with Ron’s antics or trying to explain away his son’s misdeeds to his teachers.

One of Peter Sellers’ three performances in Dr. Strangelove – as the timid Group Captain Lionel Mandrake – proves he could’ve done a great job with the role of Ed.

5 Sonny Chiba As The Bartender

A cameoing Danny Trejo plays the sage bartender who offers wisdom to Ron Burgundy in his eleventh hour. What makes this scene work so well in the movie is seeing a badass action star in such a silly context.

Sonny Chiba, the martial arts movie legend who starred in the Street Fighter trilogy, could’ve been a great choice for this bit part in the ‘70s.

4 Richard Pryor As Brian Fantana

Long before he would be known for starring in bromantic comedies and shrinking in Marvel movies, Paul Rudd played the role of Brian Fantana – the suavest, smoothest member of the news team – in Anchorman.

This role needs a comedic performer who’s effortlessly charming, full of confidence, and above all, hilarious. In the ‘70s, it could’ve been played by Richard Pryor, widely regarded to be one of the greatest and most influential standup comics ever to take the stage.

3 Don Rickles As Wes Mantooth

Ferrell’s Anchorman co-star Vince Vaughn cameos in Anchorman as rival anchor Wes Mantooth. Ron beats him in the ratings, but he argues that those ratings don’t take into account households with more than one television set… and other things of that nature.

Since Mantooth’s role in the story is simply to hurl quippy jibes at Ron and his colleagues, in the ‘70s, it could’ve been played by the master of insult comedy, Don Rickles.

2 Dennis Hopper As The Biker

McKay and Ferrell set up the plot point of Veronica taking over as an anchor in the most ridiculous way possible. It starts with Ron accidentally tossing a burrito in a biker’s face and escalates when the biker retaliates by kicking Ron’s beloved dog Baxter off the side of a bridge.

In 2004, this biker was played hysterically by a cameoing Jack Black. If the movie was made in the ‘70s, it could’ve been an Easy Rider parody with Dennis Hopper in the role. The role of a violent biker would’ve offered a fun counterpoint to Hopper’s peace-loving Billy character from Easy Rider.

1 Steve Martin As Brick Tamland

Steve Carell was still a year away from The Office and The 40-Year-Old Virgin making him a superstar when Anchorman hit theaters. But his hilarious, scene-stealing performance as Brick Tamland in Anchorman showed audiences that he was a talent to be reckoned with.

If the movie was made in the ‘70s, Brick could’ve been played by Steve Martin. Martin’s unconventional standup made him a comedy sensation, and his star-making lead performance in The Jerk saw him playing a similar oblivious simpleton role.

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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