Jose Canseco is still remembered as one of the greatest baseball players of his time no matter how he went on to admit that he’d been using steroids for quite a while. His family made their way from Cuba after falling on hard times following Castro’s rise to power in the late 50s, where his father eventually tried to teach Jose and his brother the game of baseball. Things progressed fairly slowly up until Jose turned about 18 and all of a sudden became a slugger that could perform in a way that was nothing short of phenomenal. His sudden turnaround was attributed to a tougher than average workout regimen at first but after leaving the game of baseball he came out and admitted that he’d been using steroids for years. This of course sparked off a great deal of debate over how well he would have done if he hadn’t used in the first place, and of course whether or not his name should even be mentioned in the history books. But Jose isn’t going quietly since not only did he write a book about the steroid abuse some time ago but he’s also been in the middle of the whole issue of whether Alex Rodriguez cheated on his fiance Jennifer Lopez. Ryan Gaydos has covered this story along with a few others and has revealed that Jose even went so far as to accuse A-Rod of sleeping with his ex-wife Jessica, thereby stirring the pot a bit more.
It kind of leaves this whole story wide open for a biopic that might be kind of wild and even hearken back to the 90s in terms of content and drama. But who might fit the bill when it comes playing Jose? Here are a few choices below.
5. Gerard Butler
You might accuse this list of being white-washed but if you can find any Cuban or Cuban-American actors that could pull this off then by all means give them a mention. Until then however, Gerard and a few of the others have the insane build or can acquire it with some effort to make themselves seem every bit as big as Jose when he really started coming into his own. And he’s got the acting skill that could make this part feel even more special.
4. Joe Manganiello
Joe definitely has the build and the look for this part but his acting at times seems a little stiff. That being said it could be that he’s been in roles that are still suited for him but his delivery still needs some work. He could pull this off it seems since not only does he have the right figure and the ability to get in there and get the job done, but he’s the persistent type that does like to make sure his role is coming across the way it should.
3. Jason Patric
Jason might need to bulk up a bit and it might be that he’s getting kind of old for this type of role, but then again so are half the guys on this list. The whole idea would likely be that multiple actors would be used to show Jose growing up and finally becoming the big league slugger he eventually turned into. Patric might actually be a better adult Jose than anything since he does have the look and the dark complexion and hair to fit the bill.
2. Clive Owen
Clive is another guy that’s getting old, but again he’s another guy that fits the profile and that’s somewhat important when selecting a person that could make such a role work. Casting someone that’s too tall or too short or too buff or too scrawny just doesn’t fly when you’re doing a biopic. You need someone that could actually step into the shoes of the person whose life you’re trying to tell in story form. Clive is a bigger guy that can do action just as well as drama and might be able to pull this off.
1. Edgar Ramirez
Edgar might be more to the liking of many people since he seems to look the part a lot more. After all he did take on the role Roberto Duran in Hands of Stone and he did a pretty good job of it as well. He’s been in several other movies, some great, some okay, and some horrible, but he’s been a convincing actor so far in his career and has managed to entertain a lot of people. Putting him in a role like this would only increase his reputation it would seem and would allow him to take on the persona of another famous sports figure that met with some type of controversy at some point in his life.
There’s a lot of talk and rumor about biopics starting to come out, but this one seems like it might be kind of fun to see.
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