Chosen One Syndrome

Some actors are more choosy than others about the roles they play, but there are some who are only interested in one thing – themselves. Obviously, if you are the star of the film, you want to come off looking good, but the soul saviour of humanity? Messiah 2.0 – the internet friendly son of God.

WILL SMITH
The Fresh Prince took the throne when he ditched his regal title and became a ‘serious’ actor. Consider…
Hancock: Super hero ‘chosen one’ – the last male immortal of all that remains of a super-race.
Enemy of the State: One man who, by no fault of his own, has the entire weight of the secret services hunting him down. Being smarter than everyone else, he beats them.
I, Robot: First of the ‘I’ movies – a clue in itself! He’s the first superhuman because of cybernetics, and has to save the world from a robot dictatorship.
I am Legend: Second of the ‘I’ movies, he is the only human to survive a killer disease that is also heroic enough to not only catch zombies but to also discover a cure to save humanity.

KEANU REEVES
Maybe because of sharing a surname with the original Superman actor (Christopher Reeves), he seems to have considered himself the Chosen One from early on…
Bill & Ted: A pair of movies that see Keanu sharing the title of Chosen One with Alex Winter (perfect antithesis to Reeves – one has black hair, the other blonde hair; one has an acting career…!). The two are time-travelling teenagers whose band will one day form the basis of all human civilisation.
Constantine: The only human who can see, fight and beat angels.
The Devil’s Advocate: He is the ultimate Chosen One – he’s not the son of God, he’s the son of Satan! But he’s still the Chosen One because he’s the only one who can fight and beat the Devil.
The Matrix: His character is Mr Anderson (Anders means ‘manly’ so in this persona he is The Son of Man), who escapes the Matrix and takes on the persona of Neo (meaning ‘new’, but also an anagram of One). The barely hidden religious ideologies become more specifically Christian in theme as the trilogy progresses, but whatever chosen one he’s based on, he’s certainly a God in human form.

ARNIE
Son of an SS officer, he came to fame as a bodybuilder (man perfected). He has a connection to fellow Chosen One Will Smith, as he was the original choice to play the lead in I, Legend.
Terminator: Although the first film has him as the bad-guy and the yet-to-be-born John Connor as the Chosen One, as the series progresses, he takes on an Ourobouros nature by being the One-Chosen-to-save-the Chosen-One.
Twins: A nazi-esque experiment has resulted in a superhuman child, plus Danny Devito! Not really out to save the world, but he is still the Chosen One, and he sheds his light on the imperfect man to bring him ‘home’.
End of Days: At the turn of the Millennium, Arnie plays Cane (Cain; the first mortal human son of Adam and Eve – or the Serpent and Eve, depending on your interpretation), again the One-Chosen-to-save-the Chosen-One.