Typecasting
I've learned how to easily predict what kind of character certain actors are going to play. They're not necessarily what you'd call full-fledged typecasts, but you can still tell what kind of personality the character will have.
Willem Dafoe: Rogue general. If you've got a movie in which there must be a cold and calculating villain, most likely military, then Mr Dafoe is your man.
Tom Hanks: Everyman. You want a regular guy who's just going to play a regular guy, look no further than Tom Hanks.
William H. Macy: Misunderstood guy who is constantly getting pushed around by EVERYONE.
Tommy Lee Jones: Military (or ex-military) hard-ass who's got something to prove.
Sean Penn: A guy who appears to have had his sense of humor surgically removed.
Tom Cruise: Guy who likes to pretend that he's blissfully ignorant of his own good looks, though he plainly depends on them regularly.
John C. Reilly: See William H. Macy.
Chris Rock: Wisecracking street-wise goofball who takes nothing seriously.
Will Ferrell: Incredibly immature and/or bigotted man.
Vince Vaughn: Sarcastic jerk who still appears to exude an inexplicable charm and attracts the ladies like moths to a flame.
Ben Stiller: Guy who gets pissed at the drop of a hat.
Keanu Reeves: Keanu Reeves.
Kate Hudson: Annoying bitch with no depth to her character and no reasonable explanation for why she has a boyfriend.
Harrison Ford: Man who, for one reason or another, is pissed at the world, ALL THE TIME.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. There are some actors who really do defy categorization, but they're few and far between, and I can't really think of any names at the moment.
Willem Dafoe: Rogue general. If you've got a movie in which there must be a cold and calculating villain, most likely military, then Mr Dafoe is your man.
Tom Hanks: Everyman. You want a regular guy who's just going to play a regular guy, look no further than Tom Hanks.
William H. Macy: Misunderstood guy who is constantly getting pushed around by EVERYONE.
Tommy Lee Jones: Military (or ex-military) hard-ass who's got something to prove.
Sean Penn: A guy who appears to have had his sense of humor surgically removed.
Tom Cruise: Guy who likes to pretend that he's blissfully ignorant of his own good looks, though he plainly depends on them regularly.
John C. Reilly: See William H. Macy.
Chris Rock: Wisecracking street-wise goofball who takes nothing seriously.
Will Ferrell: Incredibly immature and/or bigotted man.
Vince Vaughn: Sarcastic jerk who still appears to exude an inexplicable charm and attracts the ladies like moths to a flame.
Ben Stiller: Guy who gets pissed at the drop of a hat.
Keanu Reeves: Keanu Reeves.
Kate Hudson: Annoying bitch with no depth to her character and no reasonable explanation for why she has a boyfriend.
Harrison Ford: Man who, for one reason or another, is pissed at the world, ALL THE TIME.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. There are some actors who really do defy categorization, but they're few and far between, and I can't really think of any names at the moment.
posted by Vaughan at
12:37 PM
5 Comments:
I love it. Though, I wholeheartedly disagree on Diane Keaton. She's typecast as a ditz who pretends not to know it's endearing to the male protagonist for a woman to be a ditz.
By the way, I think your first three are probably the best examples of typecasting defiers anyone could think of.
You can play Jesus all you want, but if your on-screen persona fits a typecast, you'll still be a typecast. Actors have all kinds of roles, and only some of them fit the typecast. Look at William H. Macy in "Sahara," Tom Cruise in "Collateral," or Sean Penn in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." All atypical roles.
Excellent! Great Blog. I very much like the Sean Penn description. Why is it that Harrison Ford is always pissed at the world?
Oh. True, true. It really IS pretty ironic. I wonder how may actors who've played Jesus have also played horribly violent and viscious people...
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