Typecast or One Trick Pony

Lorelli!

My worst one is Hugh Grant - desperately awkward romantic and misunderstood Englishman. Roll eyes! If I see any movie and determine that he's playing that character again, I just think "no, definitely not watching it"!

Some typecast actors do actually work and are just best sticking to it, but it does make you question their acting ability and wonder if they are really just a one trick pony.

I thought Robert De Niro was very good in the movie Stardust. Also liked how he joked about his gangster roles in the movies Analyse This and Analyse That with Billy Crystal.

Any Actors/Actresses that you like or dislike who tend to play the same role over and over? Or actors that shocked you by taking on roles that were not their usual thing?

Arghus

Jesse Eisenberg. I don't dislike him as an actor, but he always plays slightly different versions of the same character.

Lorelli!

Adam Sandler is another one. Happy Gilmore was good but ruined by him constantly playing very similar but less funny roles following its success.

safetyboy

Kurt Russel but for all the good ways.

Gwynplaine

Johnny Depp. He immediately puts me off any film, as he is the same character in every film.
Chris Rock / Chris Tucker, yes we know you're black. I often wonder are they the same person.
I used to love Samuel L Jackson. Now I avoid his films as I just can't stand his shouting.
Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill. All the same in every film.

Saipanne

Tom Cruise. Great actor, one character.

jonon9

Jason Statham in every film he just plays himself.

monkeysnapper

jonon9 wrote: »

Jason Statham in every film he just plays himself.

GOD!!!!!!! I see a film with Jason statham in and I just keep going ...... The only film I liked him in was snatch

Lorelli!

safetyboy wrote: »

Kurt Russel but for all the good ways.

Ye his roles are nearly all the same. The sort of cute deluded clumsy superhero character is so damn likeable. He does it well. It's a bit like Buzz Lightyear

He did play an evil stalker in Death Proof and he was alright in that.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Michael Cera was in a number of films at the turn of the decade where he played the same character in everyone of them.It got old fairly quickly and I haven't seen him in anything for a while.

Turtyturd

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Johnny Depp. He immediately puts me off any film, as he is the same character in every film.
Chris Rock / Chris Tucker, yes we know you're black. I often wonder are they the same person.
I used to love Samuel L Jackson. Now I avoid his films as I just can't stand his shouting.
Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill. All the same in every film.

Didn't they become Kevin Hart. That shrieking token black sidekick is the most annoying movie character around.

Agent Coulson

Nic Cage must be the king.


Stallone and Arnie and Bruce to and extent.




Seagal & Van Damme basically any B- Actor who had one or two cinema hits and then went straight to DVD playing the same role over and over and over and over and over again

bnt

I watched Florence Foster Jenkins last night, and despite Meryl Streep in the iconic title role, I thought Hugh Grant stole the film as her conflicted husband. His performance was almost totally unlike anything he's done before, and it was great to see him defy that stereotype.

ziedth

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Johnny Depp. He immediately puts me off any film, as he is the same character in every film.

I'm not even a fan of his as such but I think while he does do the Jack Sparrow Stick on more then one occasion it's an unfair dismissal of him to mention him here.

Blow, Donnie Brasco, public Enemies while all "crime" they are certainly three different characters.

Finding Neverland, Ed Wood and Nick of time are three others off the top of my head.

Arghus

ziedth wrote: »

I'm not even a fan of his as such but I think while he does do the Jack Sparrow Stick on more then one occasion it's an unfair dismissal of him to mention him here.

Blow, Donnie Brasco, public Enemies while all "crime" they are certainly three different characters.

Finding Neverland, Ed Wood and Nick of time are three others off the top of my head.

I thought he was quite good in Black Mass. The film itself was just barely average, but he came out of it with some credit - felt like he was making an effort to deliver a performance for the first time in a while. He's been treading water in a lot of films ever since he hit pay-dirt with Pirates of The Caribbean, but I think fundamentally Johnny Depp is still a good actor, with a lot of range. Donnie Brasco, Fear and Loathing, Finding Neverland, Ed Wood - all very different films, with a very different Johnny Depp performance at their core. Maybe he'll have to become a weird acquired taste again out on the margins before he'll start making good movies once more.

Arghus

bnt wrote: »

I watched Florence Foster Jenkins last night, and despite Meryl Streep in the iconic title role, I thought Hugh Grant stole the film as her conflicted husband. His performance was almost totally unlike anything he's done before, and it was great to see him defy that stereotype.

He played against type quite well About A Boy. Well, sort of against type.

To be fair to Hugh Grant, he sure has starred in a lot of remarkably similar films with him cast as a loveable bumbling fopp, but he's the absolute master of playing those roles. I honestly think he's a really underrated actor - his comic timing and knack for physical comedy is excellent. Most of his movies are absolute cack, but he's rarely bad in them.

Ardent

Martin Lawrence

Grayditch

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Johnny Depp. He immediately puts me off any film, as he is the same character in every film.

Nah, he's definitely not. I don't think you could play Willy Wonka as the lead in Black Mass, nor would an Edward Scissorhands performance have cut it in Donny Brasco.

MuffinTop86

Cameron Diaz.
I suspect she may have a clause in her contract where at least one other character in the film has to tell her how hot she looks!

Lorelli!

Arghus wrote: »

I thought he was quite good in Black Mass. The film itself was just barely average, but he came out of it with some credit - felt like he was making an effort to deliver a performance for the first time in a while. He's been treading water in a lot of films ever since he hit pay-dirt with Pirates of The Caribbean, but I think fundamentally Johnny Depp is still a good actor, with a lot of range. Donnie Brasco, Fear and Loathing, Finding Neverland, Ed Wood - all very different films, with a very different Johnny Depp performance at their core. Maybe he'll have to become a weird acquired taste again out on the margins before he'll start making good movies once more.

Sometimes it comes across as though he is trying too hard to be diverse with his roles and he ends up picking characters that are not suited to him. Either that or else he just can't say no to Tim Burton

Of course Edward Scissorhands was very good but i really dislike his version of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and Sweeney Todd. All very bad movies with supposedly quirky characters that lack any authenticity imo.

There was a Sweeney Todd made previously with Ray Winston which I really liked. When I saw the Johnny Depp one, I thought wtf!

ThisRegard

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Jonah Hill.

He has a bit of variety in fairness, he was pretty good in Wolf of Wall Street and Moneyball playing it straight.

Mickeroo

I wouldn't agree with Johnny Depp either, I think he's very diverse but he get's a bad rep because he ended up being the acting equivalent of a really good song that just got over played.

I think Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are as guilty as anyone of being pretty one note in their performances over their careers.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Jude law,

no matter the role, he comes across as some sort of smug pretty boy. I cant put my finger on exactly what it is about him, but he actually deters me from watching films hes in.

FunLover18

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote:

Michael Cera was in a number of films at the turn of the decade where he played the same character in everyone of them.It got old fairly quickly and I haven't seen him in anything for a while.

You should check out Youth In Revolt, I think Cera gets typecast because he looks like a dweeby nerd. In YIR he plays a French confident alter ego to his nerd and it's really funny.

MfMan

Saipanne wrote: »

Tom Cruise. Great actor, one character.

Awful actor, one character.

Jake Gyllenhaal; substitutes acting for staring pensively into the middle distance.

kunst nugget

Grayditch wrote: »

Nah, he's definitely not. I don't think you could play Willy Wonka as the lead in Black Mass, nor would an Edward Scissorhands performance have cut it in Donny Brasco.

The worst thing to happen to Depp was meeting Tim Burton. Edward Scissorhands was good (although I suspect time probably hasn't been kind to it) and Ed Wood was decent enough but it's been a river of slurry ever since from the two of them.

eviltimeban

Arghus wrote: »

He played against type quite well About A Boy. Well, sort of against type.

To be fair to Hugh Grant, he sure has starred in a lot of remarkably similar films with him cast as a loveable bumbling fopp, but he's the absolute master of playing those roles. I honestly think he's a really underrated actor - his comic timing and knack for physical comedy is excellent. Most of his movies are absolute cack, but he's rarely bad in them.

I was going to mention About A Boy, a very different role for him. That and Bridget Jones' Diary - not a bumble or a fluster in sight. In fact, since those movies he hasn't played a character like that - I think Notting Hill was the last time he did, and that was in 1999. Saying that I haven't seen everything he was in, like Did You Hear About The Morgans, or The Rewrite.

I'll chip in with Keanu Reeves. Now, don't get me wrong, you can't beat a bit of Keanu, and John Wick was awesome, but he doesn't do much except play a version of himself in different scenarios. In fact, you could say his most atypical role was in the "Bill and Ted" movies - he toned down the "surfer dude" shtick a good bit since those days.

Agent Coulson

I think for a lot of actors it comes down to money really some will say they do the be Typecast or One Trick Pony movie for Hollywood so they can afford to do the the little acting film but when you get into the Hollywood machine it's hard to turn down the money.


Al Pacino and Robert De Niro did the acting thing for years and then later in their careers they found the Hollywood thing of just playing the same role over and over again to make lots of money.

Depp found that with Captain Jack.

Neeson found it with being an action star late in life.

ziedth

Melissa Mccarthy I once saw someone write that she was the next big comedy star "if we want her to be or not" it seemed for a run there she seemed to pop up as exactly the same character in about 5 films for a year. I wouldn't be a fan.

Bacchus

Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson became a parody of themselves at shome point. Starsky and Hutch was probably their last good showing.

Vince at least has the odd flourish (Jurassic Park, True Detective, ... haven't seen Hacksaw Ridge).

Will Ferrell is the worst of them all.

alchemist33

ziedth wrote: »

Melissa Mccarthy I once saw someone write that she was the next big comedy star "if we want her to be or not" it seemed for a run there she seemed to pop up as exactly the same character in about 5 films for a year. I wouldn't be a fan.

I thought she was very good in Spy and one of the few good things in Ghostbusters. When she tones down the annoying-angriness she seems like quite a good actor.

Wedwood

Steve Buscemi and Rob Schneider.

They both play the same cameo oddball in countless movies.

Agent Coulson

Wedwood wrote: »

Steve Buscemi and Rob Schneider.

They both play the same cameo oddball in countless movies.

Usually in one trick pony Adam Sandler movies

errlloyd

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Johnny Depp. He immediately puts me off any film, as he is the same character in every film.

I hear this a lot, and disagree with it completely.

Jonny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, is completely different to his character in Sweeney Todd, The Tourist, Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Neverland.

Ursus Horribilis

Harrison Ford played pretty much the same character in all his films when he was a leading man.

sadie06

Plus one for Keanu Reeves and Harrison Ford. I would add Julia Roberts...always, always herself in a movie.

Also, Joan Cusack. She pops up a lot and never ever changes a thing between characters.

Brian?

Wedwood wrote: »

Steve Buscemi and Rob Schneider.

They both play the same cameo oddball in countless movies.

Buscemi isn't the same character in every film. He's completely different in Fargo and Boardwalk Empire. He was phenomenal as Tony B in the Sopranos.

Bacchus

Brian? wrote: »

Buscemi isn't the same character in every film. He's completely different in Fargo and Boardwalk Empire. He was phenomenal as Tony B in the Sopranos.

Agreed... also characters like Donny, the psycho in Con Air, Mr. Pink. He has a bit of variety to him. I think his biggest problem is the number of cameos or small roles he seemed to do in comedy/action type movies where he was just playing the same half-crazed character.

Mickeroo

Bacchus wrote: »

Agreed... also characters like Donny, the psycho in Con Air, Mr. Pink. He has a bit of variety to him. I think his biggest problem is the number of cameos or small roles he seemed to do in comedy/action type movies where he was just playing the same half-crazed character.

Yeah, maybe people just assume he's the same because all his characters are kinda funny looking.

alchemist33

Funny looking how?

Crazyteacher

Lorelli! wrote: »

My worst one is Hugh Grant - desperately awkward romantic and misunderstood Englishman. Roll eyes! If I see any movie and determine that he's playing that character again, I just think "no, definitely not watching it"!

Some typecast actors do actually work and are just best sticking to it, but it does make you question their acting ability and wonder if they are really just a one trick pony.

I thought Robert De Niro was very good in the movie Stardust. Also liked how he joked about his gangster roles in the movies Analyse This and Analyse That with Billy Crystal.

Any Actors/Actresses that you like or dislike who tend to play the same role over and over? Or actors that shocked you by taking on roles that were not their usual thing?

Hugh Grant is usually type cast but I was pleasently surprised by his role in Florence Foster Jenkins . He really surpassed himself in the love he showed for Florence. Maybe Meryl made him look good but it's the first time I enjoyed his acting.

Crazyteacher

bnt wrote: »

I watched Florence Foster Jenkins last night, and despite Meryl Streep in the iconic title role, I thought Hugh Grant stole the film as her conflicted husband. His performance was almost totally unlike anything he's done before, and it was great to see him defy that stereotype.

Just read your comment after I posted. Totally agree with you!

PucaMama

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Nic Cage must be the king.


Stallone and Arnie and Bruce to and extent.




Seagal & Van Damme basically any B- Actor who had one or two cinema hits and then went straight to DVD playing the same role over and over and over and over and over again

I find Arnie/Stallone/Bruce/seagal/van damme great at what they do tho

PucaMama

ziedth wrote: »

Melissa Mccarthy I once saw someone write that she was the next big comedy star "if we want her to be or not" it seemed for a run there she seemed to pop up as exactly the same character in about 5 films for a year. I wouldn't be a fan.

Cannot stand that woman

Trampas

Sean bean

Keeps dying in his films

Optimalprimerib

I might be proven wrong here, but we were discussing Benedict Cumberbatch a few days ago and it seems that he is always playing the ultra-intelligent borderline autistic character.

In Sherlock, star trek, Dr strange, fifth estate and imitation game, the characters are extremely similar.

Ardent

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Jude law,

no matter the role, he comes across as some sort of smug pretty boy.

I suggest you watch Road To Perdition

darkdubh

Will Smith. Has he ever played an evil or even slightly nasty character? Wish he would broaden his range instead of whining about not winning an oscar. .

eviltimeban

darkdubh wrote: »

Will Smith. Has he ever played an evil or even slightly nasty character? Wish he would broaden his range instead of whining about not winning an oscar. .

Hancock was probably the closest. He was pretty good in that, was a surprising movie in many ways.

As for Stallone, he played a very different character in Cop Land. That's a good movie, worth checking out. I think he could've taken his career a different way after Rocky, but went for the beefed up action hero roles and that sort of defined his career.

Bacchus

darkdubh wrote: »

Will Smith. Has he ever played an evil or even slightly nasty character? Wish he would broaden his range instead of whining about not winning an oscar. .

Hancock and Suicide Squad... neither great movies but Smith is good in them as a not so heroic hero. I really liked him in I Am Legend where... ok he's the good guy but he's a very conflicted/troubled character.

Not sure about that dig about the Oscars. He had a series of quick talking, smart mouth action movies in the early 2000's but he has been nominated twice for an Oscar so he is in the mix and does do serious roles.

FunLover18

I've heard that Smith has a list of criteria that any potential roles must adhere to. Supposedly this is why he turned down Django Unchained, which is a shame because I reckon he could've been great in that part.