NationStates Jolt Archive

There are some actors and actresses that only play one type of character. The personality, the speech, it's always the same.
Now I realize that to some extent all actors will play the same type of character because it's what they're good at. I'm looking for fairly concrete examples with maybe one or two exceptions. Give the name and the type of character.
I'll start

Will Smith - cocky, self-assured, smart-mouthed
John Wayne - slow talking cowboy (note: for a good exception to this rule, wath [I]The Quiet Man)

That one British actor, damn what's his name? I can't think of it, but he ALWAYS does romantic comedies, he has never ever in his career done anything else. He also plays practically the same character in each film. I'll give someone a cookie if they can think of his name.

Samuel L. Jackson always plays a character with the concept and the vision (XXX, Star Wars, Unbreakable, etc.)

Are you thinking of Hugh Grant? :) <-- Kejott

Arnold Schwarzenegger
(he has tried comedies but OH! The pain!!!)

Are you thinking of Hugh Grant? :) <-- Kejott

haha, YES *gives you a cookie* I can never think of the bastard's name.

Joe Pesci- smart mouth little tough guy

Denzel Washington: A strong black man who tries to do what's right.

Denzel Washington: A strong black man who tries to do what's right.

Hey, Denzel's THE man. I don't wanna see any trash about him! :p

Woody Allen: The little, nervous Jewish guy who rambles on about everything.

Tom Hanks - the character you want to punch in the face
Tara Reid - the dumb easy blonde character. Hold on a second...

Tom Hanks - the character you want to punch in the face
Tara Reid - the dumb easy blonde character. Hold on a second...

Tom Hanks? What??

You must be forgetting Big, The Burbs, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, and Forrest Gump. Tom plays many different roles, man.

Hey, Denzel's THE man. I don't wanna see any trash about him! :p

Okay. Give me ONE movie (aside from Training Day, which was a fluke) where he doesn't play a strong black man who tries to do what's right. If you can do that, I'll shut the fuck up, okay?

Tom Hanks? What??

You must be forgetting Big, The Burbs, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, and Forrest Gump. Tom plays many different roles, man.
To be honest I did want to punch him in the face in Big and Forrest Gump. The Burbs and Saving Private Ryan were good though.

Hey, Denzel's THE man. I don't wanna see any trash about him! :p
Since when is calling someone a "strong black man who tries to do what's right" talking trash?

Bela Lugosi: Dracula
Christopher Lee: Dracula

That one British actor, damn what's his name? I can't think of it, but he ALWAYS does romantic comedies, he has never ever in his career done anything else. He also plays practically the same character in each film. I'll give someone a cookie if they can think of his name.

You should see "About a Boy". It has Hugh Grant and it's not a romatic comedy and it's a completely different character than he usually plays. It's a pretty good film, based on a book by Nick Horby (he also wrote "Fever Pitch" and "High Fidelity," which also made good films, well, the original Fever Pitch with Colin Firth was pretty decent...).

Cary Grant- lets see- he's a sophisticated good guy with a non descript accent (nobody else has...) and a sex appeal to make James Bond nervous.
but maybe he just has a strong star persona. He doesn't act any differently if his character is a buisiness man or a super spy.

its funny, though. We usually think its derrogotory to say a certain actor doesn't play different kind of roles when we get upset at directors who do different kinds of films. It would have been hilarious to see Cary Grant in a western.


for a good example of an actor that should have been type cast his whole life but wasn't, look at Kevin Cosner...

Sandra Bullock
Keanu Reeves

Denzel and the Fresh Prince are both black men we can all agree on. :)

Bela Lugosi: Dracula
Christopher Lee: Dracula


Christopher Lee:

Saruman, Count Dooku.

Actually these ones are most recent.
The guy did like over 40 movies, not all of them were "Hammer" movies.

Keanu Reeves

Damn, beat me to it. Yeah, every character he plays is totally out of it and blunders into success. "Whoa... we did it!"

Keanu Reeves is actually modeled out of large amounts of modeling clay and then set on the stage and expected to act in at least half of his movies. We can see the results of his attempts to break out of his shell... Sweet November and Little Buddha... well, it feels a lot more like an egg sitting there trying to act than someone who's broken out and has developed any style beyond his "Bill and Ted" days.

Now don't get me wrong-- this style is perfect for The Matrix, because he's supposed to be clueless the whole time during the movie. But no matter how he's cast, that's how he comes off. I like Keanu Reeves, but versitility is not a strong suit.

Okay. Give me ONE movie (aside from Training Day, which was a fluke) where he doesn't play a strong black man who tries to do what's right. If you can do that, I'll shut the fuck up, okay?

"Mo better Blues" by Spike Lee. In that he plays a kinda disturbed womanizer who plays the saxofone in a bar. "Much Ado about nothing", by Kenneth Branagh. In that he just plays a weird sort of goofy baron in a Shakespeare adaptation. But I admit he does tend to play the same roles - but you gotta admit he plays them awfully well.

Quedas "O Bravo"

Heather Locklear.

Sean Connery.
Adam Sandler.
Pretty much any action star in general.

Cary Grant- lets see- he's a sophisticated good guy with a non descript accent (nobody else has...) and a sex appeal to make James Bond nervous.
but maybe he just has a strong star persona. He doesn't act any differently if his character is a buisiness man or a super spy.

its funny, though. We usually think its derrogotory to say a certain actor doesn't play different kind of roles when we get upset at directors who do different kinds of films. It would have been hilarious to see Cary Grant in a western.

you didnt see cary grant in "bringing up baby" did you?

Brad Pitt. Always plays the slightly not quite normal cool sauve guy who deadpans one-liners.
George Clooney can be added to that category as well.

I would say Angelina Jolie, but it would be based only on what I've read her roles have been, as I don't think I've ever managed to watch an entire movie with her in it.

Bill Murray - always the oddball who doesn't quite understand what's going on but doesn't really care. But he's fantastic in these roles so I don't care (aside from 'Lost in Translation' which was utter overindulged cliched shit).

Lots of English actors invariably get type-cast. Bill Nighy for example always plays Bill Nighy-type people in movies. But I think this is due to the nepotistic, incestous business that is British movieland where roles appear to be especially written hust for one particular actor. 'Love Actually' is a fine example of this. (cue barfing smiley).

And to the 'Denzel Washington is a one role actor' brigade - you don't win 2 oscars by being 1 dimensional.

I would have included Chuck Norris as a one-role actor, but this would only be half right, as calling him an actor would be pushing the boundaries on how you define the word 'actor'.

Okay. Give me ONE movie (aside from Training Day, which was a fluke) where he doesn't play a strong black man who tries to do what's right. If you can do that, I'll shut the fuck up, okay?

Wasn't he in the film with Sean Connery where he is a murderer/rapist? Maybe that wasn't him, but I think it was....

Brad Pitt. Always plays the slightly not quite normal cool sauve guy who deadpans one-liners.

????

Brad Pitt has played plenty of varied roles. In fact, you never really see him in the same role twice, although he does tend (sometimes) to come off all heartthrobby.

He and Johnny Depp are, I believe, two of the most versatile actors out there.

Okay. Give me ONE movie (aside from Training Day, which was a fluke) where he doesn't play a strong black man who tries to do what's right. If you can do that, I'll shut the fuck up, okay?
How about Glory! He plays the bad soldier throughout most of the movie & cries when he gets whipped?

Damn, beat me to it. Yeah, every character he plays is totally out of it and blunders into success. "Whoa... we did it!"

Keanu Reeves is actually modeled out of large amounts of modeling clay and then set on the stage and expected to act in at least half of his movies. We can see the results of his attempts to break out of his shell... Sweet November and Little Buddha... well, it feels a lot more like an egg sitting there trying to act than someone who's broken out and has developed any style beyond his "Bill and Ted" days.

Now don't get me wrong-- this style is perfect for The Matrix, because he's supposed to be clueless the whole time during the movie. But no matter how he's cast, that's how he comes off. I like Keanu Reeves, but versitility is not a strong suit.
Your forgetting about Much Ado About Nothing I'm afraid.

????

Brad Pitt has played plenty of varied roles. In fact, you never really see him in the same role twice, although he does tend (sometimes) to come off all heartthrobby.

He and Johnny Depp are, I believe, two of the most versatile actors out there.

That's true. Pitt in "Twelve Monkeys" was...well, not a "slightly not quite normal cool sauve guy who deadpans one-liners."

How about Glory! He plays the bad soldier througout most of the movie & cries when he gets whipped?
For that matter Denzel in Much Ado about nothing showed no signs of being tough.
Noble & regal but not tough. Plus he was a more caring man then a tough man in the film.
Enough to shut you up yet?

That's true. Pitt in "Twelve Monkeys" was...well, not a "slightly not quite normal cool sauve guy who deadpans one-liners."

Nor in Fight Club or Seven Days in Tibet.

And he was far from normal or suave in Interview with the Vampire, The Mexican.

And in Snatch you were lucky if you could understand what he was saying at all. LOL

Ben Stein never would have had any kind of careear without playing the same character. Over & Over again.

Okay. Give me ONE movie (aside from Training Day, which was a fluke) where he doesn't play a strong black man who tries to do what's right. If you can do that, I'll shut the fuck up, okay?

He Got Game and Mo' Better Blues.