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I Am Not Leonard Nimoy: Difference between revisions
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Sometimes an actor is so iconic, famous, or interesting that their celebrity casts a shadow over the roles they play. That's not ''[[Hancock]]'' in skin tight leather flying around saving people; that's [[Will Smith]]! In ''[[Hitch]]'', that's Will Smith giving dating advice. And ''[[Independence Day]]'' has Will Smith as a fighter pilot! Audiences are unable to commit to a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Willing]] [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief|Suspension of Disbelief]] and simply see the actor on screen rather than his character.
Sometimes this occurs because the actor is a media darling or tabloid punching bag, constantly in the news. After a while, audiences become so familiar with the actor's personal life that they can no longer see him or her as another person. Other times this is the result of movie stars becoming typecast or having limited range. Audiences come to expect the actor to play the same role over and over again, which becomes part of the actor's larger-than-life persona.
For an actor's career, this can be a double-edged sword. If people like the actor they'll stay loyal to him and see his movies regardless of what they're about. On the other hand, if audiences turn against the actor, they won't be able to appreciate his work no matter how good the material is. And if they really want to be taken seriously and play ''[[Hamlet]]'', it's a real (but not impossible) obstacle to overcome.
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== Actors ==
* [[John Wayne]] was famous for "playing himself" in almost all of his films. His personality was so larger than life that his characters were ultimately just different names for the same man in different circumstances. Wayne himself admitted as much, though he did at least find his role as Ethan Edwards in ''[[The Searchers]]'' so unique that he named his son after the character. When Wayne tried to branch out too far, such as by [[
* [[Samuel L. Jackson]] is generally perceived to be "Samuel L. Motherfuckin' Jackson" in any role he played after ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''. Even as a fucking ''Jedi'', he was ''still'' Samuel L. Jackson, [[Full-Name Basis|and yes, the "L" is important.]] Other movies you may have seen recently are "[[Snakes on a Plane|Samuel L. Jackson hates motherfuckin' reptiles]]", "[[The Incredibles|Samuel L. Jackson is cool even in a motherfuckin' family film]]", and "[[Marvel Cinematic Universe|Samuel L. Jackson coordinates motherfuckin' superheroes]]".
* [[Clint Eastwood]]'s roles in westerns are always seen as simply the "Clint Eastwood Gunfighter" character. Beginning with his role as "The [[Man With No Name]]" in the ''[[Dollars Trilogy]]'' with [[Sergio Leone]], any future western with Eastwood would undoubtedly be seen as that character in a different setting, regardless of any actual backstories. The character has even come out of retirement twice, once after having become a priest in ''[[Pale Rider]]'' and once after having settled down as a farmer in ''[[Unforgiven]]''. However, Eastwood has gone on record as saying that as far as he's concerned, William Munny from ''Unforgiven'' '''is''' the Man With No Name, and that it's the end of his story.
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** For a very jarring exception, watch him in ''[[The Thin Man (film)|After the Thin Man]]''. {{spoiler|He spends most of the movie playing his usual nice guy persona, so it's very unexpected when it turns out he's the murderer... and a complete psychotic nut to boot!}}
** Stewart also [[Playing Against Type|played against type]] in ''[[Rear Window]]'', where he was a fairly grouchy voyeur.
* [[Cary Grant]] always played the handsome, cool, smooth leading man, except in ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' or ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace]]''. Those are both earlier movies; as his career progressed, he was [[Typecasting|more and more pigeonholed into that one role]], the 'Cary Grant leading man' role. Which he actively worked to cultivate over the years.
* [[Michael Caine]], a cool [[Every Man]] who won't take people trying it on with him, even if he has to get a bit violent. But still tempers his rough with enough smoothness to be a hit with the ladies. This persona was a key role model for the Nineties "New Lad" lifestyle of magazines such as ''Loaded'', ''FHM'' and ''Maxim''.
** ''[[Harry Brown]]'' averts this, as though he's Michael Caine and a [[Retired Badass]] turned vigilante, he's an old man in much worse shape than the teenagers he's taking on, even if a number of them are monged by drugs and booze. Harry is definitely a man who used to be a Michael Caine character, but went to seed.
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** The "traditional" Shatner shows up on [[Boston Legal]]; however, there are moments where he's nothing but [[Say My Name|Denny Crane]] - and those moments range from heartwrenching to absolutely awesome.
* [[The Marx Brothers]] played virtually the exact same characters in all of their movies. Despite the fact that their respective characters were essentially identical in all of their films, in each film the characters have different names, jobs, and backstories. Even so, to the audience they're still always Groucho, Chico and Harpo...and sometimes Zeppo. (They were billed as themselves in ''Monkey Business''.)
* Though [[Sean Connery]] tries to play different characters, the man's distinctive features and voice, at least since his hair greyed, tend to just say 'This is [[The Rock (film)|Sean Connery in Prison]]' '[[Highlander|This is Sean Connery the Scotsman Pretending to Be an Egyptian Pretending to be A Spaniard]]' '[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade|He's pretending to be Harrison Ford's Dad in this one]]', etc.
** His voice alone can have this effect. '[[Dragonheart|This is Sean Connery as a dragon]]'!
* [[Abbott and Costello]], to the point where most of their later films simply had them playing themselves.
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* [[Woody Allen]] will ''always'' play [[The Simpsons|that nervous fella in all his movies]], and if he's not on in front of the screen he ''will'' have a surrogate (perhaps the only exception to this is ''[[Match Point]]'')
** One word: Interiors.
* [[Ben Stiller]] often plays very similar characters. Sometimes, even with his father, Jerry Stiller. You might know him better as [[Seinfeld|George's dad]]. Yup, Ben Stiller is ''his'' son.
* [[Ricky Gervais]] after his appearance in ''[[The Office]]'' basically plays himself. Perhaps with a bit of [[Adam Westing]] (or maybe he ''is'' that much of a jerk.) An arrogant egotist with a sharp and chastising sense of humour.
* [[Robert Downey, Jr.]] does always seem to be playing a smartass these days. And not just a smartass, but a flawed, womanizing (with varying success), substance-abuse-prone, freakishly charming smartass. In fact he seems to just play himself. (Except ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' when he's playing Christian Bale/Russel Crowe.)
* [[Morgan Freeman]] is awesome because he is [[God|Morgan Freeman.]] The reason he can get away with playing a lot of b-movie roles, is because not a Morgan Freeman playing a bad character in a bad movie, but a bad film becoming [[So Bad It's Good]] because its got Morgan Freeman in it!
** Ironic, considering some of his earlier roles were very different from the calm, smooth-voiced performance he's known for now. Consider him in "Brubaker" as a crazy prisoner (so-so) and [[Lean On Me]] as a [[Jerkass]] school principal (pretty [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ1hKtYOx_c convincing]).
** The only reason that you {{spoiler|''never'' suspect he is the bad guy}} in ''[[Wanted]]'' is ''precisely'' because he is Morgan Freeman.
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** As well as [[Schindler's List|Liam Neeson Vs. the Nazis]].
** And [[The Chronicles of Narnia|Liam Neeson wearing a catsuit]] as [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|Golden Lion Jesus.]]
** Even the case when he was cast as the dad in the English dub of [[Ponyo]].
** This can partly be attributed to the fact that he's [[The Big Guy|insanely tall]] and has a very distinctive voice, and neither are things one can really disguise, especially not the voice. Even when he's trying on other accents, his voice is very deep and, well, really easy to spot as [[Hey, It's That Voice!|Liam Neeson.]]
** Except for the time he was [[Darkman|a borderline psychotic anti-hero.]]
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** It should be noted that he was selected for [[Rocky III|both his]] [[The A-Team|best-known roles]] by simple virtue of being Mr. T. And he has remained Mr. T since.
* [[Tom Hanks]] mostly just plays [[Tom Hanks]] these days.
* [[Ryan Reynolds]] always seems to play the cool, funny guy in a romantic comedy or screwball comedy. Or the Green Lantern movie.
* [[Tim Curry]] is always Tim Curry. If he turns up in anything, it's odds-on that he is evil and/or will die at the end.
** [[Sonic the Hedgehog|King Acorn]] and [[Spamalot|King Arthur]] are two notable exceptions. Also [[The Wild Thornberries|Nigel Thornberry]], who many don't even recognize as him.
** Also in video games: in [[Dragon Age|Dragon Age: Origins]], Tim Curry is the voice of the [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Evil Aristocrat]] who murders the PC's entire family (if you follow Human Noble origin) and goes on to help start a civil war {{spoiler|before ultimately being killed by the PC and their party}}
* [[Steve Carell]] is an example similar to Harrison Ford above. In ''[[The Office]]'' and ''[[Anchorman]]'', he's Michael Scott and Brick Tamland, respectively. In anything else, he's Steve Carell.
* Most of the lead actors in ''[[The Expendables]]''. They're not Barney Ross, Lee Christmas, and Yin Yang. They're Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Jet Li.
* While pretty much no one can complain about his performance, several people lamented the fact that having J.K. Simmons voice Cave Johnson in ''[[Portal 2]]'' had the drawback of making it pretty much impossible to picture someone other than Simmons saying those lines, regardless of all the portraits of Johnson lying around.
** For British players, this also applies to Wheatley. Try to hear his voice without picturing Stephen Merchant. Bonus points if you start expecting Karl Pilkington, Ricky Gervais or [[Extras|Barry from Eastenders]] to turn up, as Merchant's voice almost sounds strange without them.
* Many people don't even know that [[David Bowie]]'s character's name in ''[[Labyrinth]]'' is supposed to be Jareth, not "David Bowie".
* Voice Acting Example: [[Norio Wakamoto]] as [[Baccano!|a newspaper editor]]; [[Norio Wakamoto]] as [[Code Geass|the Emperor of Britannia]]; [[Norio Wakamoto]] as [[Azumanga Daioh|a flying cat.. alien... thing... that may or may not be Santa Claus]].
* [[Michael Cera]] is pretty much the same awkward young guy in every role, to the point that some are getting a little sick of it.
* [[Brian Blessed]]: Completely and utterly embraces this trope, absolutely revels in his reputation as a [[Boisterous Bruiser]] in spite of the fact he is [[He Really Can Act|perfectly capable of "proper" acting]] if he feels like it (see [[I, Claudius]] for proof).
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