I Am Not Spock: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Notspock 4-3 8953.jpg|link=Mission: Impossible (TV series)|frame|[[Self-Demonstrating Article|Wait, when did Spock change his name?]]]]
{{quote|''It was Captain Kirk playing TJ Hooker, not [[William Shatner]] the actor. You're just thinking he's taken a month off... and come down to Earth and said 'I want to be a cop for a bit'.''
|'''[[Eddie Izzard]]''', ''Unrepeatable''}}
One of the most severe forms of [[Typecasting]], in which an actor or actress is not only defined as a certain character archetype, but literally in a specific role.
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== Film ==
* ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'' parodied the dilemma of the cast of ''[[Star Trek]]'', where the entire cast of the [[Show Within a Show|in-universe sci-fi series]] is known for nothing else—and one of them laments that [[Classically-Trained Extra|he used to be in Shakespeare plays]] before he started on the series. Not only did several of the original ''[[Star Trek]]'' cast act in [[Shakespeare]] before their ''[[Star Trek]]'' roles (including [[William Shatner]] and [[Patrick Stewart]]), but so did [[Alan Rickman]], the actor who plays the complaining character who [[Lampshade Hanging|says this]].
** Despite his hatred for the role, Rickman's character is never seen without his [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|make up on]]. He even wears it ''at home by himself''.
* In ''[[Soap Dish]]'', everyone in the dinner theater washed
== Live-Action TV ==
* A variant happens in the first Thanksgiving episode of ''[[Friends]]''.
* A plotline running through the second season of ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'' had [[Larry David]] trying to pitch a show about a ''[[Seinfeld]]'' actor facing this, first with [[Jason Alexander]], then with [[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]]. [[Failure Is the Only Option|He fails with both attempts]].
* When [[Richard Wilson]] guest starred in ''[[Father Ted]]'' as himself, he beat Ted up for using [[One Foot in the Grave|Victor Meldrew]]'s catchphrase on him.
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** Even diehard ''[[Babylon 5]]'' fans had a hard time not thinking of Walter Koenig's [[Magnificent Bastard]], Alfred Bester, as "Evil Chekov".
** Kirk Thatcher, a associate producer on ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]'', played a tiny, albeit memorable role in the film. He says his gravestone will read "Punk On Bus - Star Trek IV" even if he wins the Nobel Prize.
** The cast of the
*** Michael Dorn simply looks ''wrong'' without his makeup, and
*** [[Patrick Stewart]] could not escape from being Picard... until he became [[X-Men (film)|Professor Xavier]].
*** Roxann Briggs-Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) looks very strange without her Klingon forehead. She has tried to avoid this by quitting acting in favor of (TV) directing. Same with Robert Duncan McNeill (a producer on ''[[Chuck]]''), [[Jonathan Frakes]], LeVar Burton...
*** LeVar Burton has [[Zig Zagged Trope|zig-zagged around this trope]], since he's also famous for starring in ''[[Roots]]'' and hosting ''[[Reading Rainbow]]''. In fact, when ''TNG'' first premiered, ''he'' was the biggest name in the cast (in the United States; in Britain, veteran Shakespearean actor Stewart was better known). He at least accepted his role fairly well and inserted his character into an episode of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' he was directing ("Timeless"), rather than having a stand-in. It made the audience more sympathetic to both sides of the dilemma, since the man our heroes were on the run from was... another hero.
*** Those who don't think of Will Riker when they see Jonathon Frakes probably think of [[Gargoyles|David Xanatos]] when they hear him.
** John De Lancie is having a hard time escaping his association with the iconic Q. It doesn't help that he voice acted a Q [[Expy]] named Discord in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'', which has become his new iconic role for the kids and young adult ''MIP:FIM'' watchers from [[The New Tens]].
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* Speaking of the late [[Alan Rickman]], he took on the role of [[Harry Potter (film)|Severus Snape]] and so thoroughly claimed it that [[J. K. Rowling]] has admitted she started to picture the character looking like him in later books. Through the end of his life, Rickman had declined interviews, realizing that reporters were only going to ask about Snape. Earlier than that, he was due to be forever remembered as "the bad guy from ''[[Die Hard]]''" (and [[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves|the Sheriff of Nottingham]] even before that). Then again, his character's experience in the aforementioned ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'' probably helped him realize what he was up against.
** Everybody began thinking of [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Marvin the Paranoid Android]] as "The Snape" after [[Alan Rickman]] provided his voice.
** Nearly all the actors to play Hogwarts students, helped no doubt by the fact that prior to being cast in the series, all of them were either unknowns or had simply never acted before. So when [[Daniel Radcliffe]] did ''[[Equus]]'', we had to put up with endless groan-inducing "Harry Potter shows his wand" jokes. The only exceptions are [[Robert Pattinson]] and [[Emma Watson]], though only because he is instead Spocked as [[Twilight (novel)|Edward Cullen]], and she because
** Parodied in ''[[Get Him to The Greek]]'', in which [[Tom Felton]] had a cameo appearance as himself with Jonah Hill's character attempting to impress him by making lame ''Harry Potter'' jokes. Felton walked away in annoyance after a few seconds of this. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9-8IjgM8so here].
** Due to having an [[All-Star Cast]] play all the [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] in the series, almost any high-profile British film made since about 1990 can be turned into a game of "spot the ''Harry Potter'' characters."
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* [[Tom Baker]] will forever be seen as the fourth Doctor, from the TV series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', no matter how much he wants not to (and he really, ''really'' doesn't want to). In fact, this applies to most of the actors who have played the title role, with the exception of Paul McGann and [[Christopher Eccleston]], who both played the Doctor for very short periods, and [[Peter Davison]], who had another starring role in ''[[All Creatures Great and Small]]'' at the same time, and has had a varied career since, thanks in part to taking Patrick Troughton's (Doctor #2) advice to leave the role after 3 seasons. [[David Tennant]] seemed to be purposely doing a varied amount of side roles in other works in order to avoid this, despite the fact he was essentially [[Promoted Fanboy|living out his childhood dream of playing the Doctor]] - when the show took a break of sorts in 2009 he played [[Hamlet]]. (Contrary to popular belief, the show didn't take a break so that he could play ''Hamlet'', it did so to ease the change of production teams in 2010 and Tennant simply put the massive gap to good use.)
** Tom Baker most embodies this trope of all the Doctors, simply because by his own admission he ''was'' the Doctor during the years he played him - it's fair to say there wasn't a huge amount going on in his life when he managed to get the role, so he and the character grew together over the next seven years - he used to walk around in the hat, long scarf and coat, sign autographs "Doctor Who" and so on. He understood the power of this on his younger fans - there's a famous story of him being out and about one Saturday evening, wanting to see his latest episode of DW as it aired, and upon being let into a house where the TV was on he slipped quietly into a seat to watch the programme without disturbing the children already in the room; the look on their faces at the moment where they glanced around from the screen, then back, then back to the Doctor in the next chair can be vividly imagined... He later shied away from revisiting the series for many years, but in 2009 finally took up the role again in a series of audio dramas made under license by BBC Audio, though arguably only when his fame had gone from "Formerly of Doctor Who" to "Famed Eccentric and borderline National Treasure". And then he made his cameo in the 50th Anniversary Special -- as a ''future'' incarnation of the Doctor, reusing a "favorite face".
** Subverted with Patrick Troughton (the Second Doctor). He was a highly successful character actor before ''Doctor Who'' and became one almost immediately after leaving the program. He was always recognized as the Doctor for the rest of his life, and loved doing conventions, but he did more than enough stuff that he was often recognized for his other work too. A combination of being arguably the most versatile and talented actor to play the part combined with always keeping a sharp distinction between himself and all of his roles probably both helped a great deal with that.
** Jon Pertwee got a double dose of the typecasting both as the Doctor and as scarecrow [[Worzel Gummidge]], but as both were roles he thoroughly enjoyed, he seemed to be more accepting of it.
*** Jon Pertwee was, in fact, so fond of the Doctor that he rarely passed up an opportunity to appear in character, whether on TV, radio, or on stage at fan conventions. Most touchingly, his final formal television appearance just a few weeks before his death was on ''Cilla's Surprise Surprise'' where he granted a young boy's wish to meet his favorite Doctor.
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** William Hartnell may have avoided the fate by default, as he left ''Doctor Who'' because of drastically declining health and was dying and knew it when he was called back to reprise his role in ''The Three Doctors''.
** Sophie Aldred, Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker are also Ace, the Seventh Doctor and the Sixth Doctor.
** The late, lamented [[Elisabeth Sladen]] was, is, and will forever be Sarah Jane Smith.
** The half-joke in the fandom is that [[Peter Capaldi]] accepted to be the Doctor to substitute his role association with the extremely bad tempered and foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker from ''[[The Thick of It]]'' with another to a more gentle role.
* The cast of ''[[Star Wars]]'' may [[Never Live It Down]]:
** [[Mark Hamill]] could be said to suffer pretty badly from this. His role as Luke Skywalker in ''[[Star Wars]]'', while famous, wrecked his acting career in Hollywood, although he's done well in Broadway, theater and voice acting since then. Some of the effect may stem from the facial scarring he picked up in an auto accident during the trilogy, which made him better as the maturing Luke in ''Empire'' and ''Jedi'', but less bankable as a leading man. He has gained recognition as a voice actor though,and has kinda been Spocked into his role as [[The Joker]]
** Carrie Fisher also suffered from this. "Hey, Princess Leia wrote a book!" She once said that she didn't sleep around in her 20s because she didn't want guys running around saying, "Hey! I banged Princess Leia!" You can't call
** Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) is another ''[[Star Wars]]'' victim, although you'd have thought being entirely invisible ''and'' altering his normal speaking voice would have saved him. In an interview for the biggest ''[[Star Wars]]'' fanzine, Daniels says that he doesn't get recognized too often, just often enough that "It's very pleasant and joyful and rather sweet, but I also have my privacy." He also notes that there was a time, somewhere in the late nineties, when he'd wanted to just stop doing the character, but he changed his mind; overall, "Threepio has been very kind to me all these years." Aww.
** And there's Sir Alec Guinness, who thought the script was terrible but did it [[Money, Dear Boy|purely for the money]], and ''hated'' that people started identifying him entirely as Obi-Wan rather than acknowledging his vast film and stage career before the role. He even claimed to tear up any piece of fan mail as soon as it mentioned ''[[Star Wars]]''.
*** There's an urban legend that he once told a fan that he would only sign an autograph if the boy promised to never watch ''Star Wars'' again. The legend also says that the boy's mother ''thanked'' Sir Alec; apparently the kid was utterly obsessed.
*** According to Guinness' novel ''A Positively Final Appearance'', the story did indeed happen. By his account, however, the mother spat fire in his direction rather than extend thanks, and he never mentions actually giving the autograph.
** This trope is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the ''Star Wars'' parody episode of ''[[Family Guy]],'' when Peter Griffin, as Han Solo, says [[Harrison Ford|"...I'm the only actor whose career isn't ruined by this movie."]]
** Unless he's pitching Colt 45, Billy Dee Williams will always be Lando Calrissian. This was even played for laughs in ''[[Scrubs]]'', as Turk keeps calling him Lando, despite his insistent cry of "Billy Dee!".
** No mention yet of David Prowse and James Earl Jones yet? While the latter seems more liberated, the former is well known mainly for the role of Darth Vader.
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** Of course, the way Harrison Ford handled this and thus allowed him to largely escape from it could probably serve as a bit of a lesson to some others. He understood just how visible and popular the movie had made him, and rather than stewing over it simply took the roles of playing a roguish bad boy as they were offered, gradually parlaying his growing stardom, popularity, and audience draw into more diverse roles.
* The reported reason for Tiffany Brissette's early retirement from acting was her fear of being remembered only as Vicki from ''[[Small Wonder]]'' and being cast accordingly.
* [[Adam West]], try as he might, will always be "the campy [[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]". [[Adam Westing|He
* Classic example: In the end, [[Bela Lugosi]] ''was'' [[Dracula]], no matter what he did. However, it was his son and his fifth wife, not Lugosi himself, who decided to have him buried in a Dracula cloak.
** Even Lugosi's friends and coworkers couldn't help but typecast him. Vincent Price wrote in his autobiography that at Lugosi's funeral, Peter Lorre, observing the cape, turned to Price and asked, "Should we stick a stake in his heart just to be sure?"
* In a similar way, the 60s and 70s [[Christopher Lee]] ''was'' [[Dracula]]. In the mid-70s he decided that this was an undesirable thing and [[Creator Backlash|dissociated himself from the character]]. He has been fairly successful in this as time has passed - younger film watchers are more likely to think of him as [[The Lord of the Rings|Saruman]] or [[Star Wars|Count Dooku]].
** He seems to have traded in his vampiric role associations for [[Typecasting]] as authoritative villains, including King Haggard and the grouchy bishop in ''Corpse Bride''.
* [[Kelsey Grammer]] will probably always be identified with his eponymous in ''[[Frasier]]''. After all, he not only played it for 11 years in that show, but portrayed the same character for 9 years before that in ''[[Cheers]]''.
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* Hervé Villechaize's suicide was heavily rumored to be in part caused by his [[Hey, It's That Guy!|inescapable recognition]] by fans as Tattoo from ''[[Fantasy Island]]''.
* Andrea McArdle as ''[[Annie]]''. And, in fact, most girls who played Annie on Broadway (except [[Sarah Jessica Parker]]).
** In fact, McArdle declined to be in the documentary ''Life After Tomorrow'', chronicling many of the women who played orphan roles on Broadway. This ran the gamut from fairly well-adjusted women to actresses still in the business to women who just can't shake their association, and it's likely she declined because she fell into the latter. (Sarah Jessica Parker didn't have a problem with it; neither did
* Bert Lahr will be always remembered as the Cowardly Lion in ''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', despite every other role he played on screen and on stage.
** Margaret Hamilton had severe trouble getting another job after her role as the Witch in the same movie; everyone hated her.
** [[Judy Garland]] is kind of a retroactive example. She starred in many films during her lifetime, but most of them have since faded into obscurity. ''Oz'' has endured and now most people remember her only for Dorothy. If she's remembered for something other than ''Oz'', it's ''[[Meet Me in St. Louis]]''.
* Parodied on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' "Treehouse of Horror" segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena", in which everyone who encountered ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' star Lucy Lawless addressed her as "Xena", much to her exasperation. Eventually, at the end of the segment when Bart and Lisa have rescued her from The Collector, she offers to take them home — and so picks them up and begins to fly. "Xena can't fly!" Lisa exclaims. Lawless' response? "I told you, I'm ''not'' Xena. I'm Lucy Lawless." Apparently, Lucy Lawless ''can'' fly.
** Ironically, Lucy Lawless hasn't been typecast as Xena types — her most recent{{when}} role is on "Spartacus".
* Michael Richards will forever be known as Kramer from ''[[Seinfeld]]'', [[N-Word Privileges|if he's lucky]].
** The rest of the ''[[Seinfeld]]'' cast is doomed in the same manner, save Jerry himself, who wisely stayed out of acting for a long time after the end of the show. (Is anyone else amused by the thought of Jerry Seinfeld being typecast as... Jerry Seinfeld?)
*** Jason Alexander has actually said he is thankful for ''Seinfeld'' typecasting him; before, he was known as the '[[Pretty Woman|Guy who tried to rape]] [[Julia Roberts]].'
*** Also Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has found success as [[The New Adventures of Old Christine|Old Christine]]
*** The "[[Phrase Catcher|Hello Newman]]" thing has haunted Wayne Knight throughout his career. One time after a series of not so fortunate events happened, someone went up to him and said that very line to him; he apparently got mad and punched the guy. Although Newman is known to [[JFK (film)|play]] [[Toy Story (franchise)||other]] [[Jurassic Park|fat]] [[Torchwood: Miracle Day|bastards]].
* [[Paul Zaloom]], political puppeteer, is quite fondly remembered as [[Beakman's World|Beakman]]. Woe be to any parent who brings their kids to his ''very'' adult-themed puppet shows.
* A less extreme example: It would seem that Richard Dean Anderson could not quite shake his old role in ''[[MacGyver]]'' in the early days of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. In one episode, Amanda Tapping played a prank on him by going off script and began yelling at him for being unable to find a way out of the mess they were in, pointing out that MacGyver would have been able to do it easily.
** Given that Tapping reportedly got her role by ad libbing a small ''MacGyver'' reference into the scene they used for her audition (which made it into the final script: "It took us fifteen years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth"), I think Anderson's not exactly unhappy about it.
** The fact that Anderson has since then managed to truly be O'Neill is referenced in a ''Simpsons'' episode where Patty and Selma kidnap "MacGyver", who they are obsessed with. He's in Springfield because of a ''Stargate'' convention.
* Subverted by [[Boris Karloff]]. While the falling quality of [[Frankenstein]] films caused him to stop working in them, he always acknowledged the fact that the Frankenstein monster was sole reason he became a successful actor. He also took being typecast as a compliment, since it meant everyone thought he was better than anyone else in a specific type of role.
** One of the last films he made, ''[[Targets]]'', is in part a study on Karloff's career and the typecasting he faced; his character is Boris Karloff with the serial numbers filed off.
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* Alyson Hannigan must say a prayer of gratitude every night for ''[[American Pie]]'' and ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', the two roles that saved her from being typecast as [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Willow.]]
** [[Your Mileage May Vary|YMMV]] on what she's worried about more. From the sound of some interviews, she seems to be rather thankful for ''Buffy'' and ''How I Met Your Mother'', [[Old Shame|as she then won't have to worry as much]] [[Oh Crap|about informing her kids of her role in]] ''American Pie''. Sure, she returned for ''American Reunion'', [[Money, Dear Boy|but...]]
** ''Buffy'' castmate and title star [[Sarah Michelle Gellar]] has even said that she distances herself from the character and refused to do any spin-offs, because she was afraid of only being remembered for Buffy for the rest of her life. Her subsequent films (''The Grudge, Scooby-Doo''...) have made sure that her career is not going to help her [[Never Live It Down|live Buffy down anytime soon.]]
*** Probably not helped by the fact that her acting range pretty much consists of "joking Buffy" and "serious Buffy".
* Ardal O'Hanlon from ''[[Father Ted]]'' gets annoyed by people going to his stand-up comedy gigs expecting him to perform [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYzVMcgWhg 'My Lovely Horse'].
* Josh Peck is well known for being the goofy stepbrother of Drake Bell's character in ''[[Drake and Josh]]''. Although his new film ''The Wackness'' gave him the chance to break through the cutesy, child-star mold. He'll still be that cute kid from Nickelodeon to some though.
* Tom Wilson would like you to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwY5o2fsG7Y stop asking him the questions] about ''[[Back to The Future]]'', you [[Wing Commander (video game)|maniacs]]!
** "Biff Tannen" in the ''Wing Commander'' series...
** [[Michael J. Fox]] has starred on not one, but two successful sitcoms, ''[[Family Ties]]'' and ''[[Spin City]]''. He'll still be Marty McFly for all eternity.
** Averted with [[Christopher Lloyd]], who seems to be remembered just as well for [[Taxi|"Reverend" Jim]] as he is for "Doc" Brown. It helps that "What does a yellow light mean?" is as big a meme as "1.21 gigawatts!"
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** [[Adam Westing|Played with]] when Bob Denver guest starred on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' - "And another thing! When people come up to me and say, 'Hey, little buddy!', and hit me over the head with a hat, that's not funny. That hurts!" Cue oblivious, uproarious laughter.
*** What's even funnier is that Bob Denver was notoriously known as Maynard G. Krebs from ''[[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]'' before ''Gilligan's Island''.
** Lampshaded in ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]: [[The Movie]]'' when they notice that Russell Johnson (aka The Professor) plays one of the characters in the old movie they're watching.
{{quote|''"So, you say that you made this car out of coconuts?"''}}
*** It's easier to say that if Russell Johnson appeared in any movie featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', then chances are they will repeatedly mention his role as The Professor, usually referencing devices made out of coconuts.
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{{quote|''There I was, going berserk down the mountain, falling head over heels, and someone shouts, 'Hey, [[Murphy Brown|Frank]]!' It can be kind of embarrassing.''}}
** And Candice Bergen will always be Murphy Brown. ''Always.''
* Pat Morita is known to most as Mr. Miyagi from ''[[The Karate Kid]]'' films. It is even played with in an episode of ''[[Robot Chicken]]''. "First, I'm not Mr. Miyagi, I'm Pat F*** in' Morita you nutsack!".
** Before that, he was Arnold from ''[[Happy Days]]''.
** Lampooned in a ''Simpsons'' comic where Homer (as the superhero Pie-Man) is framed when someone masquerading as him commits crimes. The person doing it is revealed in the end to be Krusty the Clown who explains that pies are his second best gag next to his Pat Morita impersonation. When the people of Springfield give him a blank look, he says, "You know, the little guy from ''Happy Days''?".
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* While [[Tim Curry]] may have gained a good-sized cult following for his roles as [[Stephen King|Pennywise]] [[Monster Clown|The Dancing Clown]] and [[Legend (film)|The Lord Of Darkness]], it's safe to assume that most people will automatically [[Rocky Horror Picture Show|picture him in fishnets, corset, and high heels]] whenever his name is mentioned.
** It even got to the point where [[Creator Backlash|he became]] '''[[Creator Backlash|very]]''' [[Creator Backlash|reluctant to talk about]] being in ''Rocky Horror'' for years since the fans started to creep him out, and he even went so far as to put on weight in order to distance himself from the role.
***
* Most of the actors from ''[[
** However, no matter how many corrupt, slimey old dirtbags Alda plays; no matter how fast he jumps to mind whenever a character of that calibre is created; "Alan Alda" will still always be a synonym for "sensitive guy".
* [[Megan Fox]] will probably be remembered as "that hot chick from ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]''". At the very least, that's how she's known now and considering her attitude towards [[Michael Bay]] she's probably not very happy about it.
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** It could be worse. He could be remembered as [[North]].
** Can't sleep! Elijah Wood will [[Sin City|eat me]]!
* <s> Frodo</s> Elijah Wood isn't the only ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' cast member to fall victim to this. Viggo Mortensen will always be Aragorn.
* Matt LeBlanc will always be [[Friends|Joey Tribbiani]]. He was practically playing himself on that show.
{{quote|"I'm not Joey. Don't you dare call me Joey. The papers say I'm finished, so don't call me f***ing Joey. I want to leave that all behind. I'm moving on.}}
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* For viewers old enough to see the original release of ''[[Star Wars]]'' without an accompanying parent, [[George Burns]] IS [[Oh, God!|God]]. For [[Bruce Almighty|moviegoers of a younger vintage]], [[Morgan Freeman]] fills that role.
* The voice actor for [[Half Life|Alyx Vance]] reports in the commentary saying that co-workers tend to peek out of the corridor when they hear her talk.
* It is generally agreed within the anime fandom that [[Rie Kugimiya]] [[Pigeonholed Voice Actor|will be always]] be associated with [[Tsundere]] characters (particularly flat-chested [[Token
* John Laurie once lamented that, as much as he'd want to be remembered for his roles in Shakespeare plays, he'd always be remembered for playing Private Frazer in ''[[Dad's Army|Dads Army]]''.
* Gary Sinise has been so strongly identified as Lieutenant Dan Taylor in ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' that he called his band "The Lieutenant Dan Band". May be subverted by younger viewers of ''[CSI:NY]''.
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** Another case where the actor doesn't seem to mind, since he also played Hercules for ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]] III''. He found it interesting to play a Hercules who was so different from his Hercules.
* Frank Oz is an interesting case. He has refused to use his [[The Muppets|Muppet]] voices in public, and has for the most part refused to reprise his roles, the characters [[The Other Darrin|Darrin'd]] by Eric Jacobson(With the exception of his [[Sesame Street]] characters, which he has reprised on occasion.). Beyond that and voicing [[Star Wars|Yoda]] for the prequels, he focuses on his directing career, but despite directing several excellent films, he will forever be known as Ms. Piggy and Fozzie Bear, much to his chagrin.
** This caused some problems when he filmed ''[[The Score]]'' with [[Marlon Brando]], which Brando [[Wag the Director|kept mocking Oz,]] such as calling him "Ms. Piggy" and other
* [[Amanda Tapping]] has moved decisively to head this off by taking on the role of Dr. Helen Magnus on ''[[Sanctuary]]'', who is brilliant and a scientist but is otherwise quite different from [[Stargate SG-1|Samantha Carter]]. Time will tell how well this works.
* [[Neil Patrick Harris]] will forever be known as [[How I Met Your Mother|Barney Stinson]], [[The Casanova|in spite of the fact that he is]] [[Invisible to Gaydar|completely different in real life]]. Interestingly, before this he was only known as [[Doogie Howser, M.D.]].
** That may be a bit of a step up. He struggled to find acting roles for years after Doogie was cancelled, and ''How I Met Your Mother'' was considered his big comeback. Though in an scenario similar to the Adam West episode of ''Batman: The Animated Series'', Harris guest-starred in an episode of ''[[Static Shock]]'' as a washed-up teen sitcom star who turned to crime after his career tanked.
* The late Bill McKinney was so strongly recognized as [[Complete Monster|the mountain man]] who sodomized Ned Beatty in ''[[Deliverance]]'' that it cost him the opportunity to star as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''. [[Stanley Kubrick]] didn't want to meet with him because he was ''that'' scared of him.
** R. Lee Ermey, however,
* Time will tell if Jim Parsons, Sheldon from ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'', can break out of this trope.
* Thomas Lennon continues to play roles similar to Lt. Jim Dangle from Reno 911!, although not as a police officer.
* Callie Thorne, who played Sheila Keefe in ''[[Rescue Me]]'', mentioned in an interview that fans act wary when they meet her, expecting her to be as crazy as the character she plays.
* David Boreanaz has spoken of this type of problem with ''[[Angel]]''. Fans had a
* Paul Gross will probably always be identified with ''[[Due South]]'', and it was rather a shock to many fans when he played a completely different type of Mountie, real life accused killer Patrick Kelly in the docudrama ''Murder Most Likely''
* The entire cast of ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]''. A few got around it — Don Knotts is also remembered for ''[[The Incredible Mr. Limpet]]'' and ''[[Three's Company]]'', and [[Ron Howard]] is remembered for ''[[Happy Days]]'' as well as his directoral projects.
* Dick Van Dyke and ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', plus all the other main cast members. Mary Tyler Moore was known so well as Laura Petrie that the producers of ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' decided not to have Mary Richards be divorced because they feared [[Viewers are Morons|fans would think she was divorced from ''Rob'']].
* Ted Knight struggled with this quite a bit during and after ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' run. People could not separate him from Ted Baxter and he hated it.
** Betty White was known so well as Sue Ann Nivens that she was asked initially to play Blanche on ''[[The Golden Girls]]''.
** Ed Asner as Lou Grant
* ''[[The Golden Girls]]'' itself has this — though Betty White and Bea Arthur
* [[Leslie Nielsen]] as either the doctor from ''[[Airplane!]]'' or [[Police Squad!|Frank]] [[The Naked Gun|Drebin]]. Most people don't know [[Leslie Nielsen Syndrome|he ever had a dramatic career]].
* One television critic described a version of this phenomenon as "The Curse of [[The House of Windsor]]" — once he'd seen an actor playing a member of the Royal Family, he'd still see them as that Royal in their subsequent roles.
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