Mean Character, Nice Actor/Real Life: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

This page is not for listing actors just because they've played both villains and nice guys.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime ==

* [[Ryusei Nakao]], the voice of [[Evil Overlord|Emperor]] [[Complete Monster|Freeza]] in ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' and [[Jerkass|Mayuri]] [[Mad Scientist|Kurotsuchi]] in [[Bleach]], is said to be a gentleman and ladies' man with a ''gentle'' and lovely singing voice, and who often gives flowers to his female co-workers.

** He actually guest stars on ''[[Denshi Sentai Denziman]]'' and sings, a song appropriately called ''Ginga Honey''.

** Freeza's most well known English voice, Linda Young, has also been described by Chris Sabat as being "pretty much the nicest lady in the world."

* [[Norio Wakamoto]] is stockpiling a lot of dangerously evil villains, in person, though, he's quite the [[Cool Old Guy]]. There is a reason we got the [[Code Geass|All Hail]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlzoGP2m0w Oppai] video coming to fruition.

* [[Chuck Huber]], who made his name voicing (among other things) [[Mad Scientist]] [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Shou Tucker]], and continues that trend by playing [[Soul Eater|Dr. Stein]], is a family man and all-around nice guy in real life, who donated his time to an abridged series whose show he starred in.

* There's also [[Spike Spencer]], voice of [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Shinji Ikari]] and [[Code Geass|Rolo]], among others, who's sweet and funny in person.

* How about [[Johnny Yong Bosch]]? He voiced [[Code Geass|Lelouch]], [[Enemy Within|Hollow]] [[Bleach|Ichigo]] and [[Naruto|Sasori's]] [[Marionette Master|true form]].

** Let's not forget {{spoiler|[[Persona 4|Adachi]]}} from Persona4. ''Bitches''.

* [[Rie Kugimiya]], known for voicing extrememly abusive and jerkass Tundere's, is actually a quiet and shy bookworm in real life, who wouldn't even hurt a fly.

* [[Noriaki Sugiyama]] who is most well known for being [[Naruto|Sasuke Uchiha]] is actually a very soft spoken, sweet guy, and he loves animals [[Kindhearted Cat Lover|especially cats.]]

* [[Tony Oliver]]. Besides [[Lupin III|Lupin]], there's also [[Bleach|Ulquiorra]] and [[Gungrave|Harry McDowell]].

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* [[Ashley Tisdale]]'s most known role is [[Jerkass|Sharpay Evans]], but Ashley herself is quite nice.

** While filming ''Marty'' on location in the Bronx, Borgnine was continually harassed by locals who were mad because his character in ''From Here to Eternity'' {{spoiler|kills [[Frank Sinatra]]'s character}}.

* Telly Savalas often played bad guys in movies and shows, but he was actually quite a gentleman, and even a ladies man.

** And before becoming an actor she was a ''kindergarten teacher''.

** And she's a living example of the old saying about one's persona creeping into one's face by the time one becomes a senior citizen; the older Hamilton had a kindly, friendly face and was frequently cast in her final years as a sweet old grandmother type.

** Christopher Nolan said that at one point they were filming a scene that Ledger wanted to keep working on, feeling that he was just getting it right, though it was nearing quitting time. They wound up filming quite a bit longer than anyone had intended, and afterward Ledger went around and personally thanked each crew member for staying late.

* Chin Han, who played the calculating mobster accountant Lau in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', is actually very mild-mannered and kind in real life, and often talked about how in awe he was to be sharing almost every scene with [[Morgan Freeman]] on the movie.

* On screen Moe Howard was the bullying "leader" of [[The Three Stooges]] always ready with a scowl or a [[Dope Slap|smack]] to keep the other knuckleheads in line. Off-screen Moe Howard was a quiet, dedicated family man who loved weekend BBQs and working in his garden.

** Likewise, ubiquitous Stooge supporting player Vernon Dent was usually typecast as the villain or the hot-tempered comic foil. In real life, Dent was known as being very easy-going, generous, and sociable.

* [[Christopher Walken]], in contrast to the numerous crazy and/or evil roles he's known for, has been married to the same woman for 40 years, a non-famous casting director who has never used her pull to get him a job.

* Likewise with Steve Buscemi, who, for the most part, is famous for playing terrifying psychos or sleazy jackasses (or the occasional [[The Big Lebowski|silent idiot]]). Many actors and directors who have worked with him say he is very sweet and funny. He also used to work as a firefighter before hitting it big as an actor. He still does some volunteer firefighting today, and even anonymously showed up at his old firehouse after 9/11 to help look for survivors amongst the rubble, working twelve hour shifts for a week.

** In addition, Buscemi was ''stabbed three times'' when he stepped in the middle and tried to break up a fight between his famous friends and a local. Details are sketchy, but the local man is apparently the one who started the incident. How many of you would get stabbed to keep your friends from being beaten up?

** He is also so humble that in the face of all his amazing, classic, and iconic performances, he will consistently and unhesitatingly pronounce Skeletor his favorite, simply because it was such fun.

* [[Face of a Thug|Sinister-faced]] [[Danny Trejo]] mostly plays stoic thugs or lowlives. An ex-criminal himself who credits a 12-step program with turning his life around, he routinely speaks to youth groups and college students about avoiding the drug use and crime he engaged in while he was growing up and enjoys playing villains "to teach younger audiences that bad guys often die or go to prison, and that one should try to live a decent life." He has since developed a reputation among fans and co-stars as being one of the nicest, friendliest actors in Hollywood.

* Andy Robinson is a pacifist and vegetarian, supposedly one of the kindest individuals you'll ever meet. He is best known for playing [[Complete Monster|the Scorpio Killer]] from ''[[Dirty Harry]]''. The role actually damaged his career, people were so scared of him.

** In fact, he was so pacifistic that he flinched every time he fired his gun.

** He's also Larry / Frank in ''Hellraiser''. Granted, as Larry he's a nice guy, but as Frank? "Come to Daddy..."

*** When an episode featured Garak turning into a [[Phlebotinum Pills|psychotic killer]], Robinson resisted that direction for the character. It had been twenty years, and he was still worried that he might be typecast; the Scorpio Killer role was ''that'' defining for his career.

* Anne Ramsey, who was most famous for playing mean old ladies in the '80s (such as Mama Fratelli in ''[[The Goonies]]'' or Momma in ''Throw Momma From The Train''), was reportedly a very nice person backstage.

** This gets lampooned in a [[Mad TV]] skit where he is starring in a TV sitcom. His overly congenial personality unnerves his co-stars.

** In ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'', he plays a criminal who, among other things, spends the entire movie trying to assassinate an old lady. John Cleese has said in interviews that test audiences chose to ignore this (sometimes arguing that she wasn't a very ''nice'' old lady) and instead were distracted by concern every time something bad happened to him.

** This is shown in ''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'', where he plays both Freddy and himself.

** When presented on British national TV with a variety of rose named in honor of his late wife, he broke down and cried.

** Carrie Fisher found it almost impossible to muster up any hatred for the character Grand Moff Tarkin while on set of ''[[Star Wars]]'', because she had to deliver the lines to Cushing, whom she had grown to respect. That, and Cushing played the role in bathroom slippers, as costuming gave him a pair of boots that were too small...

*** [[David Tennant]], who played [[Harry Potter|Barty Crouch Jr.]], gave a really cute interview at the ''Goblet of Fire'' premier in which he, among other things, referred to playing a murderous psychopath as "Doin' a bit of [[Dastardly Whiplash|mustache twirlin']]".

** In the same vein as Tom Felton and Fiona Shaw, kids tend to run away from [[Alan Rickman]] when they see him dressed up as Snape on-set. And, like Felton and Miss Shaw, he's a very nice guy in real life. Also, he loves kids; according to an interview from the deluxe edition of ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'', he has several nieces, nephews, and god-children (and yes, he took the role [[So My Kids Can Watch|for them]]. ''Aww.'').

** [[Scarlett Byrne]] has got to be one of the crowning examples of this trope. She plays Pansy Parkinson, a character that author J.K. Rowling patterned her after every girl who was ever cruel to her growing up. But Scarlett herself is known to be extremely friendly, mixing it up with convention goers at Leaky Con 2011, tends to be quite thorough in personally answering fan mail, and replies to her legions of fans on Twitter regularly.

** While we're at it, we can include the other two Pansy actresses here as well, Genevieve Gaunt and Lauren Shotton, both of whom go out of their way to interact with fans on Twitter too.

* [[Peter Lorre]], who played some of the slimiest characters of all time, was the man who persuaded [[Humphrey Bogart]] to go ahead and marry Lauren Bacall. He was a fervent believer in true love.

** Lorre was also a skilled comedian, but was rarely given the chance to show off his comic talents.

** According to his biography, "The Lost One," he was also extremely vocal against the Nazis, to the point that his own family back in Europe suffered for it. Then there was another incident where Lorre was in a restaurant, and noticed a crowd of people standing behind a barrier, despite plenty of empty tables. When Lorre was told "They're only tourists. We want to seat more important people first, like yourself," he responded by taking down the barrier, seating the tourists himself, and telling the restaurant worker, "I know how it feels to be kept out" (this referring to his experience as a Jew in Nazi Germany, at the start of his career.)

** And a professional chef! He and his wife even wrote [http://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Great-Recipes-Specialties-Restaurants/dp/B001K24CP6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259880632&sr=1-5 cookbooks].

** And an expert in art. He even picked out personally some great masterpieces for the Sears Roebuck store chain to reproduce in the '70s to allow the owning of fine art by the masses. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIQj7_zVzxA Watch the film] Sears employees saw to learn more about the collection.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrMCqOmsMB4 Vincent Price will scare the prejudice out of you].

* Conrad Veidt, who played a Nazi in ''[[Casablanca]]'', left his native Germany because the real Nazis were trying to kill him for being so outspokenly anti-Nazi.

** Similarly, director Guy Hamilton has described Harold Sakata (who played Oddjob) as a very charming man.

* Though never typecast (for obvious reasons), [[Lon Chaney]] played a good number of con men and killers over the course of his career. Offstage, he was a very private man who often went out of his way to give advice and assistance to beginning actors, as well as entertaining the crews of his films between takes.

** When he learned that a director was being nasty to an actress except when Chaney was around, Chaney made sure to stay close by said actress.

* When Meat Loaf played a racist cop in ''Crazy In Alabama'', he felt a need to apologize to the cast and crew for some of the nasty things his character said.

** Similarly, Don Ameche apologized to Eddie Murphy profusely for his character's use of racial slurs in ''[[Trading Places]]'', as well as the entire cast when it came time for his [[Precision F-Strike]].

** In 1931, Karloff was working for a theatrical touring company under his real name, William Pratt. When the city the troupe was working in was devastated by a tornado, Karloff/Pratt organized a series of charity benefits to help the victims. To this day, Boris Karloff is remembered fondly by the residents of Regina, Saskatchewan. (In contrast, the federal government made the city pay back all the federal aid money sent to them, with interest at a ruinously high rate. [[Values Dissonance|It took fifty years.]])

* Karloff's contemporary and friendly rival [[Bela Lugosi]] also qualifies. Onscreen, he played many villains, such as Dracula, Ygor, and others. However, he was very charitable, friendly, and took his most iconic role in stride, even being buried in a Dracula cape

* [[David Cronenberg]] as a director, though usually not as an actor. His films are full of [[Body Horror|hideous mutations]], [[Cold-Blooded Torture]], [[Fan Disservice|images of depraved sexuality]], and [[Your Head Asplode|exploding heads]]. In person, he's a very nice, unassuming sort of guy. [[Martin Scorsese]] said he looked like a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. This usually comes across in his cameo appearances, although he played a [[Serial Killer]] in [[Clive Barker]]'s ''[[Nightbreed]]''.

** Same with [[Wes Craven]], who is a devout Christian and didn't see a film until he reached university. If you thought getting a motorbike was sticking it to the man...

* Michael Madsen, while playing the sadistic Mr. Blonde in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', was so disturbed by an ad lib that the cop he was torturing [[I Have a Family|had a family]] that he couldn't finish filming the scene until the next day.

** If you listen closely after the cop says he's got a little kid at home, you can hear Madsen saying "No, no, no" in a truly horrified tone of voice.

** And it was said he was ''physically ill from guilt'' in between takes of the (comparatively) less brutal scenes in ''[[Kill Bill]] Volume 2'' wherein he buried Uma Thurman's character alive. If that's not a nice guy, what is?

** There are rumors of Madsen being an Angry Drunk in real life, though.

* Tobin Bell, who plays Jigsaw in the ''[[Saw]]'' films, is a very nice, polite, and soft-spoken fellow who coaches Little League.

* Rudolf Klein-Rogge made his early career by playing [[Milking the Giant Cow|wildly-flailing]] [[Ax Crazy]] silent film villains, most notably criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse and the trope-codifying [[Mad Scientist]] Rotwang from ''[[Metropolis]]''. Fans who met him were pleasantly surprised to find that in real life he was charming and soft-spoken.

* An interesting occurrence in the gag reel for ''[[Shanghai Knights]]''. Roy (not necessarily a mean character, but definitely insensitive) makes a cruel joke about an orphaned boy and his lack of parents. Owen Wilson breaks character about half-way through the line, exclaiming "That is ''so mean!''" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ7-0w3vnR0 Starts at about 2:39, if you're interested.]

** Similarly, Tim Roth, who played the despicable Archibald Cunningham in ''[[Rob Roy]]'', was especially gentlemanly toward Jessica Lange to make up for a scene in which {{spoiler|his character did something horrible to hers}}.

* Robert Helpmann, who played the terrifying [[Nightmare Fuel|Child Catcher]] in ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'', was actually extremely kind, especially towards the children.

* Edward G. Robinson played a variety of characters throughout his career, but is definitely best remembered as a quintessential player of tough, violent gangsters in [[Film Noir]] and crime dramas. In real life he was a quiet, cultured man who collected art and was friendly to both co-stars and fans.

** He and Vincent Price teamed up on the art collecting. They used to put on exhibitions of their collections to raise money for charity. There's also a famous photo of Eddie selling baby dolls for same!

* R. Lee Ermey, who played [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]] from ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' was allegedly forbidden to interact with the rest of the cast prior to shooting [[Enforced Method Acting|to make his performance more threatening to them]]. He also comes across as very soft-spoken in interviews, and got along very well with director [[Stanley Kubrick]].

* According to the commentary track for ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]'', Colm Feore, who played the downright sinister Lord Marshall, was an absolute blast both on and off the set. Two noteworthy examples are given: During filming, he didn't realize the camera was rolling during one take, and when a dead body is tossed in front of him, he looks directly at the camera and tosses off a [[Bond One-Liner]]. Another time, during a party, one of the cast or crew members makes some mention that he's never seen one Shakespeare play or another, whereupon Colm gets up and performs a 5 minute rendition of the play form beginning to end, playing multiple roles simultaneously.

** Also those who remember him as Rudolf Hoess in ''[[Nuremberg]]''.

* Michael Clarke Duncan is known for often playing imposing, scary characters, but is a very nice person in real life, and will reportedly give five dollars to anyone who recognizes him on the street and knows what his full name is.

** [[Kindhearted Cat Lover|Ask him about his cats.]] He will talk to you all day.

** He actually said that while he loved working with the Coen Brothers, he did not enjoy playing Anton Chigurh because of [[Complete Monster|how evil he was.]]

* David James is best known stateside for playing the psychotic [[Complete Monster]] Col. Koobus in ''[[District 9]]''. He's very involved in fundraising with the South African charity organization Faces of Hope.

* Michael Bailey Smith best known for playing Pluto in the remake of ''[[The Hills Have Eyes]]'', he is usually type cast as demons or psychotic killers, he is said to be one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

* Tommy "Butch" Bond, the menacing bully in the [[Our Gang]] shorts, was said to be the nicest kid on the set when the cameras stopped rolling.

* Lee Marvin was well known for playing tough, military characters. In real life, the ex-Marine opposed the Vietnam War and was one of the first stars to support gay rights. He even disliked ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'' as he felt it did not reflect his experience or anti-war views.

* Robert Ryan was often cast as cruel and hateful villains due to his 6'4" frame and deep intensity. Like Marvin,He was an Ex-Marine who supported many worthy causes such as racial integration and was appalled at [[John Wayne]]'s support of Blacklisting.

* Seann William Scott, according to his co-stars is the one of the nicest guys around, while his most famous character, [[American Pie|Stifler]], is mainly a big [[Jerkass]].

** To give you an idea of just how un-Stifler like Seann William Scott is, he didn't even have a girlfriend until he was 30 years old because he was so painfully shy around women.

** He also used this "rep" to play pranks on his fellow actors in [[Silence of the Lambs]]... by quietly stepping behind them and whispering, "Good morning," a la Dr. Lecter.

* Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill in ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]'' - he and Brooke Smith (who played his victim Catherine) became good friends whilst on the set. So much so that Jodie Foster jokingly referred to her as Patty Hearst.

** He does play a rather nice guy in ''[[Urban Legend]]''.

* It has been said in interviews and commentary by her co-workers from ''[[Mean Girls]]'' that [[Rachel McAdams]] is a very nice person, despite her role as conniving and controlling Regina George. They felt it was ironically fitting that the sweetest girl played the meanest.

* ''[[The Karate Kid]]'' reboot has a series of stills from production showing during the credits. In several of them, the boys who played the hero and the psychotic bullying antagonist are grinning broadly and have their arms around each other or seem to be playing. The boy who plays said bully looks very different without his [[Death Glare]].

* Robert Maillet played the imposing French bruiser in the 2009 adaptation of ''Sherlock Holmes''. While on the set during their fight scene, Maillet accidentally punched Robert Downey Jr. in the face, knocking him over. According to Downey Jr., Maillet was virtually inconsolable afterward-- "ten times more upset about it than I was".

* Alan Arkin who played [[Complete Monster|Harry Roat]] in [[Wait Until Dark]] is a sweet humble man who hated his role as he loved Audrey Hepburn and didn't like playing a man who terrorized her.

* [[Michael Ironside]], famous for playing psychopaths, hard-ass soldiers, scheming company men (if not some combination of all three), and in one case a [[Darkseid|tyrannical dictator]], is in reality one of the most mellow, soft-spoken people around. He once told a story about how a police officer pulled him over while driving, simply because he looked like he was up to something.

* Lawrence Tierney was a notorious subversion, being just as tough and mean as his roles made him look. Just about every production he was involved in, particularly in his later years, has a story or two about him scaring the hell out of everyone else.

* Forest Whitaker has played a number of villainous roles, and won an Oscar for portraying Ugandan dictator [[Axe Crazy|Idi]] [[Complete Monster|Amin]]. In real life, he's a family man, a vegetarian, and is involved in charity work that supports children affected by Uganda's civil war.

* Stanley Tucci played the role of Mr. Harvey in [[The Lovely Bones]], but he apparently had a ''lot'' of trouble doing so. In an interview, [[Peter Jackson]] describes Saoirse Ronan giving Tucci a hug after shooting ''that'' scene. You know the one. Hell, he even played ''Adolf Eichmann'' in ''Conspiracy'' (you know, the guy who co-proposed the "[[Those Wacky Nazis|Final Solution]]").

* [[Brian Thompson]] has played pretty much every type of villain you can name. The fact that he's got one of those craggy, pock-marked "natural villain" faces likely doesn't help. However, everyone who knows him or has worked with him says that, by nature and attitude, he's closer to the small handful of [[Knight in Shining Armor]] hero roles he's played than any of the hundreds of villains.

* [[Mark Strong]], reknowned for playing villains of all calibres, is by all accounts an incredibly nice gentleman going by interviews.

* [[Kevin Bacon]], who has made a career out of playing devious psychopaths and ''[[Complete Monster]]'' types, is soft spoken, friendly and a dedicated professional. He has said in interviews that he took the part of Sebastian Shaw in ''[[X-Men]]'' because he strongly believed in the ideas that the comics represented.

* [[Laurence Olivier]], known for his Shakespearean characters and playing the cruel triumvir Crassus in ''[[Spartacus]]'', apparently refused to carry on a conversation with anyone who wouldn't call him Larry and was such a nice guy that Marlon Brando couldn't bring himself to try and seduce his then wife Vivien Leigh.

* [[Christian Bale]], ''Terminator: Salvation'' rant aside, is known on sets to be very friendly and easy going with cast and crew which made his rage all the more frightening and unfathomable to those working with him. Even so he quickly made amends with the subject of his rant not long afterwards.

* Nancy Allen who plays [[Alpha Bitch|Chris Hargensen]] in [[Carrie]] is actually a nice, down-to-earth person. Watch [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2w8vqB_TWE these] [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe5itd_interview-de-nancy-allen-robocop-pu_shortfilms two clips] and it's clear that she's one of the nicest people in the world.

* The late Anthony Perkins, best known as the titular ''[[Psycho]]'', was cited as being rather shy and humble, but friendly and fun once you got to know him.

* [[Clint Eastwood]] has pretty much made his career playing cold hearted amoral cynics with violent streaks. Even his "good" characters such as Harry Callahan are violent and rude. In real life, Clint is known to friends and colleagues as a cultured gentleman and family man with progressive views and who is known to his actors for his laidback easygoing personality and being great to work with.

* Ralph Fiennes is known for playing Nazis, evil wizards, foul-mouthed mob bosses, and lords of the underworld, who all bounce between [[Complete Monster]] at their absolute worst or [[Jerkass]] at their best. While in reality, [[Liam Neeson]] has said that Ralph was one of his biggest sources of support after his wife Natasha Richardson died.

* [[Gary Oldman]] has played a whole slew of baddies over the years, from a sadistic Alcatraz warden to an [[Ax Crazy]] pimp and is a perfect normal, nice man in real life.

* [[Michael Massee]], who played Funboy in ''The Crow'', became good friends with Brandon Lee and was so traumatized by firing the shot that killed him (which was completely accidental and not his fault) that he took a year off acting to recuperate.

* Ben Affleck made his career playing bastards and jerk jocks in many films but is, in real life, a happily married family man who comes across as much nicer and more intelligent than most of his screen counterparts.

* Gene Hackman definitely qualifies as this. He has built his career on playing smarmy, manipulative, and unlikeable characters including Lex Luthor. In real life, he is known as an extremely nice, gentle and shy person with zero ego. He even nearly backed out of ''The French Connection'' because he didn't like playing a character surrounded by violence.

* Sam Rockwell has it with playing manipulative businessmen like Eric Knox (''Charlie's Angels'') and Justin Hammer (''Iron Man 2''). In real life, he's a nice guy.

* In both ''[[Escape 2000]]'' and ''[[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|1990]]: The Bronx Warriors'', Trash is a violent [[Anti-Hero]] with an unnatural talent for killing mooks with relative ease and make things explode all over the place with just a handgun. The actor who portrayed him, Mark Gregory, who was a salesman at a shoe store in Rome before the movies' director spotted him, was extremely shy, introverted, and hated his newfound fame (which he never wanted to begin with). Which explains why he quit acting and vanished from public view in about 1989 and hasn't been seen or heard of ever since.

 

* [[Wil Wheaton]]'s adult acting career has a tendency toward roles where he plays a snarky, antagonistic [[Jerkass]] (including [[As Himself]] on ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''), which he assures fans is not his real persona.

* [[Don Rickles]]. A lot of people still think he's one mean old guy but get to know him and he's one of the sweetest and most gracious persons on earth (he's best friends with Bob Newhart for crying out loud.) That must be why he's one of the few insult comics to have a very long successful career in insult comedy.

* [[Double the Fist]] is a show about four men who yell a lot, destroy a lot of public property, kill numerous people and even mess around with the laws of time and space in the name of Fistworthiness ([[Testosterone Poisoning]]) and is full of random violence, gore, and is convinced of it's own superiority amongst other TV shows. The actors/creators however are just four ordinary guys who understand what their doing is silly and are pretty damn decent.

** In interviews, he comes off as not only extremely intelligent, but very polite and respectful. He tends to speak positively of those he talks about, and even when being critical, tends to phrase his complaints in as polite and non-abrasive a fashion as possible.

* Actor, comedian, producer, and writer [[Denis Leary]] is a pretty nice guy in real life, [http://www.learyfirefighters.org/ he even started an organization for firefighters and their families.]

** [http://keithbadowski.blogspot.com/2008/12/denis-leary-poetry-fan.html As well as being a published poet and a fan of the art, despite his churlish on-screen nature.]

** He also, like a few others, deeply regrets the way his relationship with [[Bill Hicks]] ended.

** Unfortunately for him, he'd already been [[Typecasting|typecast]] and his career was pretty much ruined.

* A few ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' actors from different Noughties' seasons (also called the Heisei seasons) have earned the [[Fan Nickname]] "Rider Bros" for their love of the franchise and its fans. How does this trope apply? Because one of them is Takashi Hagino, who shot to fame as the [[Ax Crazy]] Takeshi Asakura or Ohja from ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'', for whom 'mean character' is an understatement.

* Carroll O'Connor used to get piles of hate mail while he played [[All in The Family|Archie Bunker]]; it actually bummed him out a bit that some people thought he was actually like his character, but I guess that's a testament to his acting skill.

** Although some letters accused him of being like Archie, even more accused him of making Archie too sympathetic. [[Misaimed Fandom|But Archie was never meant to be evil]]. O'Connor played him as a typical (as he saw it) working-class conservative: poorly educated, barely literate, angry, bitter, convinced the world is against him, yet willing to vote against his own interests because he's convinced that the other party is immoral and treasonous. O'Connor wasn't really a liberal as much as an old-school working-class socialist, who had as little time for "limousine liberals" as he did for conservatives like Anita Bryant (see below). This may explain why O'Connor's increasing creative control of the show coincided with the departure of Mike Stivic.

** The only thing that bothered O'Connor more than people sending him hate mail for playing a bigot, was people who sent him ''fan mail'' for playing a bigot. O'Connor finally did [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3HBR4r9r-g a PSA] for B'Nai Brith denouncing all the [[Misaimed Fandom]].

** Much the same can be said of Warren Mitchell, who played the original UK version of Archie, Alf Garnet in ''Till Death Us Do Part''.

** On the other hand, she describes Lois as "a great mother", which is quite disturbing.

* The characters of ''Supernatural'' have all been to hell and back (sometimes literally). Which has made them all pretty cracked, damaged, and in many cases, sociopaths. The actors of ''Supernatural'', however, are known for being nice, sweet, goofy, and friendly with fans. ([[Jared Padalecki]] is a practical joker who is usually the first to crack up during scenes, [[Jensen Ackles]] is rumored to buy drinks for the crew at the end of a shoot, and [[Misha Collins]] is... well, [http://twitter.com/mishacollins Misha Collins.]) (Although, considering ''Supernatural'' has a small sub-group of fans who range from bizarre to insane, it's a wonder they haven't been scared off yet.)

** Pretty much every actor/actress who's played a mean character on his show.

** Mark A. Sheppard, who plays [[Magnificent Bastard]] Crowley, is known to be extremely personable and nice to fans.

** Believe it or not, Daniel Clamp was also written as an evil guy, an example of a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]. Glover, tired of being typecast, [[Off the Rails|ignored the script]] and played him as a good guy.

** It apparently got to the point that when Glover returned to ''[[Smallville]]'' after three years absence in Season 10, the new makeup people were scared of him. Apparently they expected him to be far more like his character, [[Magnificent Bastard|Lionel]] [[Abusive Dad|Luthor]].

* The Fametracker site touched on this a few years ago when discussing ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]''. "Jeffrey Tambor must be a really smart, sweet man in real life to do such a fantastic job playing a big dumb asshole like Hank." While "sweet" is debatable, all indications are that Mr. Tambor is an intelligent, generous, and funny actor.

* Pretty much everyone from the Australian "based on true events" crime drama [[Underbelly]] counts here, but of particular note is Gyton Grantley; the friendly, soft-spoken actor whose previous experience was an ad on using plastic bags, turned out a brilliantly wicked performance as real-life underworld boss Carl Williams, whose greatest claim to infamey was having a drug rival killed ''in front of his children''.

*** Pertwee himself often played the Doctor as something of a [[Jerkass]], but was well-liked on set. In fact, when he died in 1996, [[Elisabeth Sladen]] (who played Sarah-Jane Smith in his last season as the Doctor) was said to have cried inconsolably for weeks.

**** Katy Manning, then a young girl fresh to the world of acting who played Jo Grant, The Doctors companion when The Master was first introduced, has charmingly described the relationship on the set as her having two kindly god-fathers who put her under their wings and who guided her through the stressful waters of weekly television work, who showed her that it was okay to spend your life playing make-belief on a stage or in front of a camera... and who just happend to be ruthless enemies whenever the director yelled "Action!".

** Adric was more [[The Scrappy]] than mean, but Matthew Waterhouse himself is described by fans as warm, charming, funny, and very approachable.

** [[John Simm]] played one of the most twisted and psychotic versions of The Master to date on camera. Off camera, his own performance disturbed him so much that he forbade his children to watch it because he didn't want to frighten them with his onscreen [[Complete Monster]] actions. Ironically, he became The Master to impress his children, [[Heartwarming Moment|but clearly his role as a loving father takes precedence over his acting career.]]

*** ''[[Castle]]'' finally gives him the chance to be cuddly. Which is nice.

*** Fun fact: [[Blatant Lies|Nathan is not given a script when filming Castle. They just give him a synopsis of the episode and remind him that he has to answer to "Rick"]].

*** He also played Caleb on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', who was a violent sadist who loves nothing more than inflicting mental and physical pain on young helpless women and whose mere presence in a scene qualifies it for ''[[Nightmare Fuel]]''.

* Similar to his example in Film, [[Neil Patrick Harris]] in [[How I Met Your Mother]] plays a drunken, manipulative, close-to-amoral womanizer. In real life, he... isn't. At all.

* [[Christina Hendricks]], who plays the villainous Yo Saff Bridge (along with Joan on [[Mad Men]], who is not exactly a villain but can be quite a bitch), has been described as the sweetest person in television.

* [[Benedict Cumberbatch]], whom we know and love as the eponymous acerbic, mean, high-functioning sociopathic protagonist of ''[[Sherlock]]'' and whose best-known roles nearly always involve him being socially awkward, creepy or downright scary, is self-deprecating, sweet, and extremely charming in real life.

** Max Adler, who plays [[Jerk Jock]] {{spoiler|and [[Armored Closet Gay]]}} Karofsky, is actually a great person, which can be noticed in every interview he gives. He also made a video for the It Gets Better campaign.

** Grant Gustin, who plays "smirky meerkat face" Sebastian, is an incredibly nice person and well-liked by the sane majority of the Klaine fanbase, even as they rail against his character for threatening their OTP.

** Also, [[Zachary Quinto]], who plays the murderous and sociopathic [[Big Bad]] [[Draco in Leather Pants|Sylar]], is actually very sweet, relaxed, and more than a bit geeky in [[Real Life]].

* [[Jim Parsons]] plays the arrogant, obsessive, and infuriatingly socially inept [[Insufferable Genius|Sheldon Cooper]] on ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. In real life, as evidenced by his interviews, he is sweet, friendly, considerate, and ''very'' well-adjusted socially. ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmWJeKaEQGU And more charming than one would think humanly possible.]''

* Phil Hartman spent most of his career playing arrogant, sometimes [[Obliviously Evil]] jerks. However, watch any interview with him and it's clear he's one of the nicest, sweetest guys on the planet, which makes his untimely death even more depressing.

** The first time [[Hugh Laurie]] hosted ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', he lampshaded the fact that his real-life persona is different than the [[Jerkass]] doctor he plays on American TV.

* Out of character, [[Stephen Colbert]] is a total sweetheart, as many coworkers, ''[[The Colbert Report|Report]]'' guests, and fans can attest. When ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' was first pitched, Colbert's main worry was that he wouldn't be able to cope with "playing an asshole".

* Ken Jenkins, who plays devil-turned-slightly-goofy Bob Kelso in ''[[Scrubs]]'', is regularly noted by the cast for being just a sweet, crunchy guy everybody likes.

** In fact the initial portrayal of Dr. Kelso in the first episode (where he seems like a nice guy until halfway through) was described as how he is in real life. This made his sudden transition into the demonic heartless Kelso frightening even to the cast while filming it.

* John Lithgow is an absolutely adorable and funny guy, who also writes poetry and stories for children. In the fourth season of ''[[Dexter]]'' he plays the craziest and creepiest murderer we've seen so far in this show.

** In fact, he started out in theatre, where he always played antagonistic old men, in spite of the fact that he was not only a [[Nice Guy]], but [[Younger Than They Look|was also quite a young guy at the time.]]

* [[Andrew Scott]], who plays Jim Moriarty in ''[[Sherlock]]'' is actually extremely sweet in real life.

* Likewise, Ian Somerhalder, who plays the "bad" Salvatore brother Damon on ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' (most of the first season he's pretty much a gleeful, sociopathic killer who's obsessed with getting back his psychotic vampire ex) is in real life a lovely, caring person who saves puppies and sheds tears about the Louisiana oil catastrophe, doing everything in his power to help.

** ''[[Vampire Diaries]]'' featured Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan, a lusty, foul-tempered vampire chick. Exactly why Ewell took on the role, because she said Vicki was the total opposite of her.

** He also appeared to be the fellow that ''everyone'' in the cast had a good word for, even when they became bitterly divided over money, screentime, and egos.

** The same has been said of his on screen counterpart Leonard Nimoy as Spock (Not a villain but certainly an example of ''[[Good Is Not Nice]]''). While Spock is cold-hearted, logical, and has absolutely no problem being tactless with people, Leonard Nimoy is known as very sweet, warm, friendly and a gentleman. Despite the onscreen hatred, the two seemed to have a lot of respect for each other and liked each other personally, with Kelley giving a lot of praise to Nimoy's performance.

* Jamie Hector, best known as the sociopathic drug dealer [[Complete Monster|Marlo Stanfield]] in [[The Wire]], was shocked at the show's fourth season with its brutally accurate portrayal of the problems affecting inner city schools, resulting in the cycle of violence in such areas being perpetuated. He and co-star Felicia Pearson now run a charity devoted to helping such schools.

** Sandi McCree played one of the worst mothers ever shown on television on The Wire, De'Londa Brice, who treated her son like shit and would rather see him do well in drug dealing than in school. Those who know the actress know that she is a strong figure for art eductation and litearcy for the youth, and the role was completely against type for her.

** The second example is a little debatable, but Hamada Masatoshi from [[Gaki no Tsukai Ya Arahende|Downtown]] is a nice family man offscreen, while onscreen, he's the [[Your Mileage May Vary|lovable]] Super Sadist Hamada.

* Ray Wise, best known for playing assorted bastards like {{spoiler|[[Twin Peaks|Leland Palmer]]}} and [[Reaper|the Devil]] (similar to John Glover, above), is actually extremely personable in person.

** It should be noted that, while a bastard, his role as [[The Devil]] required him to pose as a pretty nice and charming fellow, at least until he was "disappointed" in you. Then he'd still smile, but drop a bunch of shelves on you.

* Zejiko Ivanek, known for playing almost every evil Bastard in every show, The Governor on ''Oz'' particularly,is known to be a very nice man who is very friendly with Fans

* In interviews, ''[[The 4400]]'''s Megalyn Echikunwoke has complained of fans at conventions being terrified of her because she plays the [[Axe Crazy]] [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] Isabelle Tyler. While Isabelle got some character development {{spoiler|and a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] after [[Redemption Equals Death|redeeming herself]] }}, Echikunwoke always seems to be a generally happy-go-lucky, likable young lady.

* [[Charlie Brooker]] is famous for being a serious contender to Simon Cowell's place as the [[Mean Brit|Meanest Brit]] and most [[Caustic Critic]] in the UK thanks to the biting sarcasm he displays in his columns for ''The Guardian'' and his TV shows Screenwipe and Newswipe. However, his most recent TV show ''[[You Have Been Watching]]'', while still displaying his trademark caustic wit, shows a much friendlier, nicer side of him thanks to the presence of a panel of guests. It's pretty clear that his cynical, misanthropic persona is mostly an act consisting of an exaggerated version of himself.

** In his [http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/oct/16/charlie-brooker-leaving-screen-burn most recent column], Brooker announced he was quitting writing for his Screen Burn column in ''The Guardian'' after ten years, mainly on account of growing tired of insulting people on the television, since - in a weird meta version of the trope - he found them in person to be decent company. It looks like he's putting away his [[Caustic Critic]] persona...for a while, at least, if the column's anything to go by.

** He's also a big animal lover and shares his home with ponies.

* This often happens in [[Reality TV]] shows, in which people often try to come off as more aggressive or assertive to win the game, but they're not actually like that in real life. Russell in ''[[Big Brother]] 11'' (US) probably counts; given that, despite being somewhat of a "Loose Cannon" and purposely bullying Ronnie (He actually waited outside of Ronnie's room...then when Ronnie left, continuously followed him around the house taunting him and calling him names), he admitted that this was an act. One could include people like "Evel" Dick, but he actually ''does'' act like he did in the house in real life, just not to the extent that he did. (ie, walking around and banging pots, purposely farting to squick out Jameka, yelling at Zach.)

* [[Bebe Neuwirth]], famous for playing [[Ice Queen]] [[Cheers|Lilith Sternin]], is in reality a warm, funny, wonderful woman and incredibly talented dancer who adores the stage and having a live audience.

* Liza Weil played Paris Geller on ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' as an extreme Type A personality who flew into a rage at receiving an '''[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|A-]]''', sat shiva for being rejected for Harvard, and characters tried to avoid being in her firing line of long and pointed rants. Some of her guest star roles also have her in a gruff and annoyed type of role. Off film though Weil is quiet and usually comes in early to study direction and pacing of scenes she isn't in and respects everyone, especially the older cast members (the only time she spoke ill of the show was due to [[The CW]] not wanting to do a proper finale), and generally she's actually a quiet and soft-spoken woman who has a habit of playing with her sleeves, does yoga and when sighted in public with her child, doesn't play herself up at all.

** Her ''True Jackson'' character, Pinky, was girly, but she wasn't very sweet.

* John Thaw was best known for/overshadowed by being the loud, crude, abrasive, bully-like Detective Regan in ''[[The Sweeney]]'' but in real life was known for being an absolute pussycat who was well loved by all.

* Mia Kirshner, best known for playing the selfish, pretentious and extremely Narcissistic Jenny Schecter on ''The L Word'', runs a charity devoted to helping people in Third World countries.

* Lance Reddick plays imposing humourless bosses on ''The Wire'' and ''Fringe'' but watch any Interview and You can see how much He loves His work

* B.D. Wong once described his ''[[Oz]]'' cast mates as [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"a bunch of really nice guys who happen to sodomize each other violently on television."]]

* Angela Martin on ''[[The Office]]'' is an uptight humourless Judgememtal Ice Queen. Angela Kinsey,however,is a lovely,friendly comedy actress described as the polar opposite of her character. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1LkXlUgMB4&feature=related Just check her out on] [[The Late Late Show|The Late Late Show with]] [[Craig Ferguson]]!

* [[Chuck Norris]] is a great example, especially as far as Western actors are concerned, though it's not due to his characters being evil. His characters are mostly defined with [[Memetic Badass]] with incredible superhuman feats, which would make him look mean (if heroic) while the guy himself is a [[Nice Guy]] (albeit [[Badass Grandpa]]) combo.

** Norris was in a bar one evening, when a obnoxious patron came in and told Norris he was sitting in his chair and to move to which Norris quietly complied. Later the guy recognised Norris and asked him why he'd moved from the chair instead of kicking his ass to which Norris replied "What would that have accomplished?" - Norris truly believes in fighting only as a last resort. The chastened guy became Norris's friend.

* [[Brenda Song]], who plays the bubble headed London Tipton on [[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]], is actually one of the smartest girls one has ever known (no wonder she got to host [[Disney Channel]]'s healthy eating series ''Pass the Plate'').

* Robert Wisdom, who played the thoroughly scary Uriel on ''[[Supernatural]]'', is said to be a one of the nicest actors around by those he has worked with. They also know him as Bobby.

** His character in ''[[Burn Notice]]'', Vaughn, starts as a nice guy (as far as evil [[The Handler|spy handlers]] can be nice). But when it comes to Season 4 finale, he DOES get scary.

* Julie Benz is known for being extremely nice and sweet despite having played a 400 year-old murderous Buffyverse vampire and played villainous roles in some of her movies.

* Michael Chiklis who played the violent, self-righteous bully Vic Mackey on ''[[The Shield]]'' is said to be a very nice man who loves the ''[[Fantastic Four]]'' comics and never turns down a child who asks for an autograph.

* Michael C. Hall is best known for playing the titular sociopath on ''[[Dexter]]'' is reportedly a very nice and friendly man.

* Rainn Wilson who plays the hopelessly delusional and humourless Dwight Schrute on ''[[The Office]]'' has been described as extremely nice.

* Michael K. Williams,who plays the vicious and immoral thief Omar Little in ''The Wire'',is a very Nice man who originally wanted to be a dancer.

* The late Frank Silva, best known for playing the [[Nightmare Fuel|scary]] [[Complete Monster]] [[Big Bad|Killer BOB]] in ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', is said to have been a very nice man with a great sense of humor.

** Most of the teams who were in Extreme Series 1 got a bit of this, having been told to ham up their fighting talk for the cameras. Team Diotoir got the worst of it though, being made to kidnap the host's son and vandalize another team's robot. Those incidents were of course staged and couldn't be further from the truth - the team were renowned for their sportsmanship an camaraderie in the pits, receiving the Sportsmanship award three times and even lending their old robot to a team whose entry had broken down.

* [[Summer Glau]] has played robots, psycho stalkers and government killing machines, and but she's one of the nicest actors in Hollywood.

* Eric Balfour, often cast as Jerkass' in shows like ''[[Six Feet Under]]'',has been described as a very nice man

* Jason Alexander, best known for playing [[Jerkass Woobie]] George Costanza in ''[[Seinfeld]]'' and [[Jerkass Woobie]] Eric Duckman on [[Duckman|the USA cartoon of the same name]], is a very nice and sweet man who started out in Musical Theatre.

* Chilean actress Gloria Munchmayer, who played one of the better known villainesses in Chilean telenovelas ever (Adriana, the [[Evil Matriarch]] from ''Los titeres''), comes off as a rather kind [[Cool Old Lady]] in interviews.

* Larry David, although admitting George Costanza on ''Seinfeld'' is based on him, has said that his fictional counterpart on ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is nothing like him, claiming that he is "Always the first to apologize in situations".

* Frank Kelly, despite being known for playing Violent Alcoholic Jack Hackett in ''Father Ted'', is a very polite and intelligent Theatre actor who originally wanted to be a lawyer. Graham Linehan has said he regrets not showing more of this side to him

** A perfect example happened in May 2011. While performing a show in Topeka, she was the target of a protest by the [[Religion of Evil|Westboro]] [[In Name Only|Baptist Church.]] She decided to create an elaborate [[Take That]] against them by announcing that for every protester that showed up, she was going to donate $1,000 to the Gay Men's Health Crisis Center in New York. It was unclear how many showed up (some reports say 44, others say 48), she just said "screw it" and upped the donation to an even $50,000. [[Take That|''In Westboro's honor.'']]

* Larry Hagman who is known for playing the "Man America loved to hate" on ''[[Dallas]]'' was very well liked by the cast and crew of the series.

* [[Adam Baldwin]] is known for playing rough, taciturn characters but is incredibly charming and gracious to his fans in real life, and has quite the goofy streak.

* Jason Hervey, best known as [[Big Brother Bully]] Wayne, laments that he is too often associated with said character, who he is nothing like in real life.

* In an unusual [[Reality Show]] example, The Commando from the Australian version of [[The Biggest Loser]]. Also unusual for the trope, both his [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]] and more sympathetic sides get camera time.

* ''Jamie Hector'', the actor who plays Marlo Stanfield on ''[[The Wire]]'' - Marlo is a drug dealer who has people killed for all kinds of reasons. The actor who plays him founded a charity called, ''Moving Mountains, Inc.'' whic works with inner-city youths developing their innate talents and expanding their creative opportunities.

** Don't forget that, in interviews, she often lamented how kids were scared of her on sight when she was playing Nellie.

** From all reports, the whole set is a crazy love-fest. This bunch ''really'' likes each other.

* This trope sometimes happens with [[Reality TV]], given the amounts of [[Manipulative Editing]] that happens and establishes a "Character" that people know due to their personalities being cherry-picked to the camera.

** The same thing goes for fellow ''TToI'' actor Paul Higgins, who plays Malcolm's [[Ax Crazy|even more psychotic]] underling. Paul has joked that 'That kind of psychotic rage does come easily to me,' but in interviews he's soft-spoken and quite philosophical. Basically, Malcolm/Peter and Jamie/Paul are at the extreme ends of the [[Mean Character, Nice Actor]] spectrum.

* Aaron Paul (Who is also kind of an example of this; His character is never really outright evil) described Max Arciniega, who plays Crazy-8 in the first three episodes of ''[[Breaking Bad]]'', as one of the nicest, sweetest guys around. The cast and crew liked him so much They rewrote some episodes to keep him around a bit longer (He was only cast in the pilot and stuck around until episode three).

* Despite being most famous for his role as [[Badass]] [[The Mafia|mob boss]] and patriarch of the titular [[Big Screwed-Up Family]] on ''[[The Sopranos]]'', in real life James Gandolfini is, by his own admission, more of a "260-pound [[Woody Allen]]".

* One of the biggest bastards in British soap opera is ''[[Emmerdale]]'' 's Cain Dingle, a villain who would sell his own grandmother into prostitution if he thought there was any money in it, a man who has robbed, conned, raped and seduced his way around Yorkshire just because he can. In real life, the actor playing him seems to be one of the nicest and most pleasant guys out and is very easy to like and get on with (at least, going by his interviews). He also used to present a Christian radio programme on his local radio station.

* Rival soap ''[[Coronation Street]]'' has the psychotic and manipulative David Platt, a youth with serious mental health issues throughout his adolescence and young manhood. His repulsiveness is part-explained by his being the spawn of Gail Tilsely and one who has seen his mother the victim of murder attempts by assorted husbands (Gail is atrocious at pattern-recognition). Even so, he is played as a contender for Young Psychopath Of The Year by an actor who is not only sane and decent, but perfectly pleasant and likeable. Is this a trend in soap?

 

== Music ==

** Dexter Holland, the band's lead singer, was also a doctorate candidate in molecular biology before leaving school for the band.

* [[Nine Inch Nails|Trent Reznor]] is an extremely nice man, in spite of the music he's made, which bounces back and forth between [[True Art Is Angsty]] and [[Nightmare Fuel]], somehow never leaving [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] in the process.

*** Even when he and the band are discussing Native American history.

'''Wayne''': Does this guy know how to party or what? }}

** He's also an avid golfer.

** To Further emphasize this; an episode of [[NY Ink]] had lead singer Corey Taylor getting a tattoo to commemorate the late Paul Gray and he spends the entire time crying into his wife's lap about how much he [[Tear Jerker|missed his friend and how he would do anything to get him back]].

* The Finnish hard rock band (and 2006 Eurovision winners) [[Lordi]] don a lot of costuming in order to transform themselves into hideous, scary-looking monsters, and their music is very loud and growly. (They were largely influenced by other Finnish hard rock bands and KISS.) The people behind those masks/disguises are known for being very quiet, polite, and private.

** How about Steve Harris? Massively muscled, tattooed all over, usally clad in standard metal uniform, a bit of a bookworm in his spare time (look at all the Maiden songs [[Filk Song|inspired by English Literature]]).

* Karen O. of the [[Yeah Yeah Yeahs]]. Her stage persona is... not subtle; between the over-the-top outfits and miming sex acts with the microphone, it's no wonder people are surprised when she turns out to be very shy and low-key in person.

* Gerard Way of [[My Chemical Romance]] looked like a corpse and covered himself in fake blood on stage back in the day. Combine that with insane stage antics, screaming, and lyrics about murder, vampires, and other crazy things, he came off as slightly intimidating. Off-stage, he wore adorable skeleton footie pajamas from Japan or loud Hawaiian shirts and just wanted to play some D&D, drink coffee, and talk about [[Star Wars]].

* [[Eminem]] is an example of someone who certainly didn't start out this way, but he has matured into this. With [[Trauma Conga Line|all the crap that he went through]], most people find it hard to blame him for having been a jerk at times in the past. He's also far more comfortable with fame now than at the start of his career and has started taking his role as a star more seriously. These days, his songs make him out to be a mean, nasty person, and his song "Kim", which is about him killing his wife, falls straight into [[Nightmare Fuel]] territory, but in real life, he's a caring father of three girls and is nice to people and his fans.

* [[Emilie Autumn]]'s stage persona is that of a violent, insane girl locked in a Victorian madhouse. In [[Real Life]], Emilie actually is mentally ill, but she is also a quiet, sweet [[Cloudcuckoolander]], bookworm and [[One of Us|apparently a huge Star Wars geek.]]

* [[The Birthday Massacre]]'s music swings around from violent massacres to abusive relationships and everywhere in between, but in contrast, the entire band are incredibly lovely and lead singer Chibi is one of the nicest people in existence to the point that the fanbase practically worships her.

* Mark Hunter of [[Chimaira]]. In the studio and on stage? One of the angriest, most inhuman vocalists in metal history. Off the stage? One of the most soft-spoken and nice guys you will ever meet.

* Adam 'Nergal' Darski of [[Behemoth]]. He is one of death metal's most ferocious-sounding vocalists, and his band plays some of the harshest music out there right now. Not to mention he hides behind large amounts of armor and makeup on stage. Beneath his scary image offstage, however, he is about as intimidating as a cat.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

** He was probably more civil with McCool since she was used to it, being familiar with the limelight herself, as opposed to his first wife, who wasn't in the public eye. For that matter, Michelle is also a good example of this. During a large amount of her run, she was a member of [[Lay Cool]], who were basically some of the best examples of the [[Alpha Bitch]] anywhere. In real life, she's a total sweetheart, a devout Christian and a former schoolteacher. While we're on it, let's add Layla (Michelle's partner in crime) to this as well.

* [[Mick Foley]], best known as one of the pioneers of extreme wrestling and breaking almost every bone in his body (and part of his gimmick is a [[Split Personality]] that includes the brutal psychopath Cactus Jack), is considered one of the friendliest and most intelligent guys in the business.

* The Rock was the epitome of the cool, aloof, arrogant anti-hero, and had a quick wit and sharp tongue he'd use against damn near anybody who crossed his path. [[Dwayne Johnson]], the man behind The Rock, who has since moved on to Hollywood, has been referred to by damn near everybody who has ever worked with him, whether in wrestling or movies, as "the nicest man in show business."

* [[The Big Show]] is a monstrous heel more often than not, but in reality he's a very nice guy.

* [[Alberto Del Rio]] is known for being the [[Smug Snake|smuggest snake]] in the WWE, but in real life seems like a very humble guy who idolizes his father and uncle and seems very honored that he gets to wrestle against top wrestlers in the WWE.

* Back when he was the Doctor of Thuganomics, [[John Cena]] was this trope. By all means and accounts, the "Superman" that he portrays now seems to be how he is real life.

* "Rowdy" [[Roddy Piper]] also fit this trope, especially when he was at the height of his villianry during the WWF's "Rock-n-Wrestling" era.

* Luna Vachon was downright scary in the ring, acting far more vicious than any woman, having a very unorthodox look for a woman, and speaking in a very harsh growl that could give anyone goosebumps. Outside the ring she was incredibly sweet, very approachable, and was one of the most popular Divas at public appearances and conventions.

* Similarly, Kia Stevens, known as Awesome Kong in TNA and Kharma in WWE, because of her strong almost [[Brawn Hilda]] type build, has played the [[Scary Black Man|Scary Black Woman]] for much of her career. However in real life, she seems to be an absolute sweetheart and comes across as girlier than the Barbie dolls she's been ripping in half in her introductory vignettes.

* One important thing to remember is that by the time they've reached any kind of national audience, it's been Enforced at some point. Especially in the WWE, but to a lesser extent with other companies as well, the wrestlers spend an obscene amount of time together (different accounts by different WWE Superstars have said they are on the road anywhere from 300 to 350 days a year, spending most of that time sharing cars, hotel rooms, etc.) Very likely, anybody who doesn't fit this trope will quickly be filtered out. (One such example is Teddy Hart, whose controversial actions and massive ego have gotten him black-balled by almost every major company he's worked for.)

* [[Chris Jericho]]. Too easy. In [[Kayfabe]], he's a self-important [[Jerkass]] of a Heel (his feud with [[CM Punk]] will prove this) but in real life, he's the lead singer for the band Fozzy, and is actually a very nice and respectable person.

 

== Radio ==

** Although he and his wife had their spats, apparently he arranged his will so that after he died, she would get a rose delivered to her every day for the rest of her life.

** It's been said that the greatest testament to his character is that even after he died, nobody in Hollywood who knew him had a nasty thing to say about him, according to Dick Cavett.

== Video Games ==

* Dr. Eggman from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' isn't exactly [[Crossing the Line Twice]], but one of his voice actors, Mike Pollock, seems to enjoy doing interviews and discussing the character and voice acting as a career.

** Want to never again be able to take Kane seriously? Watch [http://www.technfun.com/sig2/totallyrandomkane.gif this].

* In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' the [[Magnificent Bastard|Illusive Man]], the head of the pro-human terrorist organization Cerberus, is voiced by respected actor [[Martin Sheen]] who has a reputation for being an incredibly nice guy and political activist. He's even stated in interviews about the game of how even he finds the character untrustworthy and that he feels the Illusive Man is a really horrible person.

*** And when the Phoenix Force takes control of Jean Grey in ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]''.

* In [[Silent Hill|Silent Hill 3]], Clifford Rippel is the voice of [[Smug Snake|Vincent]].

** Same thing for Eric Ladin in the sequel.

* Mike Powers is really nice, but [[Heavy Rain|Lt. Carter Blake]] is [[Jerkass|really]] [[Rabid Cop|mean]].

* Okay, so [[The Force Unleashed|Emperor]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Palpatine]] and [[Anti-Hero|Starkiller]] weren't nice characters (though Starkiller does get better), but they were voiced by the same actor: [[Sam Witwer]], who is a [[Star Wars]] [[One of Us|geek]] and a friendly man.

** He was also Doomsday in ''[[Smallville]]''.

* [[Keith Szarabajka]], known for playing intimidating, raspy voiced villains, is by all accounts a very nice, pleasant man.

 

 

== Web Comics ==

* In the commentary for [[Rooster Teeth Comics]], the writer, Griffon Ramsey, says she makes the representations of the other Rooster Teeth staff member's wives much more harsh than they really are and that Jordan Burns, the wife of [[Red vs. Blue|Burnie Burns]] is "one of the nicest and most disarming people I've ever met."

 

 

== Web Original ==

** Hell, just look at the difference between the Nerd and his newer series "Board James", which features a lot more of him being him, or the Nerd and "James" sitting next to each other at the start of the ''Ghostbusters: The Video Game'' review.

** James Rolfe is quite laid-back and relaxed most of the time. In his videos where he shows us his NES collection, we see that he's actually quite passive and quiet as well. The Nerd is basically his polar opposite. This is because the Nerd was conceived as a parody of [[Accentuate the Negative|loud, whiny nerds that complain about everything]].

** Then there was one year's Christmas bonus video which was basically him laying under his Christmas tree, looking at the lights, and thanking his fans for all their support over the years. When his brother joined him Doug took time out [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|to tell Rob that he loved him and that he was the greatest brother ever.]]

** Just watching the the vLogs from The That Guy With The Glasses Team Brawl (especially Spoony's) is great, because it shows the nice side of all of them.

** Or just watch any of the commentaries for movies. Even if the Critic completely trashed and mocked something in a review, there's a good chance that Walker will still have a good word for it in the commentary (at the very least, he talks about it much more gently).

** In a commentary, Spoony (see below) mentions how in his homage to the Cinema Snob (also see below, [[Channel Awesome]] seems to be all over this trope due to [[Alter Ego Acting]]) he wanted to have Brad show up and berate him for his imitation. Doug coincidentally had the same idea, and ended up doing it first. When he heard, he called Spoony and apologized profusely for accidentally using the joke first, even though there was no way he could have known. Spoony calls Doug the nicest guy in the world, and says it's impossible to ever get mad at the guy.

*** Or in ''Salo 120 Days of Sodom'''s case, praises it.

** Just check out the notorious outtake from his ''Sherlock Holmes'' review with Obscurus Lupa, where he accidentally punches her in the face and instantly drops out of character, repeatedly apologizing and asking if she's all right.

** He's also aware how difficult it is for his fans to notice if he's in character as he doesn't really have one.

** He's actually said that his character's personality in ''[[Kickassia]]'' is closer to the real him than what he does in his reviews. To those who haven't seen it, he spends most of that movie as a smiling, overly-enthusiastic [[Keet]], who comes off as a [[Cheerful Child]] in comparison to his more cynical castmates.

** The best example of this is probably the ''[[Fern Gully]]'' bloopers; while Critic and Chick can't resist fighting and bitching at other, most of the outtakes involve Doug and Lindsay having fun and her giggling at his antics.

* [[Diamanda Hagan]] is the embodiment of evil, blowing up cities, forcing her minions to please her then having them kill themselves for her amusement. Of course this is all in-character, the actress that plays her is really nice and supportive of her fans. Often thanking them for watching.

* ''Sims Big Brother'' has often had this, usually inspired by people who actually do this in reality TV shows.

* A frequent occurrence in online roleplaying (see [[Journal Roleplay]], [[Character Blog]], [[Play By Post Game]]). There are many instances of people not realizing this and thinking that the other roleplayer is a jerk, while in reality they're simply roleplaying as a jerk character.

* Niclas Lundberg of [[Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time]] is really a quite genial, laid-back guy who cracks up a lot, and is genuinely sorry about messing up his friends' kitchens.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* [[Tom Kenny]], who is quite a nice man in real life, plays the treacherous Starscream in [[Transformers Animated]].

** It's hard to think badly of a man who in one of the special features of ''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]'' DVD remembers walking in the park one day and saw a child having a Spongebob themed Birthday party. He said he was tempted to go over and say "Happy Birthday" in his Spongebob voice, but didn't because no one recognizes him.

** Plus Long Feng in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''.

** And also the [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]] from [[Phineas and Ferb]] (a.k.a. one of the [[Complete Monster|WORST]] Disney villains ever!).

* As a matter of fact, most voice actors are fairly nice people, but but play villains in animation.

** Also voiced [[Mass Effect|Nassana]] [[Complete Monster|Dantius.]]

* [[David Kaye]], best known as the voice of Megatron in several ''[[Transformers]]'' series, has consequently been a guest at a great number of conventions. He's a great guy in real life, and very friendly with the fans.

* As mentioned in the T.V. section, Phil Hartman was best known to a generation of children as the voice of such sleazebags as Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on ''[[The Simpsons]]''. In real life, he was known as one of the nicest actors in Hollywood and, by all accounts, an absolute delight to work with. This made his untimely death all the more tragic and sad end to a wonderful legacy.

 

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[[Category:Trivia Trope]]

[[Category:Real Life]]