Nice Character, Mean Actor: Difference between revisions

There's an actor who is well-known for playing brave and courageous characters who are as good as it gets, or an actress whose characters are sweet and easy-going. [[Beneath the Mask|But off-camera]], it turns out that these people are not as nice as they appear to be when they start yelling at the rest of the cast, snapping at the director (in [[Cluster F-Bomb|the sort of language]] that their characters would never ''dare'' use), and proclaiming that [[It's All About Me|they alone have the talent]]. When meeting with fans, they'll usually take on their nice character persona, but when alone they'll complain loudly about how much they hate their annoying fans.

Related to [[Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight]] and the [[Depraved Kids' Show Host]]; subtrope of [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]] and [[The Prima Donna]]. The opposite of [[Mean Character, Nice Actor]]. Compare [[Funny Character, Boring Actor]]. Also compare [[Small Name, Big Ego]].

'''[[No Real Life Examples, Please{{noreallife|In-Universe Examples Only, Please!]]''' Therethere are [[Eleventy-Zillion|scrillions]] of gossip magazines and websites that delve into this exact thing. Plus, and celebrities are held to higher standards of "nice" than normal people;, so having a short temper on a stressful day of work can be spun into making one sound like [[Ron the Death Eater|the mostbiggest colossal bitch/douchebagjackass on the planet]]. The [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment]] applies here.}}

* ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]'': Vision may apearappear to be a calm, soft hearted [[Idol Singer]], but offstage, she is a ruthless mecha driving terrorist on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]!

* Sho of ''[[Skip Beat!]]'' is kind and sweet to his fans . . . and a ruthless, cruel jerk the rest of the time.

* As a riff on female celebrities who put on a [[Kawaiiko]] persona, a ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei|Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei]]'' chapter/episode has Maria attacking people identified as a [[Manzai|boke]] and when she goes to bop a seemingly ditzy female star identified as a "natural boke", said star flashes a [[Game Face]] at Maria and throws her to the ground- and then reverts to her cutesy persona in front of the camera.

== ComicbooksComic Books ==

* ''[[America's Sweethearts]]'' was built around this trope. Gwen and Eddie always played sweethearts in the movies (see the film's title). In real life, Gwen left Eddie for another man, treated her sister/assistant like garbage, and was a general bitch to most people she met.

* Averted in ''[[Harold and Kumar|Harold & Kumar goGo to White Castle]]'', Neil Patrick Harris (then still best-known for ''[[Doogie Howser, M.D.]]'') wanted to be credited "as Neil Patrick Harris" rather than "as himself" so people wouldn't think he was a crazy, coke-snorting womanizer in real life.

* Played brilliantly for comic effect in ''[[Pee Wee-wee's Big Adventure|Pee Wees Big Adventure]]'' when child actor Kevin Morton (played by actual nice guy child actor [[The Wonder Years|Jason Hervey]]) acts like an arrogant prick toward the cast and crew in between takes on a film where he plays an orphan that all of the nuns and fellow orphans love dearly.

{{quote| ''"Doesn't it look like I'm ready? I am ALWAYS ready! I have BEEN ready since first call! I AM READY! Roll!"''}}

* Lina Lamont in ''[[Singin' in the Rain|Singin in The Rain]]''. She plays all sorts of glamorous princesses and whatnot (in silent films), but when she actually opens her mouth, you find out she sounds awful and has the personality to match.

** She ''could'' be considered a [[Jerkass Woobie]] if you remember that she's been treated condescendingly by the studio for years, forbidden to even ''speak'' in public because of her screechy voice. It's also pretty clear that [[TheSmall TedName, BaxterBig Ego|she doesn't think she has such a hideous voice]].

* Andy Griffith carries this off beautifully in 1957's ''[[A Face in the Crowd]]'' where he comes off as a folksy home-spun philosopher who somehow becomes a media success. Of course hisHis downfall comes when his disillusioned girlfriend deliberately broadcasts what he ''really'' thinks of his audience during the closing credits of his TV program.

* Neville Sinclair in ''[[The Rocketeer (film)|The Rocketeer]]'', an Errol-Flynn-style '30s action hero actor who turns out to be a [[jerkass]] primadonna who "accidentally" ''stabs'' one of his costars for upstaging him. {{spoiler|Even worse, he turns out to be a Nazi spy, kills multiple people (enemy and ally alike) in his quest to steal the jetpack for his Nazi superiors so they can take over the world.}}

* In ''[[What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?|What Ever Happened to Baby Jane]]'', Jane was a cutesy Shirley Temple-esque child star who became a horrible spoiled brat offstage. Her career was [[Role -Ending Misdemeanor|ended]] when her fans witnessed her throwing a tantrum outside the theatre.

* ''[[The Purple Rose of Cairo]]''.{{context}}

* Wayne Brady's infamous sketch on ''[[Chappelle's Show]]'' had him making fun of himself and his likable, good-natured reputation as a complete mask for his true self, a violent, murderous pimp.

* Done in ''[[ICarlyiCarly]]'' with Wade Collins. {{spoiler|Turns out that he made up that whole 'my mother needs surgery' thing to gain sympathy from the audience.}} He's really an insensitive, nasty hobknocker!

* The ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' [[Show Within thea Show]] "Kid Gets Acquainted with the Universe." Its lead actor is shown to be abusive to a fellow actor who plays the antagonist.

* ''[[Father Ted]]'' had a parody of Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell. Like O'Donnell, Eoin McLove is a "Housewives' Favourite" who performs quietly pleasant acoustic songs. Unlike O'Donnell, he's actually a [[Psychopathic Manchild]].

* The premise of ''[[Life's Too Short|Lifes Too Short]]'', where Warwick Davis plays [[Adam Westing|a fictionalised version of himself who pretends to be nice but is really an arrogant, manipulative jerk.]]

* Of course, one can never forget {{spoiler|Matt Engarde}} from ''[[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]''. This is more a case of [[Complete Monster|Nice Character, Completely Sociopathic Actor.]] Particularly ironic, since {{spoiler|Will Powers}}, his mentor/predecessor, {{spoiler|was the epitome of [[Mean Character, Nice Actor|Badass Character, Nice Actor]].}}

* On ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' Huey, Dewey, and Louie idol worship Captain Courage, hero of the TV show "Courage of the Cosmos." Uncle Scrooge owns the show and has Gyro redo it to make it more realistic. The boys go on the show and are blind to the fact that their hero is just a vain, egotistical actor. They also don't realize that Gyro made their set an actual spaceship and it launches into outer space. When they realize where they are and real aliens have captured them, Courage panics, and the boys see what a coward he really is ("real heroes just do their jobs!").

* Stinky Pete the Prospector from ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story 2]]''. He is actually based on the loyal friend to Sheriff Woody in an old children's show called ''Woody's Roundup'', but the toy version of him is ''very'' evil (and second only to {{spoiler|Lotso}}). He hates other toys because he is constantly sealed within a cardboard box, and as a result he wants to remain in the box forever, and therefore he also wants ''other'' toys to be contained within their boxes as well. He ultimately gets his comeuppance by being stuffed inside a backpack full of painted [[Barbie]] dolls, and is later revealed to have liked being painted like said dolls.

* Subverted in the ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' episode "Eugene Goes Bad." Eugene is obsessed with TV superhero The Abdicator, but things go sour when he visits the set and sees the actor acting like a spoiled diva [[The Ahnold|("Where is mah ahpreecot joose?").]] After calling the guy out, Eugene decides there's no reason to be good anymore and starts to misbehave. Meanwhile, Maurice, the actor, has his own personal crisis as he can't stop feeling guilty about the incident and letting his fans down. Eventually he helps snap Eugene out of his rebellious phase.