Typecasting: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

You recognize the character immediately as being right off the [[Characters]] list. He hasn't said anything yet, but you know him because he is an example of '''Typecasting'''.

 

Note that careless '''Typecasting''' can result in [[Incredibly Lame Pun|loss of information or even]] [[Genius Bonus|undefined behavior]].

 

 

* Noel Gugliemi, you probably don't know who that is, but any movie that needs a stereotypical latino gangbanger he is sure to be cast and he'll always say something like "What you say, homes?"

* [[Abbott and Costello|William Bud Abbott and Lou Costello]]

* [[Brian Blessed]] is always cast is big, boisterous characters who shout a lot.

* Has anyone noticed how most of Orlando Bloom's major roles have been in historical/fantasy action/swashbuckling movies? I'm thinking ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', ''[[Troy]]'', ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]]'', and now ''[[The Hobbit (film)|The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Three Musketeers (2011 film)|The Three Musketeers 2011]]''.

** Patrick Stewart is almost as known for being [[X-Men (film)|Professor Charles Xavier]] these days as he is for his role on ''Star Trek: TNG''.

** At least in movies and on TV, he seems to be typecast for the "good, wise non-action leader" role, especially "good king" - which makes it either very funny when he plays against type (see ''Jeffrey'' - snarky, somewhat [[Camp Gay]] interior designer and Pink Panther activist) or rather unsettling (''The Lion in Winter'' - still superficially the affable "good king", but the dialogue establishes really quickly that he's actually a selfish, scheming jerk who has [[Wife Husbandry|taken someone raised almost as an adoptive daughter as his mistress]])

* [[John Candy]] played [[Bumbling Dad]]-type roles like in ''[[Uncle Buck]]''. He's played a cop in some of his movies though.

* Since becoming an A-list actor, only three movies [[Jim Carrey]] has starred in aren't comedies in some way: ''The Majestic'', ''[[Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind]]'' and ''The Number 23''. (''[[The Truman Show]]'' is a dark satire, his role in ''[[Batman Forever]]'' is comedic, and ''[[Man on the Moon]]'' is a [[Biopic]] of [[Andy Kaufman]], so all of them have a comic element.)

* A large number of [[Gary Chalk]]'s live action roles has him working for the government. These includes jobs in politics, [[Marvel Comics|S.H.I.E.L.D.]], military and most frequently, a police officer.

* [[Jackie Chan]] was typecast as a "nice guy" for decades, partly because Jackie aspired to be a positive role model for children. Until 2006's "Rob B Hood", Jackie hadn't played a negative character in over 30 years.

* Jason Dolley, a member of the [[Disney Channel]] repertory, is typecast as ''two'' different types of characters: Either an unlucky, unappreciated loser who gets the girl in the end (in his three Disney Channel original movies: ''Read It and Weep'', [[Minutemen]], and ''Hatching Pete''): or a moronic, slacker musician (in his two Disney Channel sitcoms, ''[[Cory in The House]]'' and ''[[Good Luck Charlie]]'').

** He's finally due to play a moronic, slacker musician in a DCOM for a change, when the ''[[Good Luck Charlie]]'' movie is released.

** And his voice has likely ''[[Child's Play (film)|haunted your nightmares]]'' from childhood.

*** Which is strange, because he started off as the sweetest guy ever, Bill in ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'' (''still'' a [[The Woobie|Woobie]]!). It seems 2 years ago, finally, he was able to play someone who wasn't evil in any way, shape or form in the ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]'' remake as the Sheriff of the town, and probably the nicest guy in the movie.

* [[Hugh Grant]] is the dorky-yet-lovable Brit. As he's getting older, that role is often passed to [[Martin Freeman]].

** L-l-l-lets not forget his p-p-p-p-persistent nervous s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-studder.

* After his debut role as Hives in the [[Marx Brothers]]' ''Animal Crackers'' (1930), Robert Grieg played the Loyal Butler in something like thirty films. He was also in ''[[Trouble in Paradise]]''.

* Sid Haig is a gore porn psychopath.

** The remake of ''[[Psycho 1998]]'' is an exception.

* Speaking of ''[[Psycho]]'', the original Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins - faced typecasting twice. Prior to ''Psycho,'' Perkins seemed to be making a career playing the tall-and-gangly, boyishly charming male ingenue-like characters. After ''Psycho,'' he ended up playing creepy weirdos/psychopaths a majority of the time.

* [[Shia LaBeouf]] is the young every-dude in sci-fi/action films produced by Steven Spielberg.

* [[Bruce Lee]] as the Asian version of [[John Wayne]].

* [[Christopher Lee]]'s sepulchral tones have made him a career out of playing villains. Though to be fair, he's well-suited for it, with his razor-thin build, dark eyes, towering height, and [[Evil Sounds Deep|powerful deep voice]].

** Actually used amusingly in the ''War of the Worlds'' parody bits of the ''[[Scary Movie]]'' franchise. When the guy offering the heroines shelter pulls down his hood and reveals his face, you know he's a nutcase before he's done anything because it's Michael Madsen.

** In recent years, he's been playing American generals and agents in crappy Russian action movies. [[Money, Dear Boy|Why, would you ask]]?

** ...Who are [[Deadpan Snarker]]s with a [[Creepy Monotone]] and weird [[Verbal Tic]]s. Can anyone think of exceptions to ''that?''

*** Exception for [[Christopher Walken]]: Tracey's dad in ''[[Hairspray]]''. <s>Ha!</s> '''Yaoww... [[Verbal Tic|WoAAAoow!]]'''

* The last guy that tried to type cast [[Chuck Norris]]- oh, well, never mind.

** [[Chuck Norris]] simply plays himself [[Inverted Trope|Dialed Down]] [[Up to Eleven|To Eleven]].

* [[Al Pacino]], like DeNiro, is always either a mobster or a cop.

** To put a little spin on his typecast roles, [[Scent of a Woman]] has him played a blind retired war veteran.

* [[Keanu Reeves]] is the embodiment of spaced-out characters. See ''[[The Matrix]]'', ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure|Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure]]'', and ''[[A Scanner Darkly]]''. There is some debate over [[Dull Surprise|how intentional this is]].

** It's a pity that so few people have seen the movies in which he plays [[The Heavy]]: in ''[[The Gift]]'', he plays a violent, wife-beating redneck, and in ''[[The Watcher (film)|The Watcher]]'', he plays a ''[[Serial Killer]]'', and is terrific in both. As an [[Action Hero]]? Not so much.

** Also his role in ''[[Hellraiser]]''.

* [[Tim Roth]] usually plays thugs/murderers/convicts/all of the above at the same time. And he tends to die violent deaths.

** He's playing a rare good guy (and television role) in ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]''.

** Not a fan of Joe Besser or Curly Joe, the fifth and sixth Stooges?

* One could summarize Danny Trejo's start in acting thusly: He was training another actor how to fight after having networked his way onto the film in prison, when someone says, "You look like an ex-con! Come over here and play and ex-con." And now, he gets a [[Machete|film]] showcasing his [[Badass|talents]].

** Steven Moffat seems to be [[Mind Raping]] the Eleventh actor by writing his past roles into the script. The ends may justify the means though, as Moffat rewrites the endings of these plotlines to be healthier than the endings of the actor's past characters.

* On the other hand, [[Christopher Eccleston]] did get somewhat typecast over the years: either as a troubled, working-class, underdog everyman with some tragic story (''Jude'', ''Let Him Have It'', ''Flesh and Blood'', ''Strumpet'', ''Revengers Tragedy'', ''Hillsborough'', ''The Second Coming'', ''Heroes''... even the [[Doctor Who|Ninth Doctor]] fits this, at least stylistically), or as a mostly blockbuster-style villain (''Gone in 60 Seconds'', ''G.I. Joe'', ''The Seeker'', ''Elizabeth''). The former because of activism and conviction; the latter to [[Money, Dear Boy|be able to take a badly paying theatre role once in a while]]. Still, when [[The Agony Booth]] wrote about his role the admittedly awful movie adaptation of ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]'' "You're Christopher Eccleston. You're practically synonymous with having a charming and likeable screen presence. There is absolutely nothing scary about you.", the reviewer clearly had never seen ''[[28 Days Later]]'', ''Shallow Grave'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmYNwvxzSb0 or his Jago] in ''Othello''.

* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], in any action movie he stars in, plays unstoppable badasses. Once he is committed to a given task, ''[[Determinator|nothing]]'' (including invisible alien, shape-shifting robots or Satan) [[Determinator|is going to sway him or stand in his way]]... no, actually, except for [[Terminator|Sarah Connor]] and [[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman]]. And if he is playing a father or is otherwise in charge of kids, ''[[Papa Wolf|do not mess with them if you value your life]]''.

* Chris Tucker as the effeminate comedy relief.

** ... which Jean spoofed in the film ''JCVD''. Seagal has yet to show his sense of humor...

*** Seagal appeared as a parody of his usual roles in ''[[The Onion]] Movie'', as the Cock Puncher.

* All through [[The Eighties]], Michael Winslow tended to be The Guy Who Makes Noises. In fact, his entire career is built on being The Guy Who Makes Noises. He even admits this.

** That's who he is in real life. Though he was a voice in [[Gremlins]].

** He then completely reverses the ship by playing [[Complete Monster|twisted serial killer]] Kevin in ''[[Sin City]]''.

* Chow Yun-Fat is good at playing tragic heroes in Hong Kong action movies. Since his work with [[John Woo]], nearly every gunplay role he plays has him using [[Guns Akimbo|two guns]] at least once in the movie.

** ... and [[Stranglehold|game]].

** He plays a computer scientist in 1983's ''[[Twilight Zone the Movie]]'', a University of Kansas science professor in 1983's ''[[The Day After]]'', physicists in 1986's ''[[The Manhattan Project]]'' and 1984's ''[[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension]]'', and an engineer who designs interplanetary spacecraft in 1984's ''[[Main/ptitledixtv 2 ac|2010]]''

* Rodney Dangerfield had pretty much played the same act in most movies he did the past couple of decades, with the possible darker exception of ''Natural Born Killers''.

* Vincent Price, as 'the really creepy scary movie actor'.

* [[Tom Selleck]] has been typecast as cops or soldiers, particularly in [[Magnum, P.I.]]. Selleck himself, however, claims that [[American Gun Politics|his support for the NRA]] has hurt his career.

* Ralph Bellamy was often stuck playing [[Romantic Runner-Up|dull nice guys]].

* [[Mark Strong]], as a [[Bald of Evil|bald villain]] with [[Evil Brit|an English accent]].

 

== Actresses ==

* [[Claudia Black]] seems to show up as capable, confident, and very [[Deadpan Snarker|sarcastic]] characters, whether she is there in person or it is just her voice.

* [[Zooey Deschanel]] seems to either play the [[Deadpan Snarker]] or the [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]]. Or both. She's the [[Love Interest]] a lot, too. No wonder, she's ''beautiful''. It would take a lot of makeup and editing to make her creepy enough to be a villain, because [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]. She could probably pull off [[The Vamp|a seductress role]], though.

* Loretta Devine is almost always cast as a doting mother/grandmother. And, she is rarely in starring roles.

** Except in ''[[Urban Legend (film)|Urban Legend]]'' and its sequel ''[[Urban Legends Final Cut]]''.

* Alexandra Moen seems to be carving out a niche as "troubled posh woman". (She was Lucy Saxon in [[Doctor Who|"Last of the Time Lords"]], for those of you who don't know her name).

* Actress Lupe Ontiveros estimates that she's played a maid between 150 and 300 times on screen.

* Joan Plowright is the ultimate Sweet Old English Lady.

** Oddly averted in her breakout role, ''[[Bagdad Cafe]]'', where she is in charge of delivering the [[Whoopi Epiphany Speech]].

** Now subverted with ''Warehouse13'': Mrs. Frederic is definitely an authority figure, but rather than being [[Affably Evil]], she is a gruff, kind of creepy [[Da Chief|Chief]] who nevertheless ''not'' evil (so far).

* Keri Lynn Pratt can never be cast as anything but a variation of [[The Ditz]], due to her comically squeaky voice. A ditzy intern on ''[[Brothers and Sisters]]'', ditzy girlfriend Missy on ''[[Jack and Bobby]]'', then a ditzy sorority girl in ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' {{spoiler|albeit a manipulative, lying, blackmailing one}}. With a voice like that, it seems like there's no way for anyone to take her seriously.

* Catalina Saavedra originally refused (angrily) the role of Raquel in ''[[The Maid]]'' (2009 Chilean film) because she had already played too many maids.

* Luciana Salazar as "eye candy on rehashed sequel of an old comedy franchise/movie based on cartoon".

* Ever since ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]'', [[Brenda Song]] has been typecast as the [[Asian Airhead]] in [[Disney]] productions. Ironically, her first major role was in a [[Nickelodeon]] show, ''[[100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd|One Hundred Deeds for Eddie Mcdowd]]'', as an ''[[Asian and Nerdy|egghead]]''—a retroactive [[Playing Against Type]]. Outside of Disney, she still occasionally gets typecast as an [[Asian Airhead]]. It seems she's just good at comedy.

* [[Tilda Swinton]] as the androgynous [[Ice Queen]].

* Although her most popular role was as Elliot's mom in ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.]]'', the rest of Dee Wallace's acting career seems to subsist of that of the victim in various horror films, with ''[[The Howling]]'', ''[[The Hills Have Eyes]]'', ''[[Cujo]]'' and the remake of ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]'' being amoung the most popular.

** Subverted in ''The Frighteners'', where she is portrayed as the victim only to {{spoiler|change gears halfway through the film to become the villain)}}.

* When Zhang Ziyi appears on the screen, you start to count down to the beginning of some serious [[Waif Fu]].

* Kelly Preston seems to usually play the doting mother in family films (e.g. ''Jack Frost'', ''What a Girl Wants'', ''The Cat in the Hat'', ''Sky High'', ''Old Dogs'', and ''The Last Song'').

* And while we're at it, we also have [[Angelina Jolie]] as the other badass tough girl who doesn't die as often, though she did kill herself in [[Wanted]].

* Need a runaway, drug addict, hooker, hellraiser, or [[Broken Bird|otherwise troubled young woman?]] Taryn Manning’s your gal.

* Given the number of times [[Hayden Panettiere]] and Christina Milian have played [[The Cheerleader]], [[The CW]] missed a trick by not getting one or the other or both to make a guest appearance on ''[[Hellcats]]''.

* [[Stephanie Sheh]] will forever be known as the woman who voices [[Shrinking Violet|shy]], busty [[Moe]] girls who [[Naruto|have]] [[Bleach|crushes]] [[Haruhi Suzumiya|on the main protagonist]].

* Characters played by Mischa Barton usually tend to end up in relationships with other girls, at least briefly. The same is sometimes true for her [[The OC|OC]] girlfriend Olivia Wilde.

* Krysten Ritter usually plays bitchy characters with [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|a heart of gold]].

 

== Both ==

*** However, he was just about the only major ''[[Star Trek]]'' cast member who never bitched about it.

* The main characters of ''[[Command & Conquer]] 3'' are typecast since their previous roles, as pointed out in a ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del]]'' comic.

** And if you're particularly unlucky, even the roles written for your ethnic group will [[Race Lift|suddenly be handed to white actors instead]].

* Quinton Flynn seems to voice three kinds of characters: [[Metal Gear Solid|Badasses]], [[Advent Children|comedic villains]], or just plain Ax Crazy [[Kingdom Hearts II|pyromaniacs]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters and Casting]]