Actors playing themselves

Isn't this essentially what all actors do, except that some are worse at it than others?

Not really.

Some actors are personalities and play variations of themselves, but others have wider ranges.

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I've heard it stated many times that Jack Nicholson plays himself.

I don't think that it's a bad thing for actors to play variations of themselves if those variations are interesting. In the greatest performances, you see something of the actor in the character they're playing because inevitably there will be if they're giving an honest performance. I think it's a case of not thinking that Marlon Brando is Stanley Kowalski, for example, but that Stanley Kowalski is Marlon Brando.

It's perhaps a little different when the character being created is entirely original to the film but I still like to see something of the actor in there because you have that double enjoyment of being able to see the character's emotions but also the actor's connection to that character.

Did you see Marlon Brando in Vito Corelone?

Matt Damon playing Matt Damon is very funny.

I would say actors that play themselves are Charlie Sheen and Seth Rogen. Though both do it well. And we all know that Sheen actually has range. Adam Sandler also plays himself in every movie.

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Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man...
Leo in What's Eating Gilbert Grape..

Sandler has zero range, Rogen smokes a lot of pot and has little while Sheen has the most of the 3.

I don't understand that, will! Confused!

Sandler has range. Look at Punch Drunk Love. He needs to do more films like that.
Rogen is for sure a pot head.
If Sheen didn't do so many drugs in the 90s he could have an academy award.

Filmgirl was describing Marlon Brando as doing a character based on himself in Streetcar. While this is debatable, it certainly isn't apparent he did that in Godfather with the different voice and heavy makeup.

Okay. I mildly understand now...lol!

Some play a style they have honed in on over time, the same person in every role.
Others are actors, ready and able to explore and try, some succeed, some dont.
De Niro is a good example of a good strong style, bits of which he uses in both comedy and his famous roles, but i have never really seen him other than his style, except really when he did that one on death, a bit of a Jack Nicholson type thing "everythings fine"?.
It is a strange question to fathom really.
What it is asking is, do some actors appear to be just the same person in every role they have?
Wether or not the people who do that, are playing themselves, is really a question only someone who actually knows them personally can answer. WE CANT.

Nothing is a problem as long as it works.
Obviously many actors are so obviously themselves in appearance and style, but they still can make you believe in the character they are playing, and so dont spoil the fiction for you but act it out for you, to get you drawn into it, and enjoy it.

Both very good acting.
So much dedication to the roles.
OH and Robert De niro was good in that type he did, but to be honest i cant remember the title now. Sam and edith or something like that, about two autistic lovers.
So much of what De Niro does, you have to admit is his self style we all know.
I am not diminishing him by saying what i said, at least i didnt mean to do so.
He even parodies his own image in those Faukers comedies.

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Basically, yes. I'm thinking about their persona rather than what they're like as people because as you're right, we can't really judge.

I've always felt that Will Smith pretty much plays variations on himself, but can you really say that about Gary Oldman or Daniel Day Lewis?

Many actors have mass appeal just for who they are. They don't inhabit characters and bring them to life as much as they just try to emote well in the context of a film's situations.... More like they're reacting than creating a character. That's not bad acting per se. It largely depends on the rest of the movie, I think, unless they really rub me wrong for some reason.

Then there are actors who can disappear into their roles and make me forget about them. Some do it consistently, some don't. And there's overlap between the "movie stars" and these too.

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Depends on the movie genre. Comedically, he always puts his own flavor into it, and you know it's Fresh Prince Will.

But in Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, and Ali, I believed he was someone else.

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