"Pegging" the Actor?

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One of the nasty little traits I've developed over my career in watching films is "pegging" the actor/actress. I guess, in this modern age of "Internet forums," etc. you might say "pinned" not "pegged." That is, you associate the impression of the first memorable role in which you see them, and then base your comparison of their future roles, on that first initial impression. The result being, you cannot credibly see that actor playing future roles, because to you, they will always be that first, initial "impressioned" role. Note that this "first impression" role may not be their first role in which you've seen them, or even their first role, ever, but the first "memorable" role that makes that impression for you.

Examples:

1) Tom Cruise - "pegged" role was as "Capt. David Shaun" in the movie "Taps." For a very long time, I could not see him in other roles thereafter, since he would always be "Capt. Shaun" the "psycho" Cadette. I had difficulty with him in both "The Outsiders" (as Steve Randle) as well as "Risky Business" because of that "pegging." And, even though I had seen him in "Endless Love" before Taps, I just didn't remember his performance in that movie. I will say, though, he did an decent job at "un-pegging" himself (albeit temporarily), in Top Gun.

2) Robert Prosky - Of course, most will remember him as "Off. Jablonkski" the desk Sgt. in the "Hill St. Blues" TV series, taking over for Phil Esterhaus, the Michael Conrad character. But, to me, Prosky will always be "The Bear..." Col. Berrineau in the movie "The Lords of Discipline" It's his "southern drawl" that will seal that memory, even though it wasn't a perfect/natural one.

3) Michael Biehn - Likewise, his "pegged" role also comes from "The Lords of Discipline" as the sadistic leader of "The 10" organization, Cadette "John Alexander," even though most will probably remember him from the original "Terminator" (as Kyle Reece) or other later roles. Same for "Bill Paxton" who played Cadette "Cain Gibreath"


So, which actors/actresses have you "pegged" and in what roles?



I had Robert Pattinson "pegged" kinda but the new movie he is in called "good time" looks pretty good.
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Oh my god. They're trying to claim another young victim with the foreign films.



It's so strange but I tend to peg actors differently:

Stanley Tucci - I have seen him act really well in some movies, but in most of them he tends to smile at inappropriate times. Even when he isn't smiling properly, his eye's betray that he wants to. I think that it might be that his enthusiasm for his work gets the better of him, but I can't help cringing anytime I see him in a movie.

Paul Giamatti - Now, don't get me wrong, I like him in a lot of movies (Sideways, Cosmopolis, Storytelling) but he tends to gravitate to this cadence of speech that smacks of "this is me acting". Additionally, he tends to push this when he emotes harder, and it just brings me out of the movie.

In both situations, I play this mental drinking game with myself, counting the times that each of these things happen.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Pegging an actor... Jesus Christ, I only knew one meaning of this word before this thread.
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Same could be said for directors as well tbh.
I mean, with James Cameron it will always be Aliens I think of first.
Spielberg, though I had seen ET, Indiana Jones and Jaws etc beforehand, he will always be stuck in my mind with Jurassic Park.



Pegging an actor... Jesus Christ, I only knew one meaning of this word before this thread.
Oddly enough, I attribute my use of this word (in this context) to a film... and a Rock Hudson film at that.

The old military classic, "A Gathering of Eagles, (1963)" where Hudson's character, Col. James Caldwell is picked to run an Aerospace Wing of B-52s at an Air Force Base near San Francisco. He's put there to fix all the problems they've encountered, mostly in the "senior management" of the base.

Long story short, the base commander is not recommended for continuance in his position (to the point where he can get a full retirement). And, as a result, he gets so despondent that he tries to shoot himself (supposedly by accident, but)... When Caldwell visits him in the hospital they have a confrontation. The base commander scolds him for having too heavy a "chopping axe" in re: the dead weight at the base. Something to the effect of, "Those men are excellent men... you don't know what you're doing when you chop so blindly."

Col Caldwell replies,
Originally Posted by Col. Caldwell
I sure as He!! had you pegged. You couldn't even do a good job of blowing your brains out!
And this statement is what fires up the base commander to defy Col. Caldwell, recover from his injury, and go seek a new profession outside the military... just like Col. Caldwell planned.

Anyway, that's where I learned the term.



I think I do it with most actors if there's one particular role that made me notice them. It can change if they get another really memorable and enduring role - when I started watching Person of Interest, Michael Emerson was Ben from Lost, now he's Finch from Person of Interest lol - but it's quite common to do so. I even do it with actors I don't often know the name of, like with older TV shows. Many are the times, upon watching The Avengers or Callan, that I go "hey. it's x from Doctor Who Story x!"
Can't say I see it as a "nasty" habit, though. Better to be remembered for something than forgotten altogether...



delage's Avatar
Registered User
One that really comes to mind is Ted Levine. Everyone knows him as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and it's really hard to detach him from that. I really did like him on Georgia in a very different and human role and he really did the best with it, but it's always hard to watch him in other things.



This can happen to actors not just for an individual's perspective but the collective audience at large, leading to that actor even being typecast in the industry.

The most obvious example may be Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho. Perkins had a career before the Hitchcock classic and for decades afterwards, but he was so identified with Norman Bates that he couldn't really escape it.

Another was Powers Boothe who so creepily portrayed the infamous Reverend Jim Jones in the made-for-TV movie "The Guyana Tragedy" that it cast a shadow over the entire rest of his career.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



delage's Avatar
Registered User
I remember being astonished to find Perkins had been Oscar-nominated prior to his role in Psycho because it was all about that film whenever you heard of him.



1) Tom Cruise - "pegged" role was as "Capt. David Shaun" in the movie "Taps." For a very long time, I could not see him in other roles thereafter, since he would always be "Capt. Shaun" the "psycho" Cadette. I had difficulty with him in both "The Outsiders" (as Steve Randle) as well as "Risky Business" because of that "pegging." And, even though I had seen him in "Endless Love" before Taps, I just didn't remember his performance in that movie. I will say, though, he did an decent job at "un-pegging" himself (albeit temporarily), in Top Gun.


OK, first of all, let me confirm that you're talking about what I think you're talking about, which is typecasting...thinking that an actor is only capable of playing a certain kind of role and if that's correct, I'm having trouble with your analysis of "pegging" Cruise...maybe it's because I didn't see the films in order of release, but I always "pegged" Cruise as Joel in Risky Business because it was the first film of his I actually saw. It would be several years before I would see Taps, but the character he played in All the Right Moves, his next film was NOTHING like Joel and he was very good.



delage's Avatar
Registered User
Watching Roger Moore playing that aging gay in that... thing called Boat Trip was certainly shocking. And he was actually the best part of the movie by a mile. When he died recently, all I could think of his film career outside Bond films was that and his cameo in Spiceworld. Sad, I know. He's probably had other good roles in movies but I certainly don't remember them.



OK, first of all, let me confirm that you're talking about what I think you're talking about, which is typecasting...
I see "typecasting" as something more industry wide... ie. when the entire industry comes to the same conclusion and actually affects the actor's career choices, based on the totality of their performances.. "Pegging" (in my context) is a personal decision involving one individual viewer, that viewer having absolutely no influence or effect in re: an actor's career...

I'm having trouble with your analysis of "pegging" Cruise...maybe it's because I didn't see the films in order of release, but I always "pegged" Cruise as Joel in Risky Business because it was the first film of his I actually saw.
It isn't necessarily the "first" film in which you saw the actor, but the first film you saw that makes that "initial memorable impression." For you, it was "Risky Business." For me, it was Taps. As I stated earlier, I had seen Tom in "Endless Love" but absolutely didn't remember him at all. Only upon re-watching Endless Love at some point did a realize it was his first film appearance.

It would be several years before I would see Taps, but the character he played in All the Right Moves, his next film was NOTHING like Joel and he was very good.
I saw All the Right moves after Taps. It was just not as powerful a performance for me. Good, yes, but not as memorable. I would say it would take "Maverick" to break and alter his pegging, for me.



I'm still not sure if I get what you're talking about where "pegging" is concerned, but I can tell you that Cruise was not in Maverick, that was Mel Gibson.



Watching Roger Moore playing that aging gay in that... thing called Boat Trip was certainly shocking. And he was actually the best part of the movie by a mile. When he died recently, all I could think of his film career outside Bond films was that and his cameo in Spiceworld. Sad, I know. He's probably had other good roles in movies but I certainly don't remember them.
He's very good in The Last Time I Saw Paris with Elizabeth Taylor and he was actually the funniest thing about The Cannonball Run, where he actually plays himself.



I'm still not sure if I get what you're talking about where "pegging" is concerned, but I can tell you that Cruise was not in Maverick, that was Mel Gibson.
He meant he played a character called Maverick in Top Gun.



Actually, he plays a rich playboy who just happens to look exactly like James Bond star Roger Moore, and takes full advantage of the fact.
He's also great in The Man Who Haunted Himself, and of course also made it big on TV pre-Bond as The Saint in the 60s and with Tony Curtis in The Persuaders in the early 70s.