Actors Playing Recurring Roles

Know any actors that always seem to play the same chacracter in most of the movies they are in? Or the actors that cant seem to get away from characters they have portrayed?

Danny devito =low life
Samuel L Jackson =Bad ass MofO

This would be something some actors/actresses don't want. To be typecast.

But in any case, you can't forget Ah-nuld.

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Sean William Scott - Crazy Ass College Boy

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Tommy Lee Jones: government official or officer of some sort who's damn good at his job.

Julia Roberts: Take away hair, make-up, and costume...and you've got the same, basic charactors.

Meg Ryan: same formula as Julia. No range. Ever see these women play Junkies? Murders? Bad mothers? Oh wait. Meg was in, When a Man Loves a Woman...but I'll be damned if she still wasn't,"cute".

Freddie Prinze Junior: all his charactor's are interchangeable.

Damn straight on Prinze. He's The Devil.

Ryan played a junkie of sorts (kinda sorta, I think) in Addicted to Love, didn't she? Anyway, you're right...it's the same quirky chick. Usually single (until the end of the flick, naturally).

Don't agree on Roberts. I don't consider her to be a terrific actress, but I still maintain she's better than you give her credit for.

I don't agree. Remember his role in Throw Mama From the Train? Very different from his role in The Big Kahuna.

Julia Roberts doesn't play the same character in every movie. There was a little thing a few years ago called Mary Reilly, I don't know if you've seen it. And it's ironic, too. People always gave her sh-t about never doing anything different, and she went and did that movie and everyone talked about how stupid it was because she did something different.

Meg Ryan has more range than she's given credit for, ever seen City of Angels?. She's actually very good in that movie, which isn't very good. You can actually watch the movie collapse around her. She's just typecast - she's got a patent on those sunny, Sleepless in Seattle style roles, and, like Julia, if she ever tries anything different everyone goes up in arms.

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Problems! I have problems with your little arguments, here.

1. Mary Reilly sucked. It really, truely did. Mostly because of Julia and some because of everything else...writing, directing, CASTING. Horrible. You're right I guess...she tried something new and it blew. So that even proves my point further...she's only capable of delivering the same ol' Julia.

2. I did see City of Angels, wasn't Meg and her head full of golden curls, cute?

Tom Hanks -- Always playing the everyday guy. That might change with Road to Perdition though this year.

Woody Allen

Jean Reno -- Always a mysterious foreign guy with a weapon.

Morgan Freeman -- Kiss the Girls, Se7en, Under Suspicion, High Crimes, etc.. etc..

Michael Douglas -- Always the rich business-man type.

Cuba Gooding Jr. -- Always "Rod Tidwell"

Feel free to agree / disagree

JAY AND SILENT BOB

I agree. Woody Allen, well...does he even try? Morgan Freeman...sadly, it's the truth, you forgot to mention Along Came a Spider; however, exceptions to the rule would be Hard Rain(blech) and The Shawshank Redempton.
Douglas, again, exceptional at what he does do...but he always does it.
The one I have trouble with is Tom Hanks. I need to deliberate over that one a little.

thats because those are characters LB

Steve Bucemi - crazy comedy relief guy
Pierce Brosnan - just accept that you are, and always will be James Bond
Dennis Hopper - villian
Jean-Claude Van Damme - Jean-Claude Van Damme
Steven Seagal - your basic everyday KUNG FU MASTER!!!

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Yeah, but the name of the thread isn't "Typecasting", is it?
If anything, L.B is more right than the rest of you, although a conversation about Typecasting is a good idea.

I think it's interesting to note the reocurring roles in Kevin Smith films. Not just Jay and Silent Bob, either, of course. That's something I really like, his View Askewniverse. I mean, just look at Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Reoccuring roles everywhere.

It is interesting to note that Tarantino may be doing the same shortly with a prequel to both Pulp and Dogs with The Vega Brothers, which of course will have a character from each of those two films popping up again, one of which will be Travolta, reprising Vincent.

I love the idea of reoccuring roles that actors can claim to be their own of top of other films they do.

I need not bring up the entire Bond series...

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I think very few actors have played the same role their entire career so I'm going to argue with every single one of you.

Tom Hanks ... hello, have you seen Big, Forrest Gump, Philadelphia? Only recently has he been stuck in the American everyman Jimmy Stewart persona but it's only really been Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan and Castaway - 3 movies does not a typecast make.

Julia Roberts ... granted her range is limited, but Erin Brockovich was a change in direction for her. She swore, she wore trashy clothes. That wasn't Julia. I despise the woman but I will not accept that her performance in Brockovich was bad. Let's give credit where credit is due. Roberts has also played Kitty O'Shea in Michael Collins where she attempted an Irish accent. And in My Best Friend's Wedding she was the jealous bad egg. That last one is closest to her real life personality if you ask me.

Danny DeVito ... In War of the Roses, he's a lawyer. In One Flew... he's a mental patient. In The Rainmaker, he's a lawyer. When has he played a low-life apart from Taxi?

Samuel L Jackson ... tough one this. Sam has pigeon-holed himself these last few years with Shaft and what have you. I firmly believe that he believes he really is as cool as his characters say he is and that's sad because he's a great actor. Jurassic Park is an example of Sam with a change of pace.

Arnold Schwarzenegger ... Hey Twins and Kindergarten Cop are Arnold away from his tough guy role. And we all know he's better away from the guns.

Meg Ryan Hippy in The Doors.

Tommy Lee Jones Gay in JFK.

Michael Douglas Action hero in Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile. He's always rich though. Oh except for Wonder Boys. That was a different Douglas role.

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You're forgetting The Ghost and the Darkness

Can I barf now?! Swearing and Trashy clothes make a performance? She wore trashy clothes and swore in Pretty Woman, too. Credit where credit is due? Everything she has ever done, was all about her. She wouldn't know how to share the spotlight, if it would save her life. She is the most selfish actress...ick. I'm done talking about it.

Danny DeVito I totally agree with you on; but he has played a low-life a lot. Death to Smoochy, Heist, Batman Forever, Romancing the Stone, Matilda, lots.

And you think swearing and trashy clothes automatically makes a performance bad? This reminds me of so many people who didn't want Kevin Spacey to win for best actor because they thought American Beauty was immoral. Real life isn't like 7th Heaven.

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Most of the actors people have mentioned are not typecasted.

First of all if you play a recurring character it a series of movies it does not mean you're typecasted, its the same character. Morgan Freeman is not typecasted alot of those roles were the same character, also take a look at Robin Hood, and you know he's been around for a long time and has had many roles.

Action stars are not by default typecasted either. Thats like saying "Kevin Spacey only does drama." Just because someone always makes movies in the same Genre doesn't mean they're typecasted. So Arnold I'd say no, Seagal yes though - in most of his movies the titles don't even matter. The same goes with Jackie Chan. This also goes for romantic comedies - just because someone does romantic comedies doesn't mean there are typecasted. Meg Ryan can be a sappy romantic from baltimore in one romantic comedy while being a motorcycle riding slightly-goth vengeful ex-lover in another romantic comedy.

I also don't think you can label all of these teen actors as typecasted because they do teen films. Are adult actors typecasted for doing adult films?

Pierce Brosnan has been typcasted though. No matter how many Bond movies he's been in its just one character, but he has also pretty much played the same person in The Tailor of Panama (admittedly a less refined Bond) and The Thomas Crown Affair. Going back further his character in Dante's Peak was not altogether different either. In Mrs. Doubtfire his personality is also the same. Sure he's done some smaller movies like "Grey Owl" but as far as the Box Office is concerned he's Bond, James Bond.

Senator Fred Thompson is also typecasted as he is almost always a general, admiral, or something similar.

For the most part if you want to find the people who are truly typecasted look for the character actors, people who usually play the same supporting roles. Lead Actors are rarely typecast, but supporting actors often are.

a serious question here, do you really think if Jay and Silent Bob were to appear in seperate movies out side of the askew Productions they would be different me thinks they'd be the same.