Actors Who've Played Against Type

[Redlo Nosrep]

I'm a great fan of good westerns and just indulged in two of my favorites over the last two nights. I was struck by the difference in typecasting between the male leads in each movie.

Gregory Peck in "The Big Country" plays the handsome, honorable, brave hero who comes West to marry a rancher's daughter and gets more than he bargained for. It's an excellent movie but Peck's performance is predictable in its typecasting.

In contrast, Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West" plays the icy, psychopathic villain whose comeuppance is foretold in flashbacks. He's evil through and through, much against his expected role as the hero.

Many critics think "The Searchers" is the greatest western ever made, and it could be argued that John Wayne played against type in his role in that film.

I remember some actor once being quoted as "It's better being typecast than not casted at all." LOL

What other actors have impressed you with their ability to play against type, in any kind of movie? BTW, Wikipedia has a list of actors who have successfully escaped typecasting in certain roles.

[NNadir]

1. Jim Carrey in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

Not one mugging face in the whole movie.

[Chan790]

2. Denzel Washington in Training Day. (**Spoiler**)

The first third of the movie, you think "Oh okay, he's a narcotics cop and he has to bend the rules to be effective."

Then, out of nowhere...he blows away a drug-dealer who owes him money...and the theatre went silent in shock because Denzel never plays the bad guy, but in this moment the entire understanding of the movie to that point changes...he's not rule-breaking antihero, he's the bad guy. He's not trying to teach new partner Ethan Hawke that you have to bend the rules and be effective, he's just setting him up to get busted if he goes to his superiors and forcing him to become just as corrupt.

[Redlo Nosrep]

3. How Could I Have Failed to Mention

...Arnie and Danny deVito in "Twins."

Whatever else you think about The Governator, he does feel comfortable in poking fun at his tough-guy typecasting.

[Odin2005]

4. That movie is hilarious!

[Wounded Bear]

18. Kindegarten Cop....

Arnie has had a couple of good comedic roles.

Kinda goes against how he is usually portrayed as so self confident and strong, even in real life.

[sarge43]

5. Gregory Peck did do at least one against type role

Josef Mengele, Boys from Brazil Not bad

[Moondog]

21. Two -

Captain Ahab in Moby Dick.

[charlyvi]

37. Three

Duel in the Sun

[Ptah]

6. For me, Fred MacMurray in 'The Apartment'

[MiddleFingerMom]

11. Also in "Double Indemnity":

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/
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[Ptah]

14. How could I know that murder can sometimes smelled like honeysuckle

[graywarrior]

33. That's the first movie I thought of, too!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. Two-fer: Bill Murray & Robt Deniro in Mad Dog and Glory

In a movie about a mild-mannered police photographer who is befriended by a swaggering gangster, Bill Murray plays the gangster and Robert De Niro plays the photographer. Directed by John McNaughton from a script by Richard Price, this comedy-drama has its moments but never quite lifts off. De Niro plays a shy type nicknamed Mad Dog who accidentally saves Murray's life. In gratitude, Murray "gives" him a girl, Glory (Uma Thurman), who is supposed to satisfy his needs and make him feel good. Instead, the photographer falls in love with her. When the gangster wants her back, the photographer says no, triggering an unlikely showdown. Murray is scarily funny as a mobster who wants to be a standup comic, but De Niro plays this nonentity as, well, a nonentity.

[rrneck]

8. Tower Heist

Judd Hirsch plays a jerk boss and Alan Alda plays a cruel corrupt Wall Street tycoon.

[Denninmi]

9. Tom Hanks in 'Philadelphia'

Until then, he had only appeared in comedies, some of them kind of bad comedies, and of course his notorious role in the cross-dressing sitcom.

Then he did a drama and won the best actor Oscar for it, IIRC.

[Wounded Bear]

19. Hanks got robbed on Saving Private Ryan....

IMHO. He's done some excellent work in a variety of roles.

[cliffordu]

10. Terrence Stamp in prescilla, queen of the desert

Tough guy for every film he'd ever done - then plays (convincingly) a gentle, gay drag queen.

Magnificent.

[Redlo Nosrep]

20. I Remember This!

It was a great story and very engrossing, a testament to the very talented Terrence Stamp.

And, speaking of tough guys playing drag queens, the "Wong Foo" movie with Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes was very cool, too.

[cliffordu]

24. Yes it was.

[Aristus]

31. All three main actors in both films were/are straight.

I thought that was interesting.

Terence Stamp's performance in "Priscilla" was both tough and sweet.

[Redlo Nosrep]

12. Andy Griffith, Too

He wasn't exactly Opie's homespun hero sheriff of Mayberry when he did "A Face in the Crowd."

Oh, and Elijah Wood's take on the cannibal serial killer in "Sin City" after being typecast as the gentle Frodo in the LOTR trilogy.

I really admire actors who take the chance to break out of the roles their audiences have come to expect from them.

[Ptah]

16. Excellent choice, Redlo Nosrep.

I had forgotten that gem.

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Brad Pitt in Kalifornia

Coming after that adorable role he did in Thelma and Louise and A River Runs Through It, Kalifornia was quite a shock.

[Motown_Johnny]

15. Ian Mckellen was both Gandalf and Magneto

I'm not sure if this is exactly where you were going but it could be argued that Gandalf was pretty much the ultimate good guy while Magneto was pretty much the ultimate bad gun.

Ian did both, in three movies each, and did them very successfully.












Edit to add: OK Fine, Robin Williams in One Hour Photo. (the boring answer)

[MiddleFingerMom]

17. Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi in one of the most underrated movies ever, "Neighbors".

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Ackroyd played the wild maniac and Belushi played the conservative suburbanite.
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[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

23. Anne Hathaway in Love and Other Drugs

[OrwellwasRight]

25. Kevin Bacon

in The Woodsman and Sleepers. Although people make fun of him due to the six degrees game, he is actually a ver talented and extremely versatile actor. Who else could pull off successful roles in Animal House, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollp 13, Mystic river, Sleepers, Wild Things, Beauty Shop, and X-Men First Class???

Check out his IMDB page:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000102/

[Redlo Nosrep]

34. And That Movie With Meryl Streep!

He was a very slimy villain in "The River Wild" and really managed to project a menace and evil that was as chilling as the cold water he was in for most of the filming.

[OrwellwasRight]

38. Welcome to DU, by the way!

[Lionel Mandrake]

26. Wilford Brimley in "The Firm" (1993)

His character in this movie is pure evil.

Showing Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) photos of himself with a prostitute, Bill DeVasher (Wilford Brimley) says: "Not just screwing, Mitch. All sorts of intimate acts, oral and whatnot, that can be particularly hard for a trusting wife to forgive and IMPOSSIBLE to forget."

[charlyvi]

27. Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest. eom

[riderinthestorm]

29. I LOVE that movie. I may have to go watch it now. I even own it

"By Grabthar's Hammer, by the sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"

[charlyvi]

30. I played Richard III....

There were five curtain calls. I was an actor once!

[riderinthestorm]

32. You broke the ship. You broke the bloody ship.

[charlyvi]

35. He wants to think!

Sam Rockwell was great in that movie too.

[riderinthestorm]

28. Charlize Theron in Monster, Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich

Emma Thompson as the mad Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter series and Nanny McPhee after doing so much Shakespeare.

[Blue_In_AK]

36. Charlize Theron was awesome in that movie.