# Actors in parts where you couldn't take them seriously due to being typecast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077 "2009-11-02T18:15:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/1 "2009-11-02T18:15:18Z")
Even if they did well, there are some people you can’t see as anything but “that character”. For me examples In _Twilight_ and seeing Robert Pattinson, all I could think was "_Harry stop whining, Cedric is alive._. Although for some strange reason he seems to glow in sunlight. I chortled everytime I saw David Scwhimmer in _Band of Brothers_, hey its Ross. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/2 "2009-11-02T18:36:50Z")
Ted Danson in his minor role in Saving Private Ryan. I kept subconsciously expecting him to say something funny. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/3 "2009-11-02T18:58:45Z")
George Reeves in **From Here to Eternity** : “Hey, what’s Superman doing at Pearl Harbor?” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/4 "2009-11-02T19:56:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > George Reeves in **From Here to Eternity** : “Hey, what’s Superman doing at Pearl Harbor?” He also tried to romance Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind.” I THINK it was “Memphis Belle,” but I’m not sure… it was a WW2 movie, a serious one, that featured Ed O’Neil (Al Bundy). There was nothing wrong with his performance, but I just couldn’t take him seriously. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/5 "2009-11-02T20:02:09Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I THINK it was “Memphis Belle,” but I’m not sure… it was a WW2 movie, a serious one, that featured Ed O’Neil (Al Bundy). There was nothing wrong with his performance, but I just couldn’t take him seriously. I had a hard time with him playing Sgt. Joe Friday. I think his acting was good, but, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/6 "2009-11-02T20:04:57Z")
Tim Curry in pretty much anything. No matter what he’s in I can’t help but picture Dr. Frank-N-Furter. It was kind of funny seeing him as the prudish professor in “Kinsey.” The whole time I was thinking this is the guy who once pranced around in fishnet stockings and a bustier. Who’s he to lecture anyone on sexual mores. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/7 "2009-11-02T21:43:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I THINK it was “Memphis Belle,” but I’m not sure… it was a WW2 movie, a serious one, that featured Ed O’Neil (Al Bundy). There was nothing wrong with his performance, but I just couldn’t take him seriously. In [_The Spanish Prisoner_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120176/), O’Neil was an FBI agent and Steve Martin was a grifter, but Mamet was deliberately messing with the movie-goers’ minds. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/8 "2009-11-02T21:57:44Z")
As a child, I saw Dustin Hoffman in the movies Dick Tracy and Hook, and I’d heard that he’d been a really lame comedy called Ishtar. I thought he was a comedic actor. :smack: It took a while to get used to him in serious roles. Point in fact, I think I still haven’t. He may have been a good dramatic actor during the 70s, but past that point he’s always seemed to be a bit of a parody of himself, going about chewing the scenery. I think he’d do better in comedic parts. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/9 "2009-11-03T00:48:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I had a hard time with him playing Sgt. Joe Friday. I think his acting was good, but, yeah. Speaking of Joe Friday, there was Jack Webb when he played other roles (most notably as William Holden’s best friend in **Sunset Boulevard** and as a comic sidekick in **The Last Time I Saw Archie** ) ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/10 "2009-11-03T01:14:10Z")
Wilfred Brimley, both in The Firm and Hard Target. Wahile watching Hard Target my boyfriend at the time and I kept saying the oatmeal tagline in a bad cajun accent. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/11 "2009-11-04T14:47:07Z")
Hugo Weaving. He’s a great actor, but when I saw LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, all I could think was “Holy crap - Agent Smith is the king of the elves!”. Thomas Gibson. He does a great job as Agent Hotchner on ‘Criminal Minds’, but I keep expecting to see Jenna Elfman show up at any second (he was Greg in ‘Dharma and Greg’). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/12 "2009-11-04T14:57:04Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Hugo Weaving. He’s a great actor, but when I saw LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, all I could think was “Holy crap - Agent Smith is the king of the elves!”. Have you seen Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/13 "2009-11-04T14:59:05Z")
FWIW, almost none of the examples given so far involve true typecasting. True typecasting: [ul][li]ugly guy as villain (e.g., Jack Palance in _Shane_)[/li][li]square-jawed guy as hero (e.g., Harrison Ford in _Blade Runner_)[/li][li]curvaceous blonde as whore (e.g., Ona Munson in _Gone with the Wind_)[/li]black person as servant (e.g., Eddie Anderson as Rochester)[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/14 "2009-11-04T15:02:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Hugo Weaving. He’s a great actor, but when I saw LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, all I could think was “Holy crap - Agent Smith is the king of the elves!”. And both of these movies are much funnier if you saw **Priscilla: Queen of the Desert** first. ETA: Curse you, **Freudian Slit!** ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/15 "2009-11-04T15:11:30Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Hugo Weaving. He’s a great actor, but when I saw LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, all I could think was “Holy crap - Agent Smith is the king of the elves!”. > > Thomas Gibson. He does a great job as Agent Hotchner on ‘Criminal Minds’, but I keep expecting to see Jenna Elfman show up at any second (he was Greg in ‘Dharma and Greg’). There is something ironic in a reference to Weaving’s LOTR role followed by a reference to Jenna Elfman. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/16 "2009-11-04T15:13:34Z")
Of course, the all time greatest bit of unintentional typecasting is George Takei. Prior to Star Trek, his most memorable role was in the movie PT-109, in which a Japanese destroyer basically runs over Kennedy’s PT boat. He played the destroyer’s helmsman. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/17 "2009-11-04T15:32:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > George Reeves in **From Here to Eternity** : “Hey, what’s Superman doing at Pearl Harbor?” For my wife, THE DEAD ZONE ground to a screeching halt right when it was supposed to ratchet the intensity up a notch: the ultimate nightmare scenario is President _ **Martin Sheen,** _ that brilliant and hardworking economist who’ll shrug off personal illness while bringing peace to the Middle East? Who _ **else** _ should responsibly fix our nation’s energy policy in between overseeing the minimum necessary use of military force? Superman at Pearl Harbor is weird – but Jed Bartlett is _ **supposed** _ to be in the West Wing! ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/18 "2009-11-04T16:32:41Z")
I tried to watch _Garden State_ once, and was unable to get through it because Zach Braff is JD from Scrubs. (And because it’s just not that great…) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/19 "2009-11-04T16:36:42Z")
Sarah Michelle Gellar in _The Grudge_. C’mon, Buffy – one little ghost gets you worried? Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077/20 "2009-11-04T17:36:54Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Wilfred Brimley, both in The Firm and Hard Target. > > Wahile watching Hard Target my boyfriend at the time and I kept saying the oatmeal tagline in a bad cajun accent. “Des men afta’ you fo’ business or fo’ pleasah’?..Diahbeeatus.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-in-parts-where-you-couldnt-take-them-seriously-due-to-being-typecast/516077.md?page=2)