# Actors who are so strongly identified with a character that it is hard to dissociate the two. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101 "2010-02-15T19:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/61 "2010-02-16T15:25:31Z")
Or the opposite take, Dolly Parton always plays Dolly Parton whenever she “acts”. ---
**Author:** ![halfliquid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@halfliquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfliquid)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/62 "2010-02-16T15:54:14Z")
Sarah Gellar as Buffy and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter (I had to Google Daniel’s name as I just think of that actor as “Harry Potter”). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/63 "2010-02-16T15:56:03Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I disagree. Don Knotts is the incredible Mr. Limpett. > > A distinction without a difference, but still. Don Knotts will always be Mr. Furley to me! Mary Tyler Moore will always be Mary Richards, a fresh-faced Minneapolis-living young single (not divorced) woman celebrating her unattached existence by spinning around and twirling her hat in the air as a perplexed old lady looks on. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/64 "2010-02-16T15:58:00Z")
I disagree with most of these. George C. Scott as Patton only? Haven’t you seen him in plenty of other films, as other characters. His version of **A Christmas Carol** is one of my favorites. Leslie Nielsen was in plenty of other films before he started acting for the brother Zucker and Abraham. In particular, he was Commander J. J. Adams in \*\* Forbidden Planet\*\* – but that barely scratches the surface. Jackie Gleason? Heck, he’s had plenty of non-Ralph Kramden roles. I think he did **Gigot** partly to show he could do something completely different. David Tennant? He was a totally different character as Barty Crouch jr. in **Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire** – a popular movie if ever there was one. I think most of these “type cast” judgments come from only seeing the actor in one role, which tells me that a lot of you haven’t seen enough movies. The only one I’d agree on is **George Reeves** being typecast as Superman. I’ve seen him in a few other things, but not enough of them. It’s still a shock to see him (in color!) in **Gone with the Wind** as one of the Tarleton Twins. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/65 "2010-02-16T16:22:05Z")
I can’t believe nobody mentioned John Wayne. He played himself in every goddamn movie. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Wait till House ends and Hugh Laurie tries to get another gig. Huge Laurie has 83 acting credits, not including _House_. He’s been something of a star in Britain for years and years. He might be typecast in the US, but he certainly isn’t elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/66 "2010-02-16T16:25:56Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I watched a few episodes of the Dragnet relaunch a few years ago & Ed O’Neill was great as Joe Friday. I’ll always think of Bundy for the first few seconds I see him but I can soon accept him in other roles. See, I never watched Married With Children on any kind of regular basis, so for me Ed O’Neill is just kind of shlubby everyman. I love him in Modern Family, it’s my favorite new show this season. But speaking of Mw/C, Katey Sagal seems to be typecast based upon her speaking voice, that whole high-pitched whiny/needling thing she does. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/67 "2010-02-16T16:26:32Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > David Tennant is Doctor Who. It’ll be hard accepting him in another role. What!? I don’t even think I had accepted him as the Doctor before he left! Personally, I would say Tom Baker might be more inseparable from that role. Roger Moore - I know there has been other James Bonds but it was the pinnacle of his career. I think the whole cast of Cheers should probably just change their names, especially Frasier, Carla, Norm and Cliff. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/68 "2010-02-16T16:30:46Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > George C. Scott had a more impressive voice. If you’ve ever heard recordings of the real Patton, he had a startlingly high-pitched voice. Scott’s deeper, more gravelly tones are how you would\* expect \*Patton to sound. I remember one miniseries where Patton was played by Darren McGavin, who looked and sounded much more like the real thing - but this is a case where the legend is better served by futzing with the truth a bit… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/69 "2010-02-16T16:44:38Z")
Rowan Atkinson as Bean ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/70 "2010-02-16T16:49:19Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Nimoy as Spock was the first person who came to mind. > Not Shatner so much because of his work in other roles. And yet Nimoy was the first ST regular to have a recurring role (as “Paris”, he replaced Martin Landau on the Mission Impossible team). Amusingly, Shatner had (different) roles as the antagonist they outwitted in several episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/71 "2010-02-16T16:57:04Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > But speaking of Mw/C, Katey Sagal seems to be typecast based upon her speaking voice, that whole high-pitched whiny/needling thing she does. You really owe it to yourself to catch Sons of Anarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/72 "2010-02-16T17:25:31Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Rowan Atkinson as Bean If anything, Blackadder, but he’s done enough other stuff that I don’t see him as really typecast. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/73 "2010-02-16T17:35:16Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Huge Laurie has 83 acting credits, not including _House_. He’s been something of a star in Britain for years and years. > > He might be typecast in the US, but he certainly isn’t elsewhere. There’s a live journal community devoted to getting him to play Moriarty in the next Sherlock Holmes movie. It strikes me as a little too on the nose, like it would be almost distracting to have him in that role - and I don’t care. It has to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/74 "2010-02-16T17:46:06Z")
Personally, I find it weird to see him in any serious role. I watched two episodes of _House_ before I gave up and realized he wasn’t going to ask Jeeves for advice or sing a ribald ditty about inserting things into anuses. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/75 "2010-02-16T17:51:15Z")
Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Christopher Lee would also be in this for his version of Dracula except for the whole Saruman thing in the LOTR trilogy. As for TV, recently I’ve realized that I’ll always see the two leads from Supernatural (Jared P. and Jensen A.) as Sam and Dean Winchester; this became really evident to me when watching the Friday the 13th reboot, and thinking “Jason should SO be toast right now, Sam Winchester is there!” And I had similar thoughts with Jensen A. in Bloody Valentine; I kept on thinking he’d eventually pull up in his black '67 Impala with Foghat blasting out the speakers, and pull some weapons out of the trunk. ---
**Author:** ![McGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@McGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/76 "2010-02-16T18:06:32Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > But speaking of Mw/C, Katey Sagal seems to be typecast based upon her speaking voice, that whole high-pitched whiny/needling thing she does. No, she is Captain Turanga Leela from Futurama, not at all like Marge Bundy. The one that I really, really can’t separate from the character is the guy who did Father Guido Sarducci in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/77 "2010-02-16T18:12:49Z")
> [@](#): > > not at all like Marge Bundy Peg Bundy. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/78 "2010-02-16T18:13:02Z")
Don Novello was Father Sarducci. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/79 "2010-02-16T18:18:56Z")
I have a hard time watching anything with [Hugo Weaving](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915989/) in it without thinking of his roles in LOTR and The Matrix series. He’s a good actor and the roles are very different, but they’re mentally associations that stuck with me. Rowan Atkinson will forever be typecast in my mind as Bean or some other similarly goofball character type-- I can’t imagine him in a truly serious role. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/80 "2010-02-16T18:29:36Z")
Whoah! Hugo Weaving was V in _V for Vendetta_! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101.md?page=5)