# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/81 "2010-02-16T18:49:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Whoah! Hugo Weaving was V in _V for Vendetta_! And did an astonishing job considering all he had to work with was his voice & body movements, as his face is never seen. He also starred in “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” as a bisexual drag queen. Quite a different role than with the mega sci-fi/action blockbusters most Americans associate him with. If you want to see Hugo Weaving give some really fabulous performances, check out the Australian films “Proof” and “The Interview.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/82 "2010-02-16T20:36:02Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#): > > 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. Good one. And you’re not alone, considering how many “Mr. Anderson” and Elrond jokes are made when he appears in any movie after those. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/83 "2010-02-16T20:53:43Z")
I completely agree with RainGrowsBrite about the actors on LOST. Although I hope this isn’t true of Michael Emerson (Ben Linus) who I hope will go on to do many more things because he is a tremendous actor. I also feel that there is an exception with Dominic Monaghan (Charlie). However, this leads me to think that this whole business has something to do with the role you see the actor in first. For instance, I first saw Dominic Monaghan in Lord of the Rings so at first I had a tough time not seeing him as a hobbit on LOST. But now if I go back and watch LOTR it takes me some time to not think of him as Charlie. In addition, I believe the ladies of Sex and the City will always be Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda to me. And I completely disagree about Johnny Depp. There are actors out there who play the same role over and over again and he is not one of them. Take for instance: Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, they play themselves in almost every movie I’ve ever seen them in. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/84 "2010-02-16T22:29:07Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebben. He’ll always be the Swamp Fox to me. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/85 "2010-02-16T22:45:19Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > In addition, I believe the ladies of Sex and the City will always be Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda to me. Sex and the City is a way different show/movie from what’s intended if you grew up watching Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and think Valeris rather than Samantha whenever you see Kim Cattrall. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/86 "2010-02-16T23:34:55Z")
> [@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. Slightly OT, but my Brigade Commander in Desert Shield/Storm, Col. Randolph House, had such a high-pitched, squeaky voice, and hard southern accent, that everyone called him “Snuffy Smith.” Usually, just “Colonel Snuffy.” Not to his face, of course. 🙂 Nor within hearing of any officer, or senior NCO. Although I did hear one of the other Company Commanders in our Battalion let it slip once. The Brigade Commander before him was just as bad, if for different reasons. It led to a certain complaint in our Brigade: “How come we can’t get senior officers who sound like Patton?” Meaning George C. Scott, of course. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/87 "2010-02-17T00:13:12Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > Anyone from Animal House, and always by their nickname (“Hey, it’s Otter!”) Then you wouldn’t have liked last week’s “Burn Notice.” Eric Stratton, Super Spy, damn glad to meet ya" wouldn’t have gone over too well… I’ll say that once I saw “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” I can’t help but think of Jack Aubrey as looking a lot like Russell Crowe, although I don’t think of Maturin as looking like Paul Bettany at all. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/88 "2010-02-17T01:45:40Z")
Adding to the Bob Denver = Gilligan thought, Dawn Wells = Mary Ann. She even wrote a cookbook as Mary Ann. This probably applies to the entire cast except for Jim Backus, but I think it most strongly applies to these two. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/89 "2010-02-17T11:31:42Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 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. Yeah, me too! I don’t watch a lot of telly at the moment, but had seen a few trailers and thought :" Wow, that guy’s a dead ringer for Hugh Laurie". When I found out it _was_ Hugh Laurie, I then concluded the series had to be Scrubs-style hospital comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/90 "2010-02-17T13:02:43Z")
I think the fact that David Tennant is so strongly associated with Doctor Who has less to do with typecasting and more to do with him being a much better actor than he gets credit for, really inhabiting each role. You need to see him in some of his other roles - Recovery, Harry Potter, Secret Smile, Casanova, Hamlet - to get a sense of his talent. It’ll be interesting to see how his image changes and if he undergoes a _House_ification if [Rex Is Not Your Lawyer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Is_Not_Your_Lawyer) ever goes forward. ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/91 "2010-02-17T13:12:17Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > You should see a film he did a few years ago called “Recovery,” about a man who receives a serious brain injury in a car crash and how it changes his entire family. It’s a really brilliant performance, completely unlike The Doctor (not that he wasn’t brilliant as The Doctor, but you know what I mean.) I think it might be on DVD? Not sure about that. Sarah Parish, a frequent co-star of his, plays his wife. I also had the chance to see him opposite Jim Broadbent in the play ‘The Pillowman’. I don’t know how well-known outside theatre circles the play is, but it is extremely disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/92 "2010-02-17T13:31:53Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > What actor (or you can name the character) legally changed his name -well, tacked it on as a middle name actually- to that of the character he portrayed after he was so thoroughly identified in that role? > > I’ll come back and reveal it in a spoiler box if no one gets it after a spell. **L. Q. Jones** adopted his character’s name from the film _Battlecry_. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/93 "2010-02-17T14:47:44Z")
I don’t care what movies **Christian Bale** is in, he will always be Patrick Bateman (_American Psycho_) to me. I think that performance was so spot-on creepy, the character is just burned into my disturbed little brain. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/94 "2010-02-17T14:50:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Whoah! Hugo Weaving was V in _V for Vendetta_! He sure was, and every time he introduces himself to Evey, I keep expecting him to say something like, “Somehow, you think the rules do not apply to you, Neo.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/95 "2010-02-17T15:15:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Rowan Atkinson as Bean I have a cunning plan to change that perception. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/96 "2010-02-17T15:27:39Z")
As soon as I read this thread title I thought of Alicia Silverstone. She will forever be Cher from Clueless, and nothing can shake that image … not even posing naked for anti-fur ads. ---
**Author:** ![daveg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@daveg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daveg)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 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/529101/97 "2010-02-17T16:26:32Z")
Moe, Larry and Curly (never cared for Shemp) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/98 "2010-02-17T16:32:52Z")
Kelsey Grammer seems the most obvious, having been Frasier for about 20 years (and still, in reruns). ---
**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 17, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/99 "2010-02-17T19:27:52Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > Yeah, me too! I don’t watch a lot of telly at the moment, but had seen a few trailers and thought :" Wow, that guy’s a dead ringer for Hugh Laurie". When I found out it _was_ Hugh Laurie, I then concluded the series had to be Scrubs-style hospital comedy. Frankly, I think they missed out on an opportunity to take over the world by failing to cast Stephen Fry in it as a gay male nurse. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-so-strongly-identified-with-a-character-that-it-is-hard-to-dissociate-the-two/529101/100 "2010-02-17T20:09:04Z")
Anthony Hopkins=Lecter. It’s terrible, but it’s true. [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=4) [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=6)