# Actors who play one really creepy character, and then look strange playing normal rol **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730 "2002-12-01T04:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/21 "2002-12-01T17:34:19Z")
How about Ralph Feinnes. He recently played a deranged serial killer in _Red Dragon_, now he plays a cheerey bachelor who a maid (JLO) falls in love with in _Maid In Manhattan_ (Though I do with that he would murder JLo and put mirrors in her eyes). ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/22 "2002-12-01T18:47:54Z")
**Jeff Kober** – Because of his slightly odd look, [this actor](http://home.earthlink.net/~stargzr1/raven.html) rarely gets a starring role, he often plays bad guys for single episodes of TV shows. Most recently “Rack” the “drug dealer/black magin dealer” on _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_. He plays criminals, psycho military men, demons etc. The other week he played a father who had lost practically his entire family to a drunk driver. To see him playing “normal” and “sympathetic” was really weird. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/23 "2002-12-01T18:59:37Z")
Do you mean that episode of E.R., **Eats\_Crayons**? I think I saw that one, or parts of it, rather. ---
**Author:** ![lazymexicanamerican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecb155/32.png) [@lazymexicanamerican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazymexicanamerican)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/24 "2002-12-01T19:03:21Z")
RAINMAN ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/25 "2002-12-01T20:11:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoggie \* > \*\*Do you mean that episode of E.R., **Eats\_Crayons**? I think I saw that one, or parts of it, rather. \*\* Yep, that’s the guy. He’s played creepy freaky people for most of his career. In an episode of _Highway to Heaven_ they even had him in a Frankenstein’s Monster scenario where all the poeple were afraid of him because of his appearance. ANOTHER ONE: Okay, it’s not so much a “creepy” role, but one that has forever left us biased: Megan Gallagher played Alyson Veil, the wife of “Nowhere Man.” She betrayed him. We always think of her as the trecheous bitch. When she turned up as the wife of ‘Frank Black’ in _Millenium_ my SO yelled “hey, look! It’s that bitch, Alyson!” ---
**Author:** ![Greyson3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/258eb7/32.png) [@Greyson3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greyson3)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/26 "2002-12-01T20:25:15Z")
When I was a kid, I used to have a videotape of John Lithgow playing songs for children on a farm. You know, acoustic guitar, “I had a duck, and the duck pleased me”, and so on. There was even what appeared to be an original composition, entitled “Big Kids Scare the Heck out of Me”. So of course, any time I see him now, no matter what it is, I always think of him sitting on a stump surrounded by enthused toddlers and singing about cows and pigs. I guess that’s kind of the same thing. Man, I wish I still had that video. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/27 "2002-12-01T21:16:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I had a duck, and the duck pleased me. Please tell me you made that up. That’s fowl. ---
**Author:** ![Greyson3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/258eb7/32.png) [@Greyson3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greyson3)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/28 "2002-12-01T22:01:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*Please tell me you made that up. > > That’s fowl. \*\* [It’s a traditional kid’s song.](http://worldkids.net/entertainment/music/lyrics/kidsongs/cat.htm) Anyway, a duck’s mouth isn’t the right shape. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/29 "2002-12-01T22:43:05Z")
Zoggie writes: \> I’m not exactly talking about type-casting, just people who do \> one really frightening or disturbing role, and then go on to do \> something normal, and how it just looks strange, seeing them \> in such disparate roles. I think what you’re talking about is _exactly_ type-casting. That’s what I mean when I use the term. “Type-casting” is whenever anyone (regardless whether it’s a director or whoever else casts a movie or just a moviegoer who reacts to a film) has trouble seeing an actor in a significantly different sort of role. ---
**Author:** ![LadyMack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LadyMack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyMack)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/30 "2002-12-01T22:52:47Z")
Having adored Anthony Hopkins in his ‘Hannibal’ roles, I had a hard time believing his character in ‘The Edge’, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/31 "2002-12-01T23:16:54Z")
The first time I ever saw Paul Reiser was as Burke in _Aliens_. Burke was a bad man. Really slimy. I can’t even flip through that sitcom of his without thinking how he tried to get an alien to infect that poor little girl, which would have been a horrible death for her indeed. Your smile doesn’t fool me, Mr. Child-torturer. Also, whenever I think of Angela Lansbury, I think _Manchurian Candidate_ rather than _Murder She Wrote_. Commie bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/32 "2002-12-01T23:21:24Z")
Another reverse one–when my parents saw LA Confidential, my dad was completely traumatized when Farmer Hoggett turned out to be a bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![alex\_arg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@alex\_arg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alex_arg)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/33 "2002-12-01T23:28:24Z")
Not for me, but my friends creeped out with Joaquin Pheonix in Signs after seeing him as Comodus in Gladiator. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/34 "2002-12-02T01:38:45Z")
I can’t remember any of the details, but I’m given to understand that Steve Burns, the original guy from Blues Clues once played a psychotic killer on “Law and Order.” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/35 "2002-12-02T05:01:51Z")
After seeing him play such intelligent characters in _Seven, Usual Suspects_ and even _American Beauty_, it was awkward seeing Kevin Spacey play such a loser in _The Shipping News_. He did it well, though. And I also got thrown by Lee Van Cleef’s good guy/bad guy reversal, **minor7flat5** though I forget which one I saw first. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/36 "2002-12-02T05:32:52Z")
Melina Kankaredes will always be “Victoria” from _Due South_ to me no matter how many fluffy TV shows like _Providence_she does. So evil, but so sexy. After seeing _Gangster No. 1_, Paul Bettany may be typecast in my mind. He was that good at being nasty. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/37 "2002-12-02T14:05:08Z")
Seeing Dabney Coleman playing Jane Fonda’s fiance in “On Golden Pond,” was a bit disconcerting. It’s not just typecasting, but Coleman made a career of playing people who’s put on a friendly facade while being a bastard underneath. You kept waiting for him to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/38 "2002-12-02T15:19:02Z")
**Splanky** mentioned Ralph (we all know your name is really pronounced Ralph, not Rafe) Fiennes. I agree, but not on the role. I always see him as Amon Goeth, casually shooting people form the porch of his villa. Though being in a movie with J-Ho might be as terrifying come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/39 "2002-12-02T16:05:36Z")
For me, it’s Larry Drake, who played Benny, the retarded man on L.A. Law. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730/40 "2002-12-02T16:29:50Z")
Billy Bob Thornton. First he was the _Sling Blade_ guy, I reckon, mmm-hmmm. Then it was weird seeing him as not that guy. Now that he’s decided to be a full-time freak, though, it’s a little easier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-one-really-creepy-character-and-then-look-strange-playing-normal-rol/139730.md?page=3)