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).
Jeff Kober – Because of his slightly odd look, this actor 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.
Do you mean that episode of E.R., Eats_Crayons? I think I saw that one, or parts of it, rather.
RAINMAN
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!”
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.
Please tell me you made that up.
That’s fowl.
It’s a traditional kid’s song.
Anyway, a duck’s mouth isn’t the right shape.
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.
Having adored Anthony Hopkins in his ‘Hannibal’ roles, I had a hard time believing his character in ‘The Edge’, for instance.
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.
Another reverse one–when my parents saw LA Confidential, my dad was completely traumatized when Farmer Hoggett turned out to be a bad guy.
Not for me, but my friends creeped out with Joaquin Pheonix in Signs after seeing him as Comodus in Gladiator.
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.”
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.
Melina Kankaredes will always be “Victoria” from Due South to me no matter how many fluffy TV shows like Providenceshe 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.
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.
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.
For me, it’s Larry Drake, who played Benny, the retarded man on L.A. Law.
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.