# Any Professions NOT Used In Films/TV Shows For Lead Characters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442 "2011-08-20T17:18:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/121 "2011-08-21T21:08:17Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Not sure if this is enough to make you faint, but I’ll point out that many professional indexers are former technical writers–and a technical writer was the lead character in [_Andy Richter Controls the Universe_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Richter_Controls_the_Universe). Close, but no cigar. I am still totally conscious. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/122 "2011-08-21T21:44:52Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Landscapers are strangely underrepresented. You see the pool guys all the time, but never the landscapers. Ditto roofers. Does Mark Rufalo in “Just Like Heaven” count? I think he was actually listed as a landscape **Architect**. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/123 "2011-08-21T21:48:07Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > Psychiatrist / Psychologist. It seems the only ‘heroic’ shrink is Doc Samson. (I swear this is a trope, but 1) I’m too lazy to look for it and 2) I’ll spare you the tab explosion that is tvtropes) James Coburn in \*\*The President’s Analyst \*\* ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/124 "2011-08-21T21:55:45Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Butcher > Land Surveyor Barry Bostwick in George Washington. Back then I think it was more of a apprenticeship thing. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/125 "2011-08-21T22:05:06Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Does Mark Rufalo in “Just Like Heaven” count? I think he was actually listed as a landscape **Architect**. Julianne Moore was up for a Best Actress Golden Globe for playing a landscape **designer** opposite Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right – which, regardless of what you call it, apparently means doing manual labor in the garden and driving out to Home Depot for supplies and otherwise standing ready to handle the whole job if her sole employee ever becomes a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/126 "2011-08-21T22:10:23Z")
How about message board moderator??? ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/127 "2011-08-21T22:20:59Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > I think Engineers of all sorts are underrepresented - Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil etc. Jimmy Stewart played an aeronautical engineer in **No Highway in the Sky**. Note that the movie was based on a book that was written by Nevil Shute, who was actually an aeronautical engineer. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/128 "2011-08-21T22:21:37Z")
> [@](#): > > How about message board moderator That’s not a profession. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/129 "2011-08-21T22:26:50Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > How about a printer? How about Beau Bridges playing young Ben Franklin in Ben Franklinin. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/130 "2011-08-21T22:31:00Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Butcher > Baker > Candlestick Maker > > Sommelier > Sous-chef Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy… ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/131 "2011-08-21T23:12:30Z")
Personal Care Attendant. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/132 "2011-08-21T23:20:56Z")
This site ([Fictional actuaries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictional_actuaries#Actuaries_in_Film)) lists films in which actuaries supposedly appear (although not always as lead characters). Some examples are: _Are You With It?_ (1948) \*Sweet Charity \*(1969) \*Billion Dollar Bubble \*(1976) \*Escape Clause \*(1996) \*About Schmidt \*(2002) There are several more listed at the site. I haven’t seen most of them, so I don’t know whether the characters in question are specifically labelled as “actuaries”, or given a more generic “risk analysis/assessment” descriptions. The characters in \*About Schmidt \*and \*Billion Dollar Bubble \*are definitely described as actuaries. We were treated to a screening of \*Billion Dollar Bubble \*during an early lecture in my first year of Actuarial studies at uni. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/133 "2011-08-22T00:34:50Z")
As far as I can tell, there’s no movies about my profession: UX Designer. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/134 "2011-08-22T00:42:07Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Uma Thurman, **The Truth about Cats and Dogs** Uma Thurman was a model in the movie, Janeane Garafolo was the vet. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/135 "2011-08-22T03:36:06Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Porta-pottie emptier. Is there an actual name for that? We used to call the truck they emptied the stuff into the “honey truck” when at Pennsic. _Port-O-San_ ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/136 "2011-08-22T04:00:16Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > As far as I can tell, there’s no movies about my profession: UX Designer. The Social Network. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/137 "2011-08-22T04:31:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > …who’s wondering when someone here’ll mention a film with a (tortured-yet-heroic, deep-yet-fun) Pre-Press/Graphic Design professor… I did pre-press for 25 years and have yet to see such a film. (I can think of a great plot, about a newspaper pre-press guy who notices under a jeweler’s lupe that an incriminating photo of a reviled murder suspect was doctored, but _nobody will believe him!_) There was a **Twilight Zone** episode with Ray Walston as an evil Linotype operator, but that’s a bit of a reach. Photo developers get a little more love– **One Hour Photo, Manhunter/Red Dragon** (the killer, not the detective), **Blow Up**. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/138 "2011-08-22T05:00:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Notary public > Gynecologist Being a Notary Public really isn’t a “job” or a profession in any sense, it’s simply a certification that you are authorized to notarize documents. Most legal and real estate broker admin asst and secretaries are often also “notary publics”. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/139 "2011-08-22T05:11:22Z")
Game warden Forest ranger Professional hunter (or poacher) Fishing guide Mobile food vendor Ticket scalper Panhandler Slave trader (not someone who happened to own slaves - someone who made a living selling them.) All of these are off the top of my head. I will think of more… ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/140 "2011-08-22T05:19:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Are you okay with a fictional file clerk as a lead character, like in American Splendor? And all this time I thought Harvey Pekar was a real person!😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442.md?page=8)