# Exceptions to "actors who always play themselves" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [January 3, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524 "2025-01-03T15:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/44 "2025-01-03T20:21:57Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > He also played way against type as a quiet introvert in _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_. And don’t forget _The Number 23_. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/45 "2025-01-03T20:26:23Z")
**Tom Hanks** always seems to play some version of himself in films but really threw everyone for a loop when he became Forest Gump. Zero Tom Hanks in that character. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/46 "2025-01-03T20:35:24Z")
Huh…I always think of Forrest Gump as peak Tom Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/47 "2025-01-03T20:49:53Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > I found it depressing that the most recent _F&F_ movie had no fewer than three Oscar winners in its cast (Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Alison Brie). Alison Brie hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar, let alone won. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/48 "2025-01-03T20:51:34Z")
He meant Brie Larson. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/49 "2025-01-03T20:51:41Z")
That’s because the poster meant Brie Larson. A semi-common mistake. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/50 "2025-01-03T20:52:15Z")
And he missed Rita Moreno! ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/51 "2025-01-03T20:59:19Z")
Doy. I always say one when I mean the other (same with Clark Gregg and Gregg Henry). In my defence, both Bries were on _Community_. And yeah, I missed the fourth in Rita Moreno. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/52 "2025-01-03T21:01:24Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Will Ferrell is a current example where he always seems to play the same annoying, grating character, that for some reason people find funny. But then he did _Stranger Than Fiction_ which was very different. Came in to post about this. He was still somewhat Ferrellish but it worked as he played it straight in a weird situation. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/53 "2025-01-03T21:31:18Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I can’t think of any examples where Pacino or Connery went off-character. Pacino is way out of his pigeonhole in [Hunters](https://youtu.be/hYxTHcoRpNo?si=Bsa-hbpWq8WZ6Dft). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/55 "2025-01-03T23:43:15Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/4): > > Joe Pesci. Similar to Deniro in always playing a tough guy, Italian American New Yorker. > > Gone Fishin’ with Daniel Glover was a pretty unique role for him. Many of Pesci’s roles fall into a niche but he certainly isn’t playing himself. In real life he’s rather introverted. Henry Fonda played a similar type in many of his movies with a few notable exceptions. (See _Once Upon a Time in the West._) Mostly he was an affable Everyman. Apparently that was not him playing himself. When asked how his father was in real life Peter Fonda famously said, “Watch _Fort Apache._” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/57 "2025-01-04T00:14:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Many of Pesci’s roles fall into a niche but he certainly isn’t playing himself. In real life he’s rather introverted. To be clear, even though the phenomenon is commonly described as “actors always playing themselves”, as I remarked in my OP, that isn’t always literally true. A more precise, though more verbose, description might be “actors who always seem to be playing approximately the same character”, and that character may or may not be based on the actor personally. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/59 "2025-01-04T00:26:27Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Many of Pesci’s roles fall into a niche but he certainly isn’t playing himself. In real life he’s rather introverted. > > To be clear, even though the phenomenon is commonly described as “actors always playing themselves”, as I remarked in my OP, that isn’t always literally true. A more precise, though more verbose, description might be “actors who always seem to be playing approximately the same character”, and that character may or may not be based on the actor personally. The OP is confusing since Jack Nicholson is used as an example. In no way should be in the category of someone who only plays one character. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/60 "2025-01-04T00:40:12Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Then I saw him play the villain in _Doom_. A cyberdemon? > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > He meant Brie Larson. That’s a rather cheesy mistake to make. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/62 "2025-01-04T00:51:22Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > **Tom Hanks** always seems to play some version of himself in films but really threw everyone for a loop when he became Forest Gump. Zero Tom Hanks in that character. He’s the villain of Ladykillers and he is SUPER different in Cloud Atlas. He and Michael Keaton both made the big switch from being associated as comedic actors to guys who can take serious roles. Seriously, Keaton getting Batman was party controversial because he was mostly a funny guy. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/63 "2025-01-04T01:00:47Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > I found it depressing that the most recent _F&F_ movie had no fewer than three Oscar winners in its cast (Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Alison Brie) There are FOUR Oscar winners in that movie. You forgot Rita Moreno. (And of course it’s Brie Larson, not Alison Brie.) ---
**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:** [January 4, 2025, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/64 "2025-01-04T01:05:04Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/9): > > Some exceptions to Jack Nicholson playing the same character were already mentioned. > > But the fact he often plays some form of a Type A, aggressive, dominant, alpha male is pretty apparent to me. Whether he’s a mental patient or in the military at Guantanamo Bay. Of course, the Oscar-nominated role that _really_ put Nicholson on the map was, uh, a soft-spoken small-town lawyer who honestly sympathizes with the longhairs before he reluctantly lets them coach him on the finer points of recreational marijuana use? Oh, boy, he sure wishes he could tag along with the main characters… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/65 "2025-01-04T01:11:45Z")
Tom Cruise deserves a shout out for playing Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/66 "2025-01-04T01:18:30Z")
I mean, he doesn’t play himself in everything. He is in Magnolia and Collateral and is totally different in those. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/67 "2025-01-04T01:23:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The OP is confusing since Jack Nicholson is used as an example. In no way should be in the category of someone who only plays one character. Perhaps he doesn’t deserve it, but he does very often turn up in lists of such actors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524.md?page=4)