# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/69 "2025-01-04T02:02:56Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/9): > > But the fact he often plays some form of a Type A, aggressive, dominant, alpha male is pretty apparent to me. That is why Stephen King disliked Nicholson being in Stanley Kubrick’s _The Shining_. It wasn’t a normal guy going mad from the isolation—it was Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Or something to THAT effect. ---
**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, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/70 "2025-01-04T02:14:43Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > That is why Stephen King disliked Nicholson being in Stanley Kubrick’s _The Shining_. Steven Weber was probably more in line with King’s vision. I saw Weber talking about his version of The Shining and while he knows it can not compare to Kubrick’s, he is glad it is out there for people who want a version closer to the book. ---
**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, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/72 "2025-01-04T02:47:23Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/10): > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8) > > With limited exceptions, this every character Jack Nicholson has ever played. Strongly disagree. Bucket List. Somethings Gotta Give. About Schmidt. As Good as it Gets. Hoffa. Ironweed. Heartburn. Prizzi’s Honor. Terms of Endearment. Carnal Knowledge. If you think he’s the same guy in Chinatown and A Few Good Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest I don’t know what to tell you. His fame overshadowed his acting at times but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t different in everything he did. ---
**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, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/74 "2025-01-04T03:27:11Z")
Have you seen them? He is certainly not a alpha male in _As Good as it Gets._ He’s a misanthrope with debilitating OCD. Deeply flawed with an inability to deal with people. But he gets better. Sort of. I don’t remember _Five Easy Pieces_ enough to comment on it. It isn’t helpful to compare two clips of a few seconds. But even with that it’s obvious they are two very different characters from very different times. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/76 "2025-01-04T03:52:27Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I was also thinking of _Play Misty for Me_. He wasn’t very flinty Clinty in Bridges of Madison County, either. ---
**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, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/78 "2025-01-04T05:29:33Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/14): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Have you seen them? He is certainly not a alpha male in _As Good as it Gets._ He’s a misanthrope with debilitating OCD. Deeply flawed with an inability to deal with people. > > That is an Alpha male. It’s much easier when you can just make up definitions. ---
**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 4, 2025, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/79 "2025-01-04T05:33:53Z")
Nicholson doesn’t play the same character every time. He does plays every character the same way. They’re all doing a Jack Nicholson impression. His mannerisms dominate his performances. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/80 "2025-01-04T05:42:41Z")
Speaking of **Jumanji** , Jack Black was ridiculously believeable as a teen age girl in it. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/81 "2025-01-04T11:44:25Z")
Harrison Ford started out his career that way. IMHO there’s almost no difference between Indiana Jones and Indiana Jones in space (AKA Han Solo). Then he took the role of Jack Ryan and since then he never went back to his type\*, other than in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones sequels. \*. Unless there’s a movie of his that I haven’t watched where he goes back to that type. If there is please let me know. I like that version of Harrison Ford better than his later roles. ---
**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, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/82 "2025-01-04T13:51:41Z")
Indeed, seeing Jack Black trying to teach Karen Gillan to be sexy was epic. ---
**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, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/83 "2025-01-04T14:44:12Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Has Jeff Goldblum, who famously [“loves being asked to play Jeff Goldblum”](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/06/jeff-goldblum-playing-himself-movies), ever excelled at played anything but a quirky oddball who stammers each line as if he’s only just remembered it? Out of curiosity: has Christopher Walken ever done a movie where he doesn’t pause at times you and I wouldn’t, in between emphasizing words you and I wouldn’t? I know impressionists exaggerate what he does, but — does he ever _not_ do it? ---
**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, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/84 "2025-01-04T16:07:18Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@psychonaut](#): > > > > Has Jeff Goldblum, who famously [“loves being asked to play Jeff Goldblum”](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/06/jeff-goldblum-playing-himself-movies), ever excelled at played anything but a quirky oddball who stammers each line as if he’s only just remembered it? > > Out of curiosity: has Christopher Walken ever done a movie where he doesn’t pause at times you and I wouldn’t, in between emphasizing words you and I wouldn’t? I know impressionists exaggerate what he does, but — does he ever _not_ do it? I can’t think of one role early in his career where he was like that. The Walken persona didn’t happen until later. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/85 "2025-01-04T16:33:45Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@veryfrank](#): > > > > For Jack delivering a non-Nicholson performance, I recommend _The Pledge_ > > He also got an Oscar nomination for his subdued supporting role in REDS: he’s not the _shouty and having a good time_ kind of drunk, so much as he’s the _sad and self-pitying_ kind of alcoholic — who, sure, occasionally breaks off from his quiet brooding to try his hand at an insult, but without sounding like there’s any fire behind it — just like he never sounds like he’s joking around, or like he’s a step ahead of someone. Or like he’s got any reason to, if you will, smirk. There’s also Ironweed, in which he and Meryl Streep play a couple of vagrants living on the streets of Albany during the Great Depression. He really tones it down for that one. Pretty depressing movie, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/86 "2025-01-04T16:37:35Z")
i don’t know if anyone has mentioned him, but Bill Murray also started out as a comedic actor and when he did The Razor’s Edge, he really changed. Now seems to do a mix of funny and serious roles, but it’s pretty much always him. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/87 "2025-01-04T16:42:04Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/5): > > Dwayne Johnson, aka the Rock, played a gay bodyguard in “Be Cool” > > In “Central Intelligence” he was a nerd in high school. > > There might be more examples, but he does play against the muscular tough guy stereotype sometimes. There’s also Snitch, a good little action flick from 2013, in which he plays a contractor who agrees to become an informant for the feds in exchange for them releasing his son from jail. He actually delivers a pretty solid performance as an anguished father, keeps the badass brooding to a minimum and even displays some fear and vulnerability. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/88 "2025-01-04T17:15:21Z")
Pauly Shore is trying to get a biopic made about Richard Simmons. He intends to star, and insists it will be a sincere tribute. If he gets it produced (the family apparently objects), it will he a departure from his typical annoying schtick as a whiny stoner. Sly Stallone has tried to play against his type. In _Cop Land_, he intentionally gained weight to play an out of shape small town sheriff (ok, so he didn’t go _that far_ from his typical guy with a gun). Harrison Ford hasn’t always been a swashbuckler. _Regarding Henry_ had him with brain damage, and I really enjoyed him as a stuffy rich man finding love in the remake of _Sabrina_. ---
**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 4, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/89 "2025-01-04T17:41:52Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Sly Stallone has tried to play against his type. In _Cop Land_, he intentionally gained weight to play an out of shape small town sheriff (ok, so he didn’t go _that far_ from his typical guy with a gun). He said he wanted to do _Cop Land_ to show that he could do art for art’s sake. That is what he intended for his career but the offers to continue the sort of character started in _Rocky_ were too lucrative to ignore. He thought Rocky was that kind of role and not intended as sequel fodder, which was a fairly new concept way back in those days. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/90 "2025-01-04T17:46:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He said he wanted to do _Cop Land_ to show that he could do art for art’s sake. That is what he intended for his career but the offers to continue the sort of character started in _Rocky_ were too lucrative to ignore. He really had the intention to become a character actor? I mean, that would have been very optimistic, I think he’s one of the most wooden Hollywood stars ever, even more than John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. Maybe even non-actor Schwarzenegger has more range. ---
**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, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/91 "2025-01-04T17:49:52Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1014334/13): > > Charlize Theron in Monster. > > People seemed to be surprised anytime an attractive female actually knows how to be an actor. Charlize Theron doesn’t usually play a type, though. She’s always done different stuff. Imperator Furiosa isn’t the same character as Josey Aimes. Women don’t usually get the same opportunities as men to have big careers doing the same shit and then get a breakout role in a major film. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524/92 "2025-01-04T17:58:33Z")
**Gene Hackman** seems to have similar roles in the films he’s in. His bit part in Young Frankenstein, though, is a total departure from his usual role. I didn’t even realize it was him until I read the Wiki page on the film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exceptions-to-actors-who-always-play-themselves/1012524.md?page=5)