# Movie/TV actors that you'll always see as a particular character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535 "2014-07-31T23:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/21 "2014-08-02T12:50:38Z")
Captain Morgan Bateson ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/22 "2014-08-02T13:05:16Z")
Johnny Depp is always Jack Sparrow Which I don’t mean as a compliment since he plays the same character/does the same voice in every movie he’s in now ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/23 "2014-08-02T14:33:27Z")
Sadly, I can never see Michael Madsen as anything but the sadistic psycho Mr. Blonde from _ **Reservoir Dogs.** _ When he plays nice guys, as in _ **Free Willy** _, I can’t buy it! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/24 "2014-08-02T14:41:29Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Sadly, I can never see Michael Madsen as anything but the sadistic psycho Mr. Blonde from _ **Reservoir Dogs.** _ > > When he plays nice guys, as in _ **Free Willy** _, I can’t buy it! There’s no doubt he is probably best known for Mr. Blonde’s little dance to “Stuck in the Middle…” but since he had already impressed me as an Elvis look-alike in _Thelma & Louise_ I didn’t have a forced switch in my way of seeing him. He’s definitely more acceptable as a heavy, though. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/25 "2014-08-02T14:46:39Z")
> [@FlyingRat](#): > > Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. Always. > > [Wolverine as a singing cowboy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNEUtN21cuU) > > [Wolverine as a Victorian duke in NYC.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnLdHNG4YMQ) > > [Wolverine as a leather-clad vampire slayer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Helsing_(film)) > > [Wolverine as a taciturn cattle drover.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(2008_film)) > > Wolverine, after all, gets around. Bub. To his credit, Hugh Jackman knows and understands that, and even has fun with it. A few years ago, my wife and I saw him doing a one-man song-and-dance show on Broadway, during which he showed a huge picture of himself on a projector screen- he then showed himself as Wolverine, with Peter Allen’s ultra-gay gold lame outfit on. Even when Jackman is prancing around, doing a limp-wristed performance of “Rio,” he’s still Wolverine to many people, and he knows it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/26 "2014-08-02T14:48:41Z")
Robert Shaw IS Quint. Salisbury steak IS the entree. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/27 "2014-08-02T15:02:40Z")
Well, it was pretty hard to see George Reeves as anyone else but Supie/CK. Even when I later saw the earlier _Gone With the Wind_. (No, you whippersnappers, I was not around when GWTW first was released. I’m not THAT [old](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=729937)! _ **And get off my lawn!** _) Of course that was the theme of a film some time in the last decade. The bit about someone making a “scissors” gesture before a projector was made up. But test audiences did indeed laugh and hoot about seeing **Superman**. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/28 "2014-08-02T15:11:15Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > Well, it was pretty hard to see George Reeves as anyone else but Supie/CK. Even when I later saw the earlier _Gone With the Wind_. (No, you whippersnappers, I was not around when GWTW first was released. I’m not THAT [old](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=729937)! > > _ **And get off my lawn!** _) > > Of course that was the theme of a film some time in the last decade. The bit about someone making a “scissors” gesture before a projector was made up. But test audiences did indeed laugh and hoot about seeing **Superman**. Until just now I had never really thought about George and Christopher’s last names differing only by an **S**. ---
**Author:** ![BMember](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@BMember](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMember)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/29 "2014-08-02T18:31:48Z")
Morgan Freeman is always God to me. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/30 "2014-08-03T00:57:21Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Kelsey Grammer will always be Frasier Crane. He was for twenty years straight, after all. Never having been a fan of that show, for me Grammer will always be Sideshow Bob! > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Robert Shaw IS Quint. Salisbury steak IS the entree. I saw Jaws fairly young so anytime I saw Shaw in anything else I had a real hard time handling him not having his _Baaaston_ accent! Same goes for David Ogden Stiers (Maj. Winchester from M_A_S\*H). Some recent actors I can’t help but feel play the exact same character in every movie: **Will Smith** - He always plays the smarmy, confident, smart-alecky lead (and almost always a cop too!) **Jason Bateman** - Although I loved him in _Arrested Developement_ (and the fact that the show resurrected his career) he seems incapable of playing anyone but Michael Bluth in everything. Same goes for **Michael Cera** , he’s just been George-Michael in everything as well… ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/31 "2014-08-03T01:09:31Z")
Hawkeye Pierce, no matter how old Alan Alda gets. Cosmo Kramer. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/32 "2014-08-03T02:26:52Z")
Hugo Weaving is always Agent Smith, whether it’s Half-Elf Agent Smith or Drag Queen Agent Smith or Red Skull Agent Smith. EDIT: As Bozuit already said… ---
**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:** [August 3, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/33 "2014-08-03T13:05:18Z")
Just saw Guardians of the Galaxy, and every time Sean Gunn opened his mouth I thought “Why is [Kirk](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238784/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)talking with a southern accent?” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/34 "2014-08-03T14:18:13Z")
David Ogden Stiers will always be Charles Emerson Winchester. Don Knotts is Barney Fire Jack Nicholson is the Shining guy ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/35 "2014-08-03T14:50:42Z")
Don Knotts is Ralph Furley to my generation. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/36 "2014-08-03T15:00:14Z")
I once read an essay by Stephen King on this subject. He said that once a novel or short story has been put on film, it’s difficult to picture a character any other way than then actor who portrayed them. He said he’d been asked if he’d ever wanted a particular actor to play a character he’d written, in one of his stories that’s been filmed. His reply was that he thought Robert Duvall would have made a splendid Randall Flagg, in _The Stand_. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/37 "2014-08-03T17:34:47Z")
Bill Paxton = Hudson We’re in some pretty shit now man! Game over man! Game over! He’s in a whole load of other stuff, sometimes as the leading man. But that part was so perfect… How do I get out of this _chicken shit outfit?_ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/38 "2014-08-03T17:54:29Z")
“For God’s sake, Wyatt! Cover yourself!” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/39 "2014-08-03T18:40:00Z")
Martin Starr is always Bill (from _Freaks & Geeks_). He always seems to play the same kind of guy in all his roles now, so I am always thinking how Bill grew up to be such a smug asshole. I agree about Bryan Cranston. Always Hal. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535/41 "2014-08-03T18:46:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Don Knotts is Barney Fire I believe that is Barney Fife James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) Don Adams as Maxwell Smart (Get Smart) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-actors-that-youll-always-see-as-a-particular-character/694535.md?page=3)