# Performers that Completely Change the Character they Played **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 10, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944 "2023-11-10T15:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [November 13, 2023, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/61 "2023-11-13T05:06:02Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > I used RDJ to describe the actor in my previous post, I name **Layton** and **Michilinie** in same, and I don’t think it’s a crazy leap to deduce what **IM3** means after naming the director of Iron Man 1 and 2, Favreau That was 20 posts earlier. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/62 "2023-11-18T00:26:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It took quite a while for William Shatner strike a balance between dedicated Starfleet captain and swavey-and-deboner ladies’ man Mostly alien ladies. I always picture Shatner’s Kirk saying: > I’m not…at ALL… sure. That _a Captain_…of a…Starship. Would be bound by… the Prime Directive…when it comes to _green…females…_ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/63 "2023-11-18T02:36:21Z")
Thanks, @epbrown, for EYI (Explaining Your Initialisms)… Though I’ve always preferred [L&M](https://iscrapapp.com/yards/us-wisconsin-richland-center-lm-salvage/) to [L&H](https://www.google.com/search?q=stan+lee+and+don+heck&newwindow=1&sca_esv=583487937&ei=mCFYZbbpIvb9ptQPqICa8Ac&ved=0ahUKEwi2lYm1wMyCAxX2vokEHSiABn4Q4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=stan+lee+and+don+heck&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiFXN0YW4gbGVlIGFuZCBkb24gaGVjazIEEAAYHjILEAAYgAQYigUYhgMyCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDMgsQABiABBiKBRiGA0i9NlDLCFiwM3ACeACQAQCYAb0BoAGICqoBAzcuNbgBA8gBAPgBAcICCRAAGAgYHhiwA8ICDhAAGIAEGIoFGIYDGLADwgIIEAAYCBgHGB7CAgYQABgIGB7CAgYQABgWGB7CAgYQABgHGB7iAwQYASBBiAYBkAYF&sclient=gws-wiz-serp) or [L&K.](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/238972323948028621/) . > [@epbrown](#): > > It was 40-some years ago, so I’m not surprised people don’t remember the character had more personality at one point (fans joked the series was really “Adventures of Rich Man”)… “Adventures of Rich Man” pretty much sums up half the stage directions for playing Batman (the other half is “Adventures of Psychopath Orphan”). And this thread has me realizing how each actor has changed the character. I’m much more intrigued by how Bruce Wayne is played. Christian Bale nailed the “Rich Man” stuff, acting like Richie Rich as Morgan Freeman showed him the advanced weaponry he could build. Oh, and buying the hotel he was having dinner in, so his dates didn’t get thrown out of the fountain. But Robert Pattinson nailed the Psychopathic part. As did Michael Keaton… (Yeah, I was one of those yelling "What? We get Tim Burton directing Batman, and he casts… _Mister Mom?!?"_) ---
**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:** [November 18, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/64 "2023-11-18T13:23:52Z")
> [@digs](#): > > “Adventures of Rich Man” pretty much sums up half the stage directions for playing Batman (the other half is “Adventures of Psychopath Orphan”). > > And this thread has me realizing how each actor has changed the character. > > I’m much more intrigued by how Bruce Wayne is played. Christian Bale nailed the “Rich Man” stuff, acting like Richie Rich as Morgan Freeman showed him the advanced weaponry he could build. Oh, and buying the hotel he was having dinner in, so his dates didn’t get thrown out of the fountain. > > But Robert Pattinson nailed the Psychopathic part. As did Michael Keaton… I’d argue that Bale actually took it a step further: there’s him as, uh, _Thomas Wayne’s son_ — the serious-minded guy who isn’t putting on an act when he’s talking things over with Michael Caine or whatever — and then there’s him putting on a ‘playful drinker having a good time’ act in public as _Bruce_ just as much as he’s putting on a ‘growly-voiced killer on the hunt’ act with his _Batman_ persona. It’s easier if an actor merges two of those roles — Keaton could pretty much come across as the same guy whenever he’s out of the costume, and Conroy could pretty much do the Batman voice whenever he isn’t doing the ‘Bruce’ voice for suckers — sure as Clooney only did, uh, one. But I’d argue that Bale, like Affleck, went for three. (And, comic-book nerd that I am, I still hold out hope that an actor will bring a Matches Malone portrayal to the big screen…) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/65 "2023-11-18T16:06:14Z")
Val Kilmer’s Saint was certainly a bit different from the original and, as I understand it, was largely the product of the actor’s personal desire to do it as a more comedic portrayal. Likewise, Marlon Brando gave a lot different performances for The Island of Dr Moreau and Apocalypse Now than had been intended by the director nor matched the source material. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/66 "2023-11-18T17:01:31Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Likewise, Marlon Brando gave a lot different performances for The Island of Dr Moreau and Apocalypse Now than had been intended by the director nor matched the source material. And both movies suffer for it. But it does lead to great parodies: “Do you find my method…acting…unsound?” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944/67 "2023-11-19T18:02:54Z")
Patrick Stewart as Sejanus in _I, Claudius_ was interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-that-completely-change-the-character-they-played/992944.md?page=3)