# Piglet is a killer! and other anti-typecasting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540 "2004-10-11T00:32:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/1 "2004-10-11T00:32:01Z")
An episode of the original Star Trek, “Wolf in the Fold,” has [John Fiedler](http://imdb.com/name/nm0275835/) as a deranged killer. Fiedler went on to many roles, including the voice of Piglet in too many Winnie the Pooh movies and shows to count. That strikes me as one of the biggest “type” gaps between any two characters played by the same actor. Has any actor played characters more wildly different than Jack the Ripper and Piglet? And can anyone watch that episode of ST without thinking, “Piglet? Noooo!” ? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/2 "2004-10-11T03:37:23Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > And can anyone watch that episode of ST without thinking, “Piglet? Noooo!” ? I _used_ to be able to…thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/3 "2004-10-11T03:48:58Z")
[Christopher](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077416/)[Walken](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276033/) . ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/4 "2004-10-11T04:07:45Z")
[Angela](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/) [Lansbury](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086765/). ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/5 "2004-10-11T04:17:16Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > [Angela](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/) [Lansbury](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086765/). Or how about these [Angela](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084747/) [Lansbury](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101414/) roles? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/6 "2004-10-11T04:26:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > An episode of the original Star Trek, “Wolf in the Fold,” has [John Fiedler](http://imdb.com/name/nm0275835/) as a deranged killer. > > Fiedler went on to many roles, including the voice of Piglet in too many Winnie the Pooh movies and shows to count. > > That strikes me as one of the biggest “type” gaps between any two characters played by the same actor. > > Has any actor played characters more wildly different than Jack the Ripper and Piglet? > > And can anyone watch that episode of ST without thinking, “Piglet? Noooo!” ? Well, strictly speaking, Fiedler didn’t play a killer. He played a man possessed by a murderous entity, one that could turn ANYONE it possessed into a killer. But beyond that, I can think of many actors who’ve played a wide variety of types. Michael Madsen jokes about this all the time. I’ve heard him say, "Little kids run up to me and hug me all the time, because they recognize me as the dad in ‘Free Willy.’ But their parents who’ve seen me in ‘Resevoir Dogs’ grab them and warn them, 'Stay away from that guy! He’s a bad man! " Beyond that, well… 1. Anthony Hopkins has played both a murderous cannibal (Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs”) and a gentle, bookish Christian author (C.S. Lewis., in “Shadowlands”). 2. Sean Penn was equally convincing as a convict on Death Row in “Dead Man Walking” and as a spaced out surfer dude in “Fast TImes at Ridgemont High.” 3. Daniel Day-Lewis has been equally convincing as a paralyzed artist, a gay punk rocker, an 18th century American frontiersman and as a 19th century American xenophobe. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/7 "2004-10-11T04:28:31Z")
Robin Williams gets my vote. I don’t know anyone else who can go from Mork to the serial killer in Insomnia, and stop by in the middle in places like Hamlet. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/8 "2004-10-11T04:28:40Z")
The _Beauty and the Beast_ page that **Morgyn** linked to contained a surprising bit of info (at least surprising to me): Jerry Orbach, of _Law & Order_ fame, played the voice of Lumiere! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/9 "2004-10-11T05:42:47Z")
Linda Hamilton in _The Terminator_, and Linda Hamilton in _Terminator 2_. I mean, think about it…that was one _hell_ of a character change. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/10 "2004-10-11T05:58:55Z")
In the spirit of the OP’s example, how about prolific voice actor [Roger L. Jackson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413996/), who voices both the buffoonish villain Mojo Jojo and the killer’s voice in Scream? (Bit of trivia from the latter: the cast of the movies never met him in person; he always did his lines over a loudspeaker or somesuch off-set for the actors to react to. Needless to say, the cast isn’t certain they would’ve WANTED to meet him even if they could - his vocal work creeped them out THAT much.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/11 "2004-10-11T06:59:30Z")
A friend and I once watched **Memento** on DVD at my house. When it was over we turned off the DVD player only to see that **The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert** was coming on TV. So within the space of four hours we got to see Guy Pearce as a man determined to hunt down his wife’s killer despite his rare memory condition and as a man determined to look fabulous while lip syncing to Abba songs despite being in the wilds of Australia. I had known that Pearce was in both movies, but it had been years since I’d seen **Priscilla** and wrongly thought that he had played the more serious Hugo Weaving role. Speaking of Hugo Weaving, he’s had a pretty darn varied career. However, I’m not sure if his case (or similar ones) count as casting against type he never seems to have been pidgeonholed as a particular type in the first place. Terence Stamp, also in **Priscilla** may be a better example – he’s also played many kinds of roles, but spent a good stretch doing mostly villains like in the **Superman** movies. It’s quite a leap from the evil General Zod to a sympathetic, aging transsexual woman. A friend of mine has avoided **Bend it Like Beckham** despite having a huge crush on Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, because she doesn’t think she’d be able to accept him as a kindly football coach after seeing him play so many drug addicts, petty criminals, and period-piece creeps. (Sometimes all at once in the same movie!) She felt she’d spend the whole movie expecting him to announce that they were going to celebrate team victories with coke orgies in the girls’ locker room or something. > [@astorian](#): > > But beyond that, I can think of many actors who’ve played a wide variety of types. Michael Madsen jokes about this all the time. I’ve heard him say, "Little kids run up to me and hug me all the time, because they recognize me as the dad in ‘Free Willy.’ But their parents who’ve seen me in ‘Resevoir Dogs’ grab them and warn them, 'Stay away from that guy! He’s a bad man! " I could swear I remember hearing that for this same reason Robbie Coltrane said that after playing Hagrid in the **Harry Potter** movies he’d never be able to go back to playing pimps and bouncers. But glancing over his IMDB listing I don’t see any obvious pimp or bouncer roles (if anything, he played a lot of cops), so maybe I’m misremembering the quote or the actor. > [@AwSnappity](#): > > The _Beauty and the Beast_ page that **Morgyn** linked to contained a surprising bit of info (at least surprising to me): > Jerry Orbach, of _Law & Order_ fame, played the voice of Lumiere! Oh, you beat me to mentioning that one. Orbach first made his name on Broadway (he was the original Billy Flynn in **Chicago** , among other roles) so doing a voice for a Disney animated musical couldn’t have been much of a stretch for him. But it’s hard to imagine Det. Lennie Briscoe even attending a musical, much less performing in one! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/12 "2004-10-11T09:22:39Z")
Not exactly what the OP was asking, but I’ve always liked the anti-typecasting in _The Philadelphia Story_. Of the two male leads, Cary Grant is the (somewhat) forthright and upstanding one, and Jimmy Stewart is the cynical rogue. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/13 "2004-10-11T11:05:13Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Orbach first made his name on Broadway (he was the original Billy Flynn in **Chicago** , among other roles) so doing a voice for a Disney animated musical couldn’t have been much of a stretch for him. But it’s hard to imagine Det. Lennie Briscoe even attending a musical, much less performing in one! He had a top-40 hit, too: “Try to Remember” from \*The Fantasticks \*original cast recording. And surely you noticed that the candle had Orbach’s face on it, in _B&B_? **Tony Curtis** : Musical drag queen in _Some Like It Hot_, serial killer in _THe Boston Strangler_, an exTREEMly overlooked an underrated film, as well as Curtis’s brilliant performance. **Ted Levine** : Bumbling, softspoken cop on _Monk_, serial killer in _Silence of the Lambs_. \*\* Elizabeth Montgomery\*\*: Wacky suburban witch on _Bewitched_, axe murderer in _The Legend of Lizzy Borden_. **Sally Field** : wacky\* Flying Nun\*; multiple nutcase in _Sybil_. **Hilary Swank** : second-rate, made-for-tv actor in EVERYTHING she did before _Boys Don’t Cry_. \*\* Marisa Tomei\*\*: tough talking broad in _My Cousin Vinnie_; naive highschool girl in _Untamed Heart_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/14 "2004-10-11T12:23:38Z")
Neil Patrick Harris: From Doogie Howser to a serial killer is quite a stretch. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2004, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/15 "2004-10-11T12:31:06Z")
Wilford Brimley as the evil lawyer in The Firm was a bit of a surprise. “Insider trading! It’s the right thing to do!” ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/16 "2004-10-11T13:03:45Z")
Raymond Burr plays the villain in REAR WINDOW where he kills his wife and chops her into little pieces that he distributes around the city and also played Perry Mason, the heroic trial lawyer detective. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/17 "2004-10-11T13:50:03Z")
Well, right after filming _Caligula_, where he played the deplorable title character, Malcolm McDowell went to play the kind, shy inventor HG Wells in _Time After Time_. And a few years earlier, after he played the teenage rapist Alex in _A Clockwork Orange_, he played the naive coffee salesman, Mick Travis in _O Lucky Man_. Someone already mentioned Anthony Hopkins-----he went from playing the kind Dr. Treeves in _The Elephant Man_ to Adolf Hitler in _The Bunker_. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/18 "2004-10-11T14:01:01Z")
Jack Dodson, who played virginal Üubernebbish Howard Sprague on _The Andy Griffith Show_, made two fantastic guest appearances _Barney Miller_ in which he played a serial killer of sorts. He felt it was alright to cut the throats of barbers who gave him bad haircuts. At one point he looks at Wojo and admires his haircut: “My oh my, you must have had to kill a lot of barbers before you got that one!” In his other guest appearance he was a different character who had had many guns stolen from him in a burglary but for some reason was hesitant to press charges. It was learned that he had all manner of illegal submachine guns and assault weapons among his blunderbusses and muskets. Gordon Jump as a child molester on _Diff’rent Strokes_ was an odd change of pace after _WKRP_. I’ve always assumed he must have been deliberately trying to kill off Arthur Carlson. Robert Reed (Mike Brady of was nominated for an Emmy for playing a pre-operative transsexual on an episode of _Medical Center_ shortly after _Brady Bunch_ was cancelled. He also played an adulterous slavemaster on _Roots_ around the same time. Jean Stapleton had an inspired guest shot on a shortlived Nancy McKeon/Jean Smart series named _Style and Substance_. Jean Smart played a Martha Stewart style domestic goddess and Stapleton guest starred as her idol, a Julia Child archetype who turned out on Jean’s show to be a nearly psychotic old lush. Jean was also great as the dying foulmouthed motel owner in _Michael_ (and who’d have ever thought one day a major motion picture would feature the Dingbat dancing with Barbarino). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/19 "2004-10-11T14:22:40Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Robin Williams gets my vote. > > I don’t know anyone else who can go from Mork to the serial killer in Insomnia, and stop by in the middle in places like Hamlet. How about Ian McKellen? On the one hand, he’s played Adolf Hitler. On the other, he voiced Zebedee for the Magic Roundabout Movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540/20 "2004-10-11T14:30:41Z")
Bela Lugosi may be the only actor to have portrayed Christ and Dracula. (He played Christ in a European passion play.) Speaking of Jean Smart, I didn’t realize what a talented actress she was until after _Designing Women_ was cancelled. She was hysterical as Frasier’s crass high school girlfriend, as the anal perfectionist on _Style/Substance_, the alcoholic nympho neighbor in _The Brady Bunch_ and moving as the retarded mother of five in a made for TV movie, all of which were a major stretch from scatterbrained but sweet Charlene on _DW_. None of the others from that series have exhibited such range (though I must admit I loved Delta Burke’s whitetrash turn in _Sordid Lives_, where Olivia Newton John was also impressive and a bit different from her _Xanadu_ and _Grease_ days). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piglet-is-a-killer-and-other-anti-typecasting/268540.md?page=2)