# What actors own their roles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666 "2003-02-21T23:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/61 "2003-02-24T10:34:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by koeeoaddi \* > \*\*I know this is probably a minority opinion, but I thought Brian Cox was much creepier as Hannibal Lechter in Michael Mann’s Manhunter. \*\* I agree completely. Anthony Hopkins Lechter always seemed crazy and cartoonish. Cox’s Lechter was much more subtle, someone who would appear sane and reasonable and disarming…until he went wild on you. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/62 "2003-02-24T13:25:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*For me, John Hurt is Winston Smith from _1984_. > \*\* And Richard Burton _is_ O’Brian in the same movie. Whenever I read the book, I always picture Hurt as Smith and Burton as O’Brian. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/63 "2003-02-24T13:39:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cholo \* > \*\*Robert DeNiro as Max Cady in **Cape Fear** …Or Robert Mitchum as the same character. Mitchum again in that film where he’s a marine trapped on a pacific island with a nun (Deborah Kerr?) Lee Marvin in a bunch of things: Dirty Dozen, Point Blank, Hell in the Pacific. Judi Dench as M in the Pierce Brosnan Bonds. She made so much more of that role than her predecessor. Desmond Llewellyn as Q. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/64 "2003-02-24T13:47:42Z")
Glenn Close as Jenny Garp and John Lithgow as Roberta Muldoon in \*\* The World According to Garp. \*\* Particularly Lithgow, though the role was originally offered to Christopher Reeve. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/65 "2003-02-25T02:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > **Christopher Lambert is The Highlander.** There can be only one? Then it should have been Adrian Paul’s Duncan, not Christopher Lambert’s Connor. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/66 "2003-02-25T03:21:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jinty \* > Mitchum again in that film where he’s a marine trapped on a pacific island with a nun (Deborah Kerr?) I could be wrong but I think it is \*\* “Heaven knows, Mr. Allison.” \*\* Bob Keashon is Capt. Kangaroo. Why yes, I am old. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/67 "2003-02-25T05:02:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > **I’ll see your Michael Keaton and raise you an Adam West.** Yes, West was a fine Batman AND Bruce Wayne, but Keaton and West were essentially playing two different characters, not just different interpretations. Batman was reinvented with “Year One” and “The Dark Knight Returns”. I’d also like to throw in Jane Kazcmarek (sp?) as Lois on “Malcom In The Middle”. The show is great now, but, early on, she and They Might Be Giants that MADE the show. Charlie Sheen as “Charlie Sheen” and John Malkovich as “John Malkovich” in \Being John Malkovich\. James Best as Sherrif Roscoe P. Coltrane in “The Dukes of Hazzard”. Al Pacino as Sonny in \Dog Day Afternoon\… Sean Astin as Sam in \The Lord of The Rings\. The series is probably the best cast films I’ve ever seen, and while McKellen is a great Gandalf, and Mortensen IS Aragorn, Sean Astin was an inspired piece of casting. Can I expand a bit? While it’s not really “acting”, per se, I think that Bob Clampett’s Daffy Duck cartoons define what Daffy is. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/68 "2003-03-01T09:00:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*Colin Firth - \*\*Mr. Darcy \*\* > > Jennifer Ehle - \*\*Elizabeth Bennet \*\* > > Toss up for the Best Sherrif of Nottingham: \*\* Basil Rathbon \*\* or \*\*Alan Rickman \*\* \*\* 'fraid not. Basil’s character in the '38 “Adventures of Robin Hood” was Sir Guy of Gisbourne. Yes, I COULD quote the whole movie, from memory! ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/69 "2003-03-01T15:57:35Z")
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier. He has been playing the guy for like two decades…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![serenitynow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@serenitynow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serenitynow)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/70 "2003-03-01T16:13:43Z")
I have to second Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. In the TV world: James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano Seinfeld may be one of the best casted shows ever. Jason Alexander IS George Costanza. When I see him now, I hardly remember his name, I simply think of it as George acting. Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza John O’Hurley as Jay Peterman. (I can’t even say “Peterman” without laughing.) While some may disagree, I think that Alan Alda owned Hawkeye on MASH. After seeing him in the role, the movie was almost painful to watch. Maybe it is just a matter of what you are used to. ---
**Author:** ![plastic\_conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@plastic\_conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plastic_conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/71 "2003-03-01T19:07:40Z")
Anthony Hopkins in _Remains Of The Dary_. Ed Norton in _Death To Smoochy_. Robin Williams in _The Fisher King_. Peter Sellers and George C. Scott in _Dr. Strangelove_. Peter Sellers in the _Pink Panther_ movies. Ben Gazarra in everything he was ever in. Peter Falk in everything he was ever in. Nicole Kidman in _The Others_ and _To Die For_. Meryl Streep in everything she was ever in. Julianne Moore in everything she was ever in. Thora Birch in _Ghost World_. Vincent Gallo in _Buffalo 66_. Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in _Fatal Attraction_. Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in _48 Hours_. Nick Nolte in _Affliction_. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/72 "2003-03-01T23:04:33Z")
I can’t believe anyone hasn’t mentioned: **Charles Chaplin** as _The Tramp_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666.md?page=3)