Typecasting (acting)
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- For other meanings, see typecasting.
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Typecasting is the process by which an actor is strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters with the same traits or ethnic grouping.
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[edit] The process of selecting an actor
Actors are selected for their roles either by a casting director, typically found in small productions, or, in larger productions such as motion pictures, a group referred to as central casting. Central casting often exhibits a pattern of placing an actor in subsequent similar character roles after his or her first success, especially if an actor is particularly well-received in that role by the audience or by critics. Typecasting happens to actors of both great and modest ability: an actor may become typecast either because of a strong identification with a particular role or because he or she lacks the versatility or talent to move on to other roles. Some actors welcome the steady work that typecasting brings, but in general it is seen as undesirable.
[edit] When typecasting is particularly strong
There have been instances in which an actor has been so strongly identified with a role as to make it impossible for him or her to find work playing other characters.
Typecasting is a problem for character actors in particular. It is especially common among leading actors in popular TV series and films. Clayton Moore and George Reeves, who played the Lone Ranger and Superman, respectively, in the Golden Age of television, were victims of typecasting, Reeves to such an extent that his large role in From Here to Eternity was practically removed from the film after test audiences shouted "There's Superman!" whenever he appeared.
Adam West, who played Batman has had incredible difficulties with typecasting, and has taken many roles since as a parody of himself because of this excessive typecasting.
Jason Alexander, who portrayed George Costanza in Seinfeld, as well as Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Michael Richards (Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer respectively) have been typecast into their Seinfeld roles. This has been mocked in several episodes of the HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, co-written by Larry David who has claimed his own personality traits and escapades were the basis for the George character.
Dennis Farina, who was a policeman in Chicago before becoming an actor, is frequently cast as a cop, examples being his roles on the shows Crime Story and Law & Order. He is also sometimes cast on the opposite side of the law, as a criminal, such as a Mob henchman in Thief and a Mob boss in Midnight Run.
Richard Roundtree, who portrayed John Shaft in the Shaft films, has tried numerous attempts to disassociate himself from being known as a Black Action Hero - from playing authority figures (e.g. Capt. Stevens in the Chuck Norris film An Eye for an Eye or a gay uncle in the TV series Roc - he has came to terms that he would always be asssociated with the Shaft character for life. Since Shaft was one of the contributors to the blaxploitation genre, actors who appeared in blaxploitation films (Ron O'Neal in Superfly, Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite, or Pam Grier) have embraced typecasting (O'Neal being casted as a villain in films e.g. A Force of One or Red Dawn where he was seen as a Cuban colonel).
Bela Lugosi would be forever known as Count Dracula, even though he only played him once in Universal Studios' 1931 production of Dracula.
Mark Hamill found it difficult shaking off his Star Wars persona after three movies playing Luke Skywalker. As did Ralph Macchio of The Karate Kid fame.
Kelsey Grammer, known for his character Frasier Crane, an intellectual, classy and cultured man, also did Sideshow Bob's voice-overs and played the Beast in the X-Men movies. Both Sideshow Bob and the Beast are cultured and intellectual characters.
DeForest Kelley had been enjoying a thriving career as a character actor before being typecast as "Bones," the ship's doctor on the television series Star Trek, after which he was very seldom cast in any other role.
John Travolta has lived with typecasting throughout his acting career (from his 1970s roles e.g. Welcome Back Kotter, Saturday Night Fever, or his association with two Brian DePalma films - Carrie and Blow Out) - especially during the 1980s after the sequel to Saturday Night Fever (Staying Alive) became a box office flop - his agent intervened several times - some of his aborted roles went to actor Richard Gere or recasted (he was suggested by the producers of Splash where Tom Hanks became the lead. After a friendship with Bruce Willis (for the Look's Who Talking films c. 1989 - his acting career was considered resurrected until his Oscar nomination for Pulp Fiction.
Child actors may also suffer from typecasting (e.g. Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, Jay North in Dennis the Menace). The appearance of the adult actor may differ so much from his or her childhood persona as to make him or her less marketable. Typecasting in children is seen as less of an issue when the child is portraying a dramatic or mature character, such as Haley Joel Osment, the child actor in The Sixth Sense and A.I., Bill Mumy, the ex-child actor in Lost in Space, or Brandon Cruz, the former child actor in The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
In rare cases, it is a medical condition that gives an actor a distinct appearance and contributes to typecasting. Michael Berryman, whose hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia caused him to fail to develop hair, sweat glands, fingernails or teeth, has been typecast as an array of disturbing characters, mostly in horror films. Michael J. Anderson's case was parodied in an episode of The X-Files in which the three-foot tall actor bridled at being mistaken for a former circus freak.
Reportably Ted Knight nearly left The Mary Tyler Moore Show because fans typecast him as Ted Baxter; he later played the comic role in Too Close for Comfort. Other reported examples of fans typecasting were Gilligan's Island stars Bob Denver, Russell Johnson and Natalie Schafer. Larry Linville also played typecasted roles of unstable Frank Burns types. Khigh Dheigh played Asian villain types. Werner Klemperer and John Banner played stereotype Germans. In addition, many actors whose roles have been particularly typecasted were Ray Walston and Bill Bixby of My Favorite Martian, who both had difficulty finding roles, Raymond Burr of Perry Mason, Don Adams and Barbara Feldon both from Get Smart, found lesser roles after playing Maxwell Smart and Agent 99, respectively, Lost in Space's Jonathan Harris was no longer working, despite of his Dr. Zachary Smith, role, which was obviously typecasted, Paul Petersen of The Donna Reed Show had trouble finding adult roles, Andy Griffith found lesser-known roles after starring in The Andy Griffith Show, Carroll O'Connor of All in the Family, was not having any luck in finding better known roles, Barbara Eden also had trouble finding roles after starring in I Dream of Jeannie, long before her former co-star Larry Hagman was extremely typecasted for portraying J.R. Ewing in Dallas, and William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, whose characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, have also been extremely typecasted (Nimoy published two books - I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock based on his personal experiences). In addition, Buddy Ebsen who portrayed the role of Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies, was severely typecasted, but found another role, playing Barnaby Jones, and Delta Burke had a hard time finding roles after her Suzanne Sugarbaker character, was severely typecasted.
Sometimes, actors begin as one form of character in their break-out role and subsequently become typecasted for a role that is polar opposite, such as the case with actor Sean Penn, who in Fast Times At Ridgemont High portrayed a "surfer dude", but has since become known for intense, unsympathetic roles.
Katt Williams is considered typecast, as many of his characters are based on the stereotype of a pimp. Actor Juan Fernandez faced the same - portraying hitmen Crocodile Dundee II, pimps Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, and a suicide bomber in the film Executive Decision.
American actor Seann William Scott is considered typecast, due to his role as Steve Stifler in the American Pie series, who is considered a 'jerk' and a person who only cares about sex rather than relationships. Further roles of his, such as in Road Trip, contain many similarities to the Steve Stifler character.
Bruce Willis played a hero in Die Hard; Die Hard 2 and Die Hard with a Vengeance; he plays a professional killer in The Jackal (film)
Victor McLaglen {an Englishman} played stupid or bullying Irishmen in films such as The Informer (film) or The Quiet Man
[edit] Attempts to move beyond typecasting
Many actors attempt to escape typecasting by choosing opposite, unconventional, or simply unexpected roles. This is called "playing against type". For example, Tom Hanks eschewed his "nice guy" image by playing a gangster in Road to Perdition. Dustin Hoffman's choice to play the disreputable Ratso in Midnight Cowboy after playing the naive Benjamin in The Graduate is a famous instance of an actor avoiding typecasting. Elijah Wood attempted to escape typecasting after his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy by playing a trio of undesirables—a football hooligan in Green Street, a cannibalistic serial killer in Sin City and a dishonest employee in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of the most successful efforts to break away from typecasting came from renowned actress Deborah Kerr, who before 1953 was well known as the "English Rose", a prim, proper English lady. In 1953, she was cast as discontented wife Karen Holmes in From Here to Eternity, a role that resulted in one of the most iconic screen kisses of all time and proved that she did not have to be prim and proper. Although she returned to that image several times, most notably in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, she had successfully dispelled the danger of typecasting. Another pair of examples are Ronny Cox and Kurtwood Smith in RoboCop. Prior to 1987, Cox had been known for his "good guy" roles, so to play against type, Cox accepted the role of villain Dick Jones. Smith also chose to play against type; in addition to reading for Dick Jones, Smith ended up taking the role of Clarence Boddicker, a thinking man's villain.
Daniel Radcliffe, the child actor in the Harry Potter film series, recently starred in a stage production of the controversial play Equus that involved an on-stage simulated sex act and full-frontal nudity. Although the role may not have been chosen to counter any typecasting he may face as an adult, Daniel let people know he was willing and able to move beyond the Harry Potter universe.
To avoid being typecast as a comedy actor, Robin Williams accepted a number of dramatic roles, including Sy Parrish, a film developer who becomes obsessed with a particular client's family in One Hour Photo; the neurologist Oliver Sacks in Awakenings; and a sociopathic writer in Insomnia. Williams also won an Academy Award in 1998 for his role as the glum psychologist in Good Will Hunting.
Some actors turn down otherwise desirable roles for fear of typecasting. Denzel Washington declined to portray Martin Luther King Jr. after playing two civil rights leaders, Malcolm X and Steve Biko.
Within some shows, an actor who has one of the leading roles may also play another part, for a change of pace. For example, on "Bewitched", Elizabeth Montgomery played the occasional role of Serena in addition to the regular role of Samantha.
Reportably Max Baer, Jr. who was on The Beverly Hillbillies for 9 years produced/wrote and acted in 1974 movie Macon County Line-so he would not be typecast as "Jethro Bodine"!
[edit] Attempts to embrace typecasting
Some actors embrace typecasting. Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris usually portrays heroic characters, at least after his first two roles, in which he was a hitman in Way of the Dragon and a crime boss in the Hong Kong–produced Slaughter in San Francisco. Later, Norris turned down the role of Sensei Kreese in The Karate Kid because, as a martial arts champion, he felt he should not be connected to an evil character. Embracing typecasting is sometimes referred to as Seagalism, named for the often-typecast actor Steven Seagal. Fans often expect a particular actor to play a "type", and roles which deviate from what is expected can be commercial failures. This beneficial typecasting is particularly common in action movies (e.g., Jackie Chan) and comedies (Adam Sandler) but much less common in drama, although many B-list character actors make careers out of playing a particular dramatic type, and it is often suggested to would-be actors that they audition for roles that fit their type.[citation needed]
Some actors e.g. Harold Sakata or Fred Berry have adopted their character names as part of their legal names (Harold "Oddjob" Sakata or Fred "ReRun" Berry).
[edit] Typecasting in other fields
Typecasting also occurs in other performing arts. An opera singer may be limited because of voice range or prior success in one role, as was Denyce Graves as Carmen.
