Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis are some of the famous actors of our generation. Also, the most typecast actors. Check our list to see who else has a reputation for being typecast.
Photos by Gage Skidmore, David Shankbone, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Hollywood has given us great stories, but a lot of them have the same repetitive plot. Some, with the same typecast actors. While a lot of them have proven their worth time and time again, we can’t help but notice that they choose the same range of movies.
In this article, we’ll focus on very well known actors who usually are typecast in the same roles over and over.
1. Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro is a superb actor who can give some of the best performances. But he was also typecast a lot. He usually plaid the ruthless Italian mob boss, and he’s always the ultimate “tough guy.”
Of course, there are differences between his portrayals in Taxi Driver, Heat, and Analyze This, but you see a mobster movie and you clearly expect De Niro to be there.
In the last decade, he usually played the godfather who lost someone and tried to find his place in the world again. See, The Intern, Dirty Grampa, The War with Grandpa.
2. Liam Neeson
You see Liam Neeson’s name and you automatically think of a movie where someone abducts one of his relatives. Movie roles like Taken, Non-Stop, The Commuter seem to feature the same type of character, saving someone else. Despite of that, his movies are widely successful.
An exception of his usual ordinary-but-tough guy act is Schindler’s List.
3. Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo can play a villain like no one else. He has the expressions for it, the muscles, everything. But, despite his amazing range, he’s always cast as a crazy Mexican who is out to get you. In a very bloody way. See: 20 feet Below, Machete, Zombie Hunter.
In a recent interview with The Times, Trejo commented about being typecast: “I didn’t know I was being stereotyped. I just knew I was working. And I think the fact that I was stereotyped for so long got a lot of people jobs, so we just opened the door.”
4. Hugh Grant
While this currently doesn’t seem to apply to Hugh Grant anymore, it was a very big change for the British actor to escape the typical romcoms. Hugh Grant always played the nice, charming, but quirky British guy, who goes through life with no idea of what he’s doing. Either that, or rich. He usually gets the girl. See Notting Hill, Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Two Weeks Notice.
One memorable exception from this rule at the beginning of his career was his role in About a Boy.
5. Morgan Freeman
We all agree Morgan Freeman and his voice are a national treasure, but he usually does play the same role over and over again. He’s usually the wise old man, who the protagonist relies on for advice and to lean on. Examples for this are Red in The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, Bruce Almighty and Se7en.
6. Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise is hands down one of the best action actors of our times. The fact that he’s doing his own stunts every time makes his movies three times more interesting. But he usually does two types of roles: the screwed-up guy, potentially rich: Jerry Maguire, Top Gun, A Few Good Men, War of the Worlds, Rain Man
Or the action agent who’s after the “bad guys” and saves the day: Mission Impossible Series, Jack Reacher, Knight and Day, The Last Samurai, Collateral, Edge of Tomorrow.
7. Nicolas Cage
Throughout his career, Nicolas Cage has starred in a variety of genres, from light-hearted comedy, drama, and even romantic leads. He even won an Oscar for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas. But when it comes to his movies, people usually see him as “Nicolas Cage playing a Nicolas Cage acting in a movie.”
8. Samuel L. Jackson
One of Samuel L. Jackson defining traits in a movie is to be a recursive, swearing motormouth with a short temper. Usually, he gives zero f*cks, and gives very vague instructions for the main character to succeed.
See: Nick Fury in all Marvel movies, Pulp Fiction
Exception: Unbreakable, Resurrecting the Champ
9. Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis always stars as the “die hard” badass who always gets caught up in something that only he can overcome, and his guns always have unlimited bullets, even though it’s impossible.
Notable Exceptions – The Sixth Sense
10. Christopher Walken
Usually portraying psychologically unstable individuals, it’s difficult to see Christopher Walken other than himself playing a deranged character. He is usually the supporting actor, and that won him an Oscar for The Deer Hunter. He is also the go-to actor for voice impressions.
Tell us if you disagree with our choices. Which are the exceptions that make all these actors great?
