Blog FeedAre we imposing a stereotype?
It’s easy to think of a lot of Hollywood actors as two dimensional. We get a large parade of the same person doing what is, essentially, the same role with a different name. The public, myself included shamefully, tend to disparage these actors as having no real acting talent, to be basically acting out themselves, over and over again on the silver screen.
But do we, the public, force them into this? Think of any time an actor with an established personality breaks out of that and strikes out in a different direction. For example, Robin Williams in One Hour Photo. His character in this movie was about as far away from his established norm as possible, and a lot of people didn’t like it. They found it hard to see him in that role. Do our minds simply latch on to the one idea, and find it hard to let go?
What a lot of us fail to understand that in any entertainment industry, whether it be TV, movies or even gaming, what the public wants is what is produced. So if the public wants to see Eddie Murphy as a grinning wisecracker, not a leader of a gang of international thieves or a cold hearted calculating businessman, that is what they will see. If attempts at other characters and situations are poorly received, then they will be increasingly less likely to be picked up by a film studio in future, as noone wants to lose money, least of all Hollywood.
So maybe inside all these actors is a burning desire to do something different. Maybe Jet Li really wants to play a crippled man, trying to find sympathy in an uncaring world. Would we ever get to see it? Unlikely.
15th September | Reply
I think The Butterfly Effect was a good example of an actor doing something completely different from expected. I know quite a few people went in to the movie thinking that it would feel wierd seeing Ashton Kutcher playing a serious role, but on the way out, they thought he did a pretty good job.
Then you’ve got Eric Bana - I don’t know how long he was doing comedy on TV before he switched to doing serious acting, but now he’s pretty well distinguished. That said, I never actually saw him when he did comedy, and I know others who did still say that they can’t take him entirely seriously. So I would say that I generally agree with you.
15th September | Reply
I guess these poor, yearning actors will just have to take solace and be comforted by their millions upon millions of dollars.
Honestly, when you’re earning that much money, you don’t really have any right to be complaining about a stereotype.
15th September | Reply
True, but as an amateur actor I know doing the same thing over and over again is incredibly boring, especially in a movie situation without an audience to spice things up.
16th September | Reply
Then you have Jonny Depp. Who is an entirely different person every movie. He makes grown women yearn and grown men… well gay. I think the key is to start out doing different things that way you get ‘typecasted’ as a person who never does the same role. Which is a good typecast.
If your first 3 movies are testosterone pumped action movies, people get it in their heads that you are that kind of actor. It is hard for an actor to really pull out of such a rut. I think the best thing an actor like that can do is used ‘transition’ movies to get where they want. Take Vin Diesel for example. From a few interviews i’ve seen with him he does not want to be a pop culture hunk such as portrayed in The Fast and the Furious (ick). But unfortunately that is the movie he got famous on. So he has taken the ‘bad boy’ typecast and started to push it towards themes and topics he prefers without exactly dissapointing his ‘bad boy’ audience. Riddick was still the same type of character but built in an incredibly different universe.
Personally I enjoyed Riddick more than any of his other movies. I say let actors do what they wish.
16th September | Reply
And then you have actors like Keanu Reeves, who gets himself cast in varied roles, but always seems to be playing Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan no matter what film he’s in…
16th September | Reply
You know, at my flat we have a pepsi bottle Keanu Reeves. It looks just like him. Expression never changes, always saying “Why”… It’s brilliant
16th September | Reply
I demand pictures of this pepsi Reeves.
16th September | Reply
And a picture you shall have!
http://img88.exs.cx/img88/8854/keanureeves1.jpg
17th September | Reply
To quote the guy in the Guinness commercial: “BRILLIANT!”
21st September | Reply
Surely he should be saying “woah”
22nd September | Reply
He says “Why” way more, at least in Revolutions.