The BBC has a very interesting article on the typecasting of actors (in response to Christopher Eccleston’s decision to leave as the new Doctor Who after just one series).
Sean Connery, despite what he says, seems to have escaped Bond to a certain extent, though not the good-guy role. It’s interesting too that I saw Kiera Knightley stating she had to beg for her role in The Jacket as she didn’t want to spend the rest of her career in a corset.
On the one hand I find it odd that people get ‘pigeon-holed,’ but on the other I can understand it. For starters, looks play a part. Some people just don’t look like a bad guy, or a cop, or a hood, or an action hero, stereotypes play a huge part. Hell, Eisenstein used to pick his actors by finding ordinary people who looked right. It’s sort of the same as when you see someone on an advert and, despite their lips moving, you can tell what you’re hearing isn’t their voice, it doesn’t match their body.
Look at the big guns and you’ll find few of them step away from familiar territory. People see them in those roles and they like them there, that’s where they expect to see them. You see Will Smith above the title and you know what sort of movie it is and what sort of character he’ll play. I can understand how frustrating that could be for anyone who wants to branch out. Many of them choose to take roles in low-budget films to get out of it.
Big names become a brand. When you see Coke or McDonald’s you expect something. Coke tastes the same all over. I hadn’t realised how quickly or strongly people in Hollywood stereotype others.
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