Being typecast isn’t exactly the best thing for an actor since it shows a real lack of range and versatility that makes it possible for them to be underestimated, and sometimes rightly so, since it would appear that they can only play a certain type of character. The biggest problem with this is that if a person doesn’t at least try to break out of the role that they’ve found themselves in so often, it becomes hard to see how they might grow as an actor and possibly take on other roles that might suit them just as well. Some actors lean heavily into the typecasting and don’t bother to get out since it treats them just fine and they find enough work to make it tenable. But others find a way to get out of the rut that typecasting can leave one in and will eventually figure out how to change up their act in a way to make it possible for others to look at them in a different light. This is a huge bonus for many actors since it allows them to become more valuable and more rounded in their craft.
Here are a few actors that have successfully fought past typecasting.
5. Michael McKean
Remember Lenny and Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley on TV? It took Michael a long time to get past that role for one reason or another since everyone would see him as Lenny for the longest time, making it difficult for him to move past the role and become known for anything else. If you take a look at his filmography though you’ll see that between TV and movies he did manage to move past that role some time ago and thanks to Better Call Saul he’s actually become well known for another role among many others in his long and successful career. Of course, it’s still fun to think of him as Lenny, but he’s done so much more.
4. Liam Neeson
Considering everything that Liam Neeson has done to this point it’s hard to think of how he was typecast after the movie Taken, as he started acting in the same manner in many movies to follow. Had they all been featuring the same character it might have been easy enough to understand, but for one reason or another, his characters started to blend together and were hard to tell apart. This is kind of frustrating really since he’s played so many great characters before the Taken movies and has shown that he has a great amount of range and can become pretty much any character he needs to be.
3. Jim Carrey
This is one of the many success stories that has kind of been overshadowed by other events that have happened in Carrey’s life but is still worth talking about. He used to be JUST the funny guy that would do the impersonations, the funny voices, and basically do whatever he could to shock and amaze the audience. Once he starred in The Majestic, then The Truman Show, and even The Number 23, it was apparent that he was more than just a comedian since he could take a dramatic role and make it work. From that point on it’s been wise to expect that he’ll be doing more than comedy in the years to come.
2. Dwayne Johnson
Some people would probably argue about this one, but Dwayne has definitely changed from being the big, tough bruiser that is smart enough to remember his own name and do many other things. He’s taken on other roles in movies such as The Game Plan, Be Cool, and even Jumanji where he had to tone down his acting to accommodate for the fact that his character was being played by a young man that was afraid of pretty much everything. It’s obvious he’s still going to play the cocky and confident strong man in a lot of movies, but he’s definitely flexed his acting muscles in different ways.
1. Steve Carell
Foxcatcher was one the movies that really made it apparent that Steve Carell was about more than comedy since he brought so much to the role that people were simply amazed to see what he could do when he wasn’t trying to make the audience laugh. Much like Jim Carrey, he made it clear that he wasn’t just a one-note actor and went out to prove it. The fact that he can take on dramatic roles and make them work is amazing, and if you want another good example, take a look at The Way, Way Back in which he actually plays an antagonist. He’s definitely impressed a lot of people in his time and it’s been established that he’s more than just a one-note actor.
It’s very possible for actors to break out of typecasting, but sometimes it doesn’t work quite as well as it should.
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