I've always felt sorry for actors who make it big with a particular movie and then find themselves remembered almost exclusively by that role. Mark Hammil will always be known as Luke Skywalker and Leonard Nemoy will always be Spock. Despite Alan Alda's acting accomplishments he is known as Hawkeye and Roger Moore as James Bond. I've made a list of actors who have been typecast and are known for a particular character or genre.
The Hero/Good Guy- Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford. It's rare to see them in the role of a bad guy. When I saw What Lies Beneath I couldn't handle Harrison Ford being the bad guy so my subconscious mind took over and he became William Shattner for the last part of the movie.
The Villains- Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell, Alfred Molina, and Boris Carloff.
The Weird/Crazy Guy- Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, John Malkovich, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Lorre.
The Mafia Member- Al Pacino, Robert Dinero, Joe Pesci, and Vincent Pastore.
The Nerdy Scientist- Jeff Goldblum owns this category.
The Romantic Comedy Stars- Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, and Sandra Bullock.
The Tough Action Movie Guy - Vin Diesel, Arnold Schwarzennegar, Steven Segal, Sylvester Stalone, The Rock, and Jason Stratham.
The Loud Mouth- Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, and Martin Lawrence.
The Tough Chick- Mila Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver.
The Spoof Movie Star-Leslie Nielsen.
The Crazy Comedian- Jim Carey, Will Ferrell, and Steve Carell. (Although I appreciate Tom Hanks, Robin Williams and Jim Carey taking on more serious roles or different genres during their careers.)
Many of those listed above have an extensive repertoire of films and have taken on a variety of genres, but they are still best known for their bread and butter roles they keep reappearing in. I applaud some of the more versatile actors who have shown their talent in a variety of roles like Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, and Gary Oldman.
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