Great actors who always play the same character

[Spider RedNight]

I'd also agree on Troy Baker but I'm still reminded of Excalibur which ends up making me smile inwardly and THEN I think of the Joker and that kind of freaks me out. I do agree about Laura Bailey, though.

I'll go ahead and say that I hope Jurassic World breaks Chris Pratt out of this niche he might fall into by playing the "lovable every guy who's a doofus but really nice". Not that I have a problem with it, yet but I'm just afraid he's gonna turn into one of THOSE people and the charm's gonna fade.

 

[Albino Boo]

Not a single mention of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise? The only times I've seen Cruise play a significantly different role from his usual "slick charismatic guy with sexy smile" are Collateral and Tropic Thunder. Pitt I haven't actually seen in that many movies considering the size of his roster, but I've understood he's a typecast actor as well.

Pitt did 12 Monkeys, Seven, Fight Club, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. All of which he isn't playing romantic lead A.

 

[Private Custard]

The only times I've seen Cruise play a significantly different role from his usual "slick charismatic guy with sexy smile" are Collateral and Tropic Thunder.

Born on the Fourth of July
A Few Good Men
Magnolia
Vanilla Sky
The Last Samurai
Jack Reacher
Edge of Tomorrow

He's actually pretty damn versatile.

And for Brad Pitt,

Kalifornia
True Romance
Se7en
Twelve Monkeys
Troy (he played an utter arsehole quite well!)
Burn After Reading

Again, he can stretch himself.......with the right script and director.

 

[Roofstone]

William Fichtner.. I refuse to believe that he is NOT an evil businessman at this point, he just keeps playing the role to do the whole "hiding in plain sight" thing.

 

[Private Custard]

William Fichtner.. I refuse to believe that he is NOT an evil businessman at this point, he just keeps playing the role to do the whole "hiding in plain sight" thing.

You should catch him in 'Go', he played a great part! Also, Equilibrium and Strange Days were both a little different

 

[Pete Oddly]

I'll throw in Mark Wahlberg as a start. While it's true that, when placed in roles in which he doesn't fit well, he doesn't showcase much talent, it's also true that, when placed in roles where he shines (Pain & Gain; Ted; The Other Guys; Four Brothers), he does a great job. Basically, never cast Marky Mark unless you have him playing some comedic straight-man or a slick, smarmy tough guy. Those are what he does best.

Also; Liam Neeson. Now, I KNOW he can play roles that aren't Quiet Contemplative Secret Badass (Darkman, anyone?), but he does it so well, and he seems so comfortable with his new fame being typecast as such, that I can't really fault him for it.

 

[faefrost]

Recently I've gotten on a Princess Bride and Columbo kick, and the greatest common factor between the two is Peter Falk. In Columbo he plays a police investigator and in the Princess Bride he plays a grandfather reading his grandson a fairy tale, and in both he is basically the same character. Same mannerisms, same vocabulary, same rhythm of speech. Even same behavior--his police investigator character is very observant and smart yet plays dumb to put suspects off their guard, and his grandfather character pretends to be clueless as to how disinterested his grandson and disrupts the story a few times just to mess with him and build suspense. Different stories, same character.

But that's fine, it's a great character and I love every minute of it. Are there any actors like this that you admire, who play the same character no matter what they're in but it never gets old?

Actually many of the better remembered actors learn to fall into certain archetypes and mannerisms that define them. It is part of what makes them marketable. John Wayne was fairly famous for understanding this and using it to his best advantage. They want different characters. But just not too different. It is actually harder to think of actors that don't do this to some degree. At least mainstream box office draws? Maybe the two Sutherlands, Donald and Kiefer?

As for Peter Falk? Much of what we think of as "playing the same character" was really that the characters we remember most heavily leveraged the actors natural speaking voice and mannerisms. I met Peter Falk a few times when I was much younger. He grew up with my Grandfather, and they became reacquainted later in life through a mutual friend who was big in the Canadian Film and Television Industry. Very nice man. But his speech and mannerisms were very much an element of the neighborhood he grew up in. Watching him sit in a roomful of older gentlemen all sitting around shooting the shit talking in those same mannerisms was in hindsight fascinating. Like some strange little piece of cultural Anthropology.

 

[Chancie]

While I don't think he's a great actor, Michael Cera tends to play the same character in everything. He's always the awkward teenager who someone gets the hot girl. Sure, he played the "baddie" in Magic Magic, but still, he was the awkward guy there too.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

Pretty much any person who got their career started on Saturday Night Live. They had some skit that was really popular, and when they left the show, they milk that same performance until the day they die.

Adam Sandler
Chris Farley
James Spader
Will Farrell
That guy from Deuce Bigalo, Male Gigalo (can never remember his name)
Chevy Chase
Eddie Murphy....
you know I'm just going to stop listing them now and just say SNL Stars.

I don't remember James Spader on SNL...

OT: Morgan Freeman. He always plays the same character. Not that I'm complaining though.

 

[Brennan]

Jeff Goldblum leaps to mind. Kinda surprised I'm the first to mention him, given how distinctive his consistency is.

 

[Dizchu]

Nicolas Cage has unfortunately been typecast as Nicolas Cage.

The only difference between films is how much the directors allow him to go Super Saiyan and become Nicolas Rage.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Pauly Shore

Yeah, bet you that wasn't a name you were expecting to hear today.

EDIT: crap, didn't read the 'great actor' part. Uhm, Danny Trejo? No... Uhmm... Never mind.