27 Times Actors Were Cast Against Type And Absolutely Nailed It

For those unaware, typecasting is when film directors and anyone else responsible repeatedly assign the same actors to the same types of roles because of the appropriateness of their appearance or previous success in the roles. The most common reason for that is the industry and (or) the audience simply wants specific people playing specific roles. Simple as that.

An example of typecasting can be seen with actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose entire career is mostly based on the strong man action hero type of character.

The same can be said about the likes of Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, and Bryan Cranston, all of whom mostly had funny, lighthearted or otherwise comedic roles, but when given an antithetical role nailed that too.

Bored Panda has reached out to horror movie expert and blogger Palvi Sharma of Dark Horror Tales, who shared her insights into breaking a typecast from the perspective of the horror movie genre.

"Actors can go through a grueling process while acting in horror movies. It can affect them mentally and several actors have mentioned suffering from PTSD-like symptoms after performing intense scenes," elaborated Sharma. "Take for example Alex Wolff in Hereditary or Janet Leigh in Psycho. Both actors were left feeling traumatized after shooting terrifying scenes."

Sharma did go on to say that every genre requires actors to perform with a different set of skills. Many might argue that just because an actor is doing comedy, it doesn’t mean that things are easier on set. Performing comedic scenes can be just as challenging as performing an emotional scene.

However, horror can even be more demanding. The one thing people might hear is that actors are required to perfect their screams for horror movies. In fact, several actors have even taken coaching lessons to perfect their screams and land good movie roles.

"Many actors started their careers in horror movies before they transitioned to comedy and action," explained Sharma. "Take for example Jennifer Anniston who starred in Leprechaun before moving on to her famous role as Rachel on Friends. Then there was Kevin Bacon who starred in Friday the 13th before playing his most iconic role in Footloose."

"If there is one actor who made a successful transition into the horror genre, I would have to say it is Nicolas Cage. He played meek roles before moving on to action and then adventure roles. He was even sometimes criticized for his acting skills in them. But it is in horror movies that Nicolas Cage has found a way to display his vast acting range and truly shined."

Sharma continued: "Take for example [Cage's] role in the recent Dream Scenario. He goes from playing a timid professor anyone can walk over to an overconfident celebrity to a deranged maniac, calculating criminal (even if it is in a dream), and then a walkover once again. Nicolas Cage truly gets to display his full potential in that movie and you do end up sympathizing with him throughout."

"His best role would have to be as the silent janitor in [private part]’s Wonderland. Many horror fans will tell you that this Nicolas Cage was better in Five Nights At Freddy’s. [private part]’s Wonderland was supposed to be a sort of parody of the famous video game but Cage’s acting skills helped the movie stand out. Only Nicolas Cage could make a movie with that premise, actually entertaining."