{"id":3648,"date":"2009-09-30T07:30:47","date_gmt":"2009-09-30T11:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=3648"},"modified":"2012-12-05T06:00:02","modified_gmt":"2012-12-05T11:00:02","slug":"cast-against-type","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=3648","title":{"rendered":"Cast Against Type"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeing one\u2019s favorite actor performing in a way you\u2019ve never expected is a treat for viewers, and undoubtedly a welcome departure for the artist himself. Whether it\u2019s a normally affable star in a twisted turn or a glamorous performer reduced to pathetic or hideous creature, here are some of our favorite role reversals.<\/p>\n

Michael Keaton \u2013 Batman<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s face it, when thinking of tall, dark, handsome, brooding millionaire\/superhero Bruce Wayne the image of Michael Keaton does not immediately come to mind. Back in the early \u201880s, the fact that Mr. Mom <\/a>would take the lead as the Caped Crusader was truly appalling to fans of the comic, and they voiced their displeasure by sending tons of hate mail (reportedly 50,000 letters) to Warner Bros. But having just worked with him on Beetlejuice<\/a>, director Tim Burton agreed with producer Jon Peters\u2019 assessment that Keaton had an \u201cedgy, tormented quality\u201d that was right for the role.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Henry Fonda \u2013 Once Upon A Time In The West<\/h2>\n

Pillar of the community, paragon of humanity, and dignified father figure is how the general public viewed Henry Fonda for all his righteous film portrayals pre-Once. Fonda was adored by Sergio Leone, too, and the director desperately wanted to cast him. But he wanted to show another side of Fonda\u2026a persona the public had never experienced before. Imagine their horror when, in the very first scene, Fonda mercilessly guns down an unarmed terrified little boy! Here\u2019s Fonda, himself, explaining his involvement:<\/p>\n

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Charlize Theron \u2013 Monster<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s become almost de rigueur for any good looking actor to portray a wallflower, but Charlize Theron transformed herself completely for her biopic performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster<\/a>. Those who remembered the \u201cSexiest Woman Alive\u201d as an alluring sex kitten in 2 Days in the Valley <\/a>were shocked to see a face haggard by her rough & tumble life of street prostitution, accompanied by a guttural shot-and-a-beer & cigarettes voice. Charlize easily scampered home with a Best Actress Oscar that year.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Fred MacMurray \u2013 Double Indemnity<\/h2>\n

MacMurray is often remembered as the kindly, understanding father in the long-running TV program \u201cMy Three Sons\u201d or as the zany absent-minded professor in Walt Disney\u2019s \u201cflubber\u201d comedies. Though those roles were not created until the \u201860s audiences in the early \u201840s had similarly regarded Fred as a genial character for the frivolous \u201cnice guy\u201d roles he played \u2018til then. He shattered that fa\u00e7ade with the film noir classic Double Indemnity <\/a>where he played a callous, coldly calculating salesman involved in adultery, insurance fraud, and murder.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Robin Williams \u2013 One Hour Photo<\/h2>\n

Appearances can be deceiving. Though no stranger to dramatic parts (Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting) Williams nevertheless is most strongly associated with his hysterically manic comedic roles. In 2002, moviegoers\u2019 mental picture of him was upset when a much older, timid Williams character (retail photo clerk, Sy) appeared in One Hour Photo<\/a>. Overtly shy & seemingly unremarkable, slowly Sy is revealed to be mentally unhinged, whose outer calm is belied by inner turmoil. Check out the trailer:<\/p>\n\n

Terrence Stamp \u2013 Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert<\/h2>\n

Both in reel life and real life Terrence Stamp was quite the man\u2019s man. On screen, he effortlessly played tough guys as well as Shakespearian characters; off, he was a fixture of Mod London, photographed arm-in-arm with Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot, and supermodel Jean Shrimpton. So hardly anyone could have expected the role he accepted in 1994. Terrence Stamp, on playing transsexual drag queen Bernadette in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: \u201cWhen the script came in for Priscilla<\/a>, I was so fearful about the whole project. I thought it was a conspiracy to get me to make a fool of myself. We were doing a sequence called \u201cShake Your Groove Thing,\u201d and I thought \u2018what am I doing here? I [was voted] the best dressed man in Britain. I\u2019m a middle-aged guy. I\u2019m a scholar, a philosopher. I was the great Iago at my drama school. And here I am in fishnet tights!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Kurt Russell \u2013 Escape From New York<\/h2>\n

Disney signed a young, pinchably-cute Kurt Russell<\/a> to a ten year contract in the mid-\u201860s, and Kurt soon became a big star for the Mouse House, most notably in the fanciful fun of the \u201cDexter Riley\u201d trilogy of films. Despite that success, Kurt began searching for something that would let him grow up from those fresh-faced youth-oriented roles and rote comedic movies that he felt he was getting typecast into. Luckily, director John Carpenter was able to look past Kurt\u2019s \u201clightweight\u201d status when casting for his gritty actioner Escape from New York<\/a>. While the studio honchos preferred either Tommy Lee Jones or Charles Bronson to play its scruffy anti-hero Snake Plissken, Carpenter insisted on Russell. Perfect choice.<\/p>\n

Jack Nicholson \u2013 About Schmidt<\/h2>\n

Akin to Robin Williams, usually the Jack Nicholson character\u2014you know the one: arched eyebrows and iconic Jack grin\u2014is frenzied, rebelling against all things normal. The tables are turned in About Schmidt<\/a>, where Nicholson\u2019s newly-retired Schmidt has led an ordinary, drab, non-eventful existence. Confronted with his apparently meaningless life Schmidt asks \u201c\u2026what kind of difference have I made? What in the world is better because of me?\u201d The befuddled & beaten-down Schmidt duly recounts his newly realized vision of a world lacking sense in letters to his African foster child, Ndugu. But what good will that do?<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Deborah Kerr \u2013 From Here To Eternity<\/h2>\n

In 1994 Deborah Kerr was bestowed an Honorary Academy Award which lauded her as \u201can artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance.\u201d This reflected how Kerr was often praised early on in her career\u2014not exactly<\/em> a good thing since for the first decade of her career she was typecast as either devout women or very proper English ladies. That would change in 1953 with From Here to Eternity<\/a>. In perhaps one of the most famous scenes ever, she rolls in the surf entwined with Burt Lancaster, with whom her character is having an adulterous affair. Her new sensual image was an eye opener for many, which was<\/em> a good thing as the roles offered to her from then on were much more diverse than the ones previously offered to \u201cthe English Rose.\u201d<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Keanu Reeves \u2013 The Gift<\/h2>\n

Reeves had some dramatic efforts under his belt, but was better known for his goofy teen roles or as the good guy in sci-fi thrillers. And, truth be told, despite a couple of meaty roles (My Own Private Idaho, Speed) nobody really was that enamored of Keanu\u2019s acting abilities. That changed in 2000 with The Gift<\/a>. In the supernatural murder mystery he played a wholly unsympathetic character, an abusive husband and violent town thug. Silencing his many critics, Keanu pulled off the menacing performance superbly.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlie Chaplin \u2013 Monsieur Verdoux<\/h2>\n

In 1947 Charlie Chaplin<\/a> starred in the black comedy Monsieur Verdoux, a story of a man who marries, then kills, wealthy widows in order to support his wife and child. In the wake of WWII and with personal scandals tainting Chaplin\u2019s reputation at that time, the public was in no mood to see a film about such a distasteful topic, especially one starring the Little Tramp as a murderer. Not only were there were boycotts of the movie, critics were unkind as well, so much so that Chaplin famously opened one press conference with the words \u201cproceed with the butchering.\u201d Subsequent screenings in later years have bolstered Chaplin\u2019s own contention that it was \u201cthe cleverest and most brilliant film of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeing one\u2019s favorite actor performing in a way you\u2019ve never expected is a treat for viewers, and undoubtedly a welcome departure for the artist himself. Whether it\u2019s a normally affable star in a twisted turn or a glamorous performer reduced…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1717,2734,1482,1644,1679,1737],"coauthors":[1714],"class_list":["post-3648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-staff-notes","tag-charlie-chaplin","tag-double-indemnity","tag-fred-macmurray","tag-henry-fonda","tag-jack-nicholson","tag-kurt-russell"],"yoast_head":"\nCast Against Type: Actors in Unique Rolls Ending the Type Cast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cast Against Type - Our favorite actors in rolls we never expected, featuring Kurt Russell, Terrence Stamp, and Robin Williams in One Hour Photo.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=3648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cast Against Type: Actors in Unique Rolls Ending the Type Cast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cast Against Type - Our favorite actors in rolls we never expected, featuring Kurt Russell, Terrence Stamp, and Robin Williams in One Hour Photo.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=3648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MovieFanFare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Movies-Unlimited\/88679322377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-30T11:30:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-05T11:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason Marcewicz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason Marcewicz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=3648#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=3648\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jason Marcewicz\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c727f1a095007d0e411b65b8f03660e5\"},\"headline\":\"Cast Against Type\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-30T11:30:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-05T11:00:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=3648\"},\"wordCount\":1295,\"commentCount\":34,\"keywords\":[\"Charlie Chaplin\",\"Double Indemnity\",\"Fred MacMurray\",\"Henry Fonda\",\"Jack Nicholson\",\"Kurt Russell\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Staff Notes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=3648#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=3648\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=3648\",\"name\":\"Cast Against Type: Actors in Unique Rolls Ending the Type Cast\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-30T11:30:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-05T11:00:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c727f1a095007d0e411b65b8f03660e5\"},\"description\":\"Cast Against Type - 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