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  2. Movies

50 Most Specific Examples Of Movie Typecasting

Features
By George Wales published 27 July 2012

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Alan Dale

The Typecasting: Duplicitous, moneyed, arsehole authority figure. The on-screen embodiment of the powerful, white conservative male.

Examples: The O.C., 24, Ugly Betty, Lost, Star Trek: Nemesis

Strangest Specific Detail:
He's often allocated a beautiful blonde daughter, putting him into conflict with a fundamentally decent leading man. See The O.C. , Ugly Betty and Lost for details.

Cillian Murphy

The Typecasting: A crucial component in any plot to prevent somebody inheriting their father's business. He's in TRON: Legacy for a couple of seconds specifically to facilitate this plot detail!

Examples: Batman Begins, Inception, TRON: Legacy

Strangest Specific Detail: Murphy needn't be directly involved in the grapple for company control (although he is in Inception ), but he'll be somewhere on the fringes of any family business struggles, as Bruce Wayne can attest to.

Michelle Rodriguez

The Typecasting: A hard as nails tomboy in a stereotypically male profession (cop, mechanic, marine), destined for an early grave.

Examples: Lost, Avatar, Resident Evil, Fast And Furious 4, Bloodrayne

Strangest Specific Detail: Her wardrobe will consist exclusively of tank tops. Black ones, usually.

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James Marsden

The Typecasting: The generically decent husband who finds himself cheated on by the film's leading lady.

Examples:
X-Men, Superman Returns, The Notebook, Enchanted, Straw Dogs.

Strangest Specific Detail: The betrayal is rarely ever warranted. Marsden does a fine line in bland, boring, but nice boyfriends.

Christian Bale

The Typecasting: A fundamentally decent man trapped in an Asian hellhole, be it a conventional jail, prisoner of war camp or occupied city.

Examples:
Empire Of The Sun, Batman Begins, Rescue Dawn, The Flowers Of War

Strangest Specific Detail:
Why always Asia? He can't get enough of the place...

Orlando Bloom

The Typecasting: Dashing, sword-swinging blacksmith with a missing father.

Examples: Pirates Of The Caribbean, Kingdom Of Heaven

Strangest Specific Detail: Why a blacksmith? Where there no other careers in "olden times"?

Adam Sandler

The Typecasting: An emotionally retarded middle-aged man-child who's sweet-natured idiocy proves irresistible to the ladies.

Examples: Big Daddy, The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer, Happy Gilmore, 50 First Dates, Grown Ups

Strangest Specific Detail: Each and every one of his characters seems to be sporting some degree of learning difficulty. Odd.

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Matthew McConaughey

The Typecasting: Feckless, womanising playboy, now ready to settle down and commit to a relationship. The flipside to the other side of the McConaughey coin, the idealistic lawyer.

Examples: Fool's Gold, Failure To Launch, Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

Strangest Specific Detail: Some form of aggressive cotton allergy that prevents him from keeping his shirt on for any length of time.

Samuel L. Jackson

The Typecasting: Bad. Mother. Fucker.

Examples:
Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Shaft, The 51st State, Star Wars prequels, S.W.A.T., Basic, Snakes On A Plane, Lakeview Terrace, The Avengers

Strangest Specific Detail:
Profanity by the bucketload is almost a guarantee. Star Wars was a notable exception, and the DVD extras make it clear that Jackson really struggled to rein it in!

Jennifer Aniston

The Typecasting: Slightly goofy, slightly desperate girl next door who endures wretched luck with men but remains hopelessly romantic by nature.

Examples: She’s The One, Picture Perfect, The Object Of My Affection, Along Came Polly, The Break-Up, Marley & Me, He’s Just Not That Into You, Love Happens, The Switch

Strangest Specific Detail: The fact that she's Rachel from Friends , with most of her more endearing characteristics stripped away.

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George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.

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