Hollywood has an unfortunate tendency to gauge the bankability of a star based on stereotypical characteristics they believe are predefined for a certain kind of role. This is commonly referred to as typecasting, and it can be especially frustrating for versatile actors who are capable of bringing so much more to the acting table.
Whether by design or accident, many prolific A-List Hollywood actors have been subjects of typecasting over the decades with varying degrees of success. Here are ten of the most typecasted actors in the business, and the role most commonly associated with each.
10 Angelina Jolie (The Femme Fatale)
Ever since her breakout performance in the renegade 1995 cult classic Hackers, Angelina Jolie has essentially played the same kind of character over and over again. Her typecast revolves primarily around the ultra-confident mysterious femme fatale who does an awful lot of seductive smiling in between blowing something up, or punching someone.
Eventually, this typecasting would land her the role of video game heroine Lara Croft in the critically panned live-action Tomb Raider franchise, as well as action vehicles like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Wanted, and Salt. Jolie has had a few dramatic roles that allowed her to showcase a wider range of acting talents, but she could do with more of those, not less.
9 Gary Oldman (The Villain Of A Thousand Faces)
Gary Oldman is an extremely versatile actor who can bounce effortlessly back and forth between good and bad guy roles as easily as changing a pair of socks. Quite frankly, it's amazing to watch as he darts from the horribly disfigured Mason Verger in Hannibal to Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
Oldman is primarily known for his villainous roles, however. Each one is wholly unique, but the characters are built upon Oldman's signature acting style and commitment to throwing himself into a role, be it Dracula, Norman Stansfield, or Dr. Zachary Smith from Lost In Space.
8 Morgan Freeman (The Wise Old Teacher)
With his instantly recognizable baritone voice, tall stature, and everyone's-father qualities, Morgan Freeman has been repeatedly cast in roles centering around positions of authority and/or guidance. Even during the odd few times he's played a villain, Freeman does so with a sense of benevolence and good intentions.
Freeman has played the President of the United States in Deep Impact, William Cabot in The Sum Of All Fears, and of course, God himself in Bruce Almighty and its follow-up sequel Evan Almighty. When he's not playing a teacher role, he's busy educating by narrating documentaries, because of course he is.
7 Drew Barrymore (The Sweetheart)
Drew Barrymore has been in showbiz since she was a little girl, and she's weathered the riotous and dangerous storm of Hollywood celebrity life to emerge intact on the other side. She's forever known as a sweetheart, which is why she gets cast in so many of those particular roles.
Even Barrymore's voice acting roles tend to center around loveable characters, and it's not hard to see why. She has an undeniable charm that makes it difficult to imagine her as a malevolent force in any real capacity.
6 Tom Cruise (The Hotshot)
During the 1980s, Tom Cruise solidified himself as one of Hollywood's hottest stars, built almost entirely on the back of a hotshot stereotype that carried him well into the 90s. His breakout smart-guy performance in the immensely popular Top Gun would later resurface in films like Days Of Thunder, Cocktail, and A Few Good Men.
Cruise would try his hand at a few non-traditional roles during the early '90s before kicking off a monster action franchise in the form of Mission: Impossible, a series known for its insane hotshot stunts. Though this aspect of his typecasting has cooled off a little, he's simply playing a more mature take on the reckless characters he played in his early days.
5 Michelle Rodriguez (The Tough Chick)
There aren't a lot of films where Michelle Rodriguez isn't portraying a one-woman wrecking ball, and this typecast seems to show no signs of slowing down. This stereotype started with her debut film Girlfight in 2000 before heading directly into the Fast & The Furious franchise, and the action/fright-fest Resident Evil shortly after.
Rodriguez continued to bring her military tough chick persona to James Cameron's smash hit Avatar, the grindhouse Machete franchise, and several more Fast & The Furious and Resident Evil installments. Here's to hoping Rodriguez gets to expand her acting chops a little more.
4 Clint Eastwood (The Tough Guy)
Nearly all of Clint Eastwood's films have involved him playing a tough guy badass character, with very few exceptions. It's obvious Eastwood enjoys the stereotype, and he's brought it forward into his own directorial works that he also stars in.
Eastwood made a name for himself by acting in a string of spaghetti westerns during the 1960s and 70s before taking on the role of Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry franchise, which made him a full-fledged household name. His role in The Bridges of Madison County was a shocker for fans who followed his film career up until that point.
3 Christopher Lee (The Evil Villain)
The illustrious Christopher Lee will go down in history as one of cinema's most memorable and unforgettable actors. His acting chops are second-to-none, and he's played a diverse and eclectic amount of roles over the years that have maxed out his acting talents and proven what an icon he really was.
Still, Lee will forever be remembered for playing some of the most intimidating evil villains in history, from his performance as Dracula in the Hammer series of films to Count Dooku in Star Wars, the 007 villain Scaramanga, and of course Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
2 John Wayne (The Cowboy)
When one thinks of John Wayne, they think classic American western, and it's not close. Wayne embodied the classic idealized American male in nearly every role, and audiences couldn't get enough. His career began in 1926 in a series of uncredited roles before finally making it big with 1939's Stagecoach.
Wayne's later work in a string of American western films made him synonymous with the genre in the same way that Clint Eastwood became permanently attached to the spaghetti western genre. His semi-final western role was Rooster Cogburn in the 1975 version of True Grit for which he won a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actor.
1 Liam Neeson (The Revenge Guy)
Liam Neeson has played a wide variety of roles over the years both in campy B-movies and Oscar-winning super-hits. His breakout performance in Schindler's List continues to define his early career, but the actor's career would soon take a different turn.
After starring in the first of the Star Wars prequels, Neeson played a series of gritty revengers beginning with his role as Ra's Al Ghul in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. This would lead into the popular Taken franchise and films like Run All Night, The Commuter, and Cold Pursuit.
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