50 Most Specific Examples Of Movie Typecasting

Angelina Jolie

The Typecasting: A smirking, sexpot adventurer who plays nearby menfolk for fools, and kicks the arses of anyone who doesn't like it.

Examples: Gone In Sixty Seconds, Tomb Raider, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Wanted, Salt, The Tourist

Strangest Specific Detail: Despite her sexual wiles, this character type also seems utterly bored with the attention of the opposite sex. Girl power!

Tommy Lee Jones

The Typecasting: Ageing, grouchy authority figure with his expression permanently set to "seen it all before".

Examples: The Fugitive, US Marshals, Men In Black, Captain America

Strangest Specific Detail: He's never phased, even by the most outlandish of plot developments. No Country For Old Men subverts this, with Jones' sheriff left dumbfounded by Chirgurh's capacity for violence.

Rob Schneider

The Typecasting: A hapless schmuck whose body is drastically altered by a sudden and highly improbable happening.

Examples: The Hot Chick, The Animal

Strangest Specific Detail: This sudden transformation provokes a series of beneficial life lessons, rather than a nervous breakdown. Hooray!

Helena Bonham Carter

The Typecasting: Madly cackling crone, with a power complex and a distinctly barmy wardrobe.

Examples: The Harry Potter Series, Sweeney Todd, Alice In Wonderland

Strangest Specific Detail: A manic cockney accent often completes the picture.

Zooey Deschanel

The Typecasting: Aloofly quirky pixie dream girl, whose main purpose is to help the hero establish just what's missing from his life.

Examples: Yes Man, Elf, 500 Days Of Summer, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Strangest Specific Detail: The combination of indie smarts, snarky quippage and otherworldly beauty, which makes her seem like some form of alien.

Colin Firth

The Typecasting: Lovelorn everyman, bumbling and bungling his way from one romantic misadventure to the next.

Examples: Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, A Single Man

Strangest Specific Detail: All of these characters seem designed to avert what could have been an alternative typecasting as a smouldering romantic lead, following his celebrated turn as Mr. Darcy in Pride And Prejudice .

Ben Stiller

The Typecasting: The arrogant fitness freak who used to be fat and won't let anyone forget about his new physical prowess.

Examples: Heavyweights, Dodgeball

Strangest Specific Detail: The OTT hairstyle. Gym obsessives love big hair, apparently...

Morgan Freeman

The Typecasting: The wise, cuddly old sage with a wry smile and bags of helpful advice for the film's younger hero.

Examples: The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, Bruce Almighty, Million Dollar Baby, The Dark Knight Trilogy

Strangest Specific Detail: An uncanny ability for dispensing life lessons.

Jeff Goldblum

The Typecasting: Hip, slightly jittery scientist boasting a host of idiosyncratic mannerisms.

Examples: The Fly, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, The Lost World

Strangest Specific Detail: Goldblum's scientists are all presented as suave, ladykiller types. Our experience tells us such a character doesn't exist outside of the silver screen.

Michael Cera

The Typecasting: Softly spoken, vaguely pathetic uber-geek, with a fine line in mumbling humour and an eye for the ladies.

Examples: Arrested Development, Superbad, Juno, Youth In Revolt, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Strangest Specific Detail: Despite looking like a baby lamb in the headlights of an 18-wheeler, the character will prove bizarrely irresistible to the opposite sex. Cera gets his leg over nearly every time!