20 Actors Who People Can Only Ever See As One Character
Being a once-in-a-generation talent can be a double-edged sword. If you play a role too well, audiences will only ever see you as that character. That’s great if you can swing a Law & Order-type series with double-digit seasons, but not so much if your character is, say, a serial killer who gets offed by the final girl in the first installment.
As the fantastically named Redditor SatansMoisture recently pointed out, “For some people, Jim Carrey will always be Ace Ventura because of how popular that movie was,” though for them, “despite the variety of roles that Jesse Plemons has tackled, he will always be the redneck in Paul. … It was a small role, but so memorable to me that I always think about that character every time I see him.”
They then asked r/Movies, “What actor is permanently stuck in your memory as a specific role no matter how many times you’ve seen them in other things?” and Reddit offered up Skywalkers, pie fuckers, and yes, one very short-lived serial killer.
David Schwimmer
David Duchovny
John Krasinski
Robert Patrick
Anthony Hopkins
Timothy Olyphant
Skeet Ulrich
Sam Neill
Danny DeVito
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Chris Pratt
Patrick Stewart
Kathy Bates
Mark Hamill
George C. Scott
Paul Reubens
Bruce Campbell
Ron Livingston
Jason Biggs
Nicolas Cage
