Whether it’s because they don’t have the range of Sean Penn or Meryl Streep, or they do but Hollywood just hasn’t given them the chance to prove it, a lot of actors—who shined playing a particular part—end up in that same role for what seems like their entire career. It’s called typecasting—a dirty word in the world of acting.
However, some performers appear to be quite satisfied being linked to a certain type of character and have carved out a niche for themselves, making them the go-to when the movie requires a bohemian chick, mafioso, world-weary detective, or ditsy secretary. (Bet while you were reading that list, familiar names of those who consistently play these parts popped into your head.) Here are some of the actors and the roles they seem born to play and play them so well we can’t get enough.
10 Jason Statham: The Secret Agent
We thank director Guy Ritchie, who first cast the actor as Bacon in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels as well as Snatch, for giving the fiancé of supermodel Rose Huntington-Whiteley the career as a secret agent, rogue agent, assassin, and transporter where he drives, punches, shoots, and delivers one-liners in a clipped British accent.
You know his work from some pretty heavy franchises: Mechanic, Transporter, The Fast and the Furious, and The Expendables as well as The Meg, The Italian Job, and Spy with Melissa McCarthy.
9 Leslie Mann: The Daffy Mom/Wife
Mrs. Judd Apatow (the couple, who has two daughters Iris and Maude, met on the set of The Cable Guy) is sometimes married on-screen to Paul Rudd, often typecast himself as the adorable, yet too irresponsible to be a husband, man-child.
The actress has grown comfortable in the role of the supportive wife/mother who whines a lot because her husband is cheating (The Other Woman), her husband is a disappointment (17 Again), or just because she is dissatisfied with the whole wife/mother thing in general (This Is 40).
8 Morgan Freeman: The Mentor
Nothing says gravitas like MF. He's so often cast opposite younger actors (except in Driving Miss Daisy) and goes through the whole movie sporting a facial expression that says, "Oh, they know not what they do." So, with an avuncular hand on his mentee's shoulder, Mr. Free-mansplains.
Look, it's Morgan being Morgan showing the ropes to Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption, Brad Pitt in Se7en, and Ashley Judd in High Crimes. Lest we forget when he descended from the heavens to guide the likes of Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty and Steve Carrell in Evan Almighty.
7 Michelle Rodriquez: The Tough Chick
She shows up on the screen with guns blazing - literally. And when there are no guns or explosives handy, she'll just kick and punch to make her point. Her M.O. can be seen in the power-packed Girlfight, The Fast and Furious franchise, Resident Evil, Battle: Los Angeles, Machete Kills, and Avatar to name a few.
“Throughout my 15-year career, I’ve always had this battle. I represent this specific demographic: Tomgirls. You don’t have a lot of them in Hollywood, and audiences respect that. I need to represent those little girls or women who think I’m cool.”
6 Dennis Farina: The No-nonsense Cop (Or Criminal)
When he retired from the Chicago Police Department, the one-time real-life lawman started doing on-screen what he used to do on the streets. Catching the perp and solving the case.
He brought his "you've got the right to remain silent" moves to Crime Story, Law & Order, Manhunter, Out of Sight, and The Mod Squad. Then for a change of pace, he'd play the same "you talkin' to me" character on the other side of the law as a gangster in Snatch, Get Shorty, and Midnight Run.
5 Zooey Deschanel: The Kookie Girl
When casting directors get a call for a dreamy, quirky woman-child (with a touch of manic-pixie thrown in for good measure) who needs to show her jaded love interest that life is full of wonderment, guess who they call? It also helps that Zooey Deschanel's affectation is playing the ukulele.
Like an elusive sprite (think: Tinkerbell), whoever is romantically involved with her character needs to appreciate his time with her because soon she'll be off on gossamer wings as in 500 Days of Summer, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Elf as well as The New Girl.
4 Danny Trejo: The All-Around Badass
If you met him on the street and he asked for the correct time, you'd probably wet your pants. So it is not a stretch to believe Hollywood constantly and consistently turns to Dan the Man when they need someone whose mere presence makes the audience gasp and the movie's protagonist mutter under his breath, "Here goes nothin'."
He is grizzled and tattooed, and throughout his career, he has played to the hilt the henchman, the criminal, the street fighter, and generally the guy who could kill you with his pinky, as in Machete, Bad Ass, and Quentin Tarantino's From Dusk Til Dawn to name a few.
3 Jason Bateman: The Straightman
This guy is a triple threat: wit, timing, and he's adorable. No one delivers the perfect comeback zinger like this guy. Whether he's light comedy like Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses, or Identity Theif, or a dark drama such as Ozark, the straight-faced, boyishly handsome, award-winner always has you saying, "Wish I'd said that."
OK, so he doesn't exactly lose himself in the roles he plays which are so often exactly the same guy with a new name and different color shirt, but so what? That's the beauty of Jason.
2 Patrick Dempsey: The Heartthrob
McDreamy indeed, whether he's playing the neurosurgeon or not. (He played the role on both Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.)
Even as he gets older, this dreamboat keeps getting leading man roles where he steals the hearts of A-listers like Reese Witherspoon (Sweet Home Alabama), Amy Adams (Enchanted), Michelle Monaghan (Made of Honor), Jennifer Garner (Valentine's Day) and Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Baby). To think in the 1980s he played the nerd who couldn't get a date in Can't Buy Me Love.
1 Christoph Waltz: The Villain
He is so good at playing bad. Sometimes he's pure evil, like the Nazi officer SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglorious Bastards, and sometimes he's your basic cold-hearted husband as in Water for Elephants and Big Eyes, but the charming yet creepy character that has become his trademark has earned the actor two Oscars.
Both for Quentin Tarantino movies: the aforementioned WW2 flick and Django Unchained where he played bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz. Oh yes, and remember when he starred as Blofeld in the James Bond film Spectre? Chills.