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[Spring-Loaded]

Saw someone say Jaime Foxx was just playing himself in Django Unchained, thought that was bullshit and thought about actors who legitimately do, and not just in one or two roles.

I'd have to say Tom Cruise. There are roles I thought he did a great job in, but he has always seemed like the same person in every movie I've seen him in, just in different circumstances, like "What if this one guy was a general? What if he were a hitman?"

Though I really liked him in Collateral in which he co-stars with Jaime Foxx, interestingly enough (and he doesn't play himself in that role either!).

 

[Salsa]

comedy actors, 99 percent of them

you go see those movies to see that actor doing what he does. It's basically scripted and re-enacted standup

 

[strafer]

Tommy Lee Jones

 

[Esch]

this overrated hack

 

[meltingparappa]

I would have said Tom Hanks (minus "That Thing You Do") until he blew me away in Cloud Atlas. So rare to see someone his age go for it instead of taking the easy way out *cough cough Deniro cough*


DENZEL? Really?
Training Day and Flight are huge counterexamples.

 

[Bombadil]

Myatt Daymin

 

[Salsa]

I would have said Tom Hanks

you are pretty much fucking insane, sir

 

[Phobophile]

Alec Baldwin

I'm convinced he doesn't even attempt to act, he just merely reads the script.

 

[GK86]

Jack Black.
Steve Harvey.
Tracy Morgan.

 

[Majine]

Charlie Sheen?

 

[BannedEpisode]

 

[Camp Lo]

Denzel honestly. But I love him regardless.

 

[equap]

this overrated hack

wow tell us how you really feel.

 

[MrHicks]

morgan freeman

 

[Vilix]

Tom Cruise. Every movie with him in it has nothing to do with the movie. It's all about him.

 

[meltingparappa]

you are pretty much fucking insane, sir

But he's like the modern Jimmy Stewart, inadvertantly charismatic in everything he's in!

(Jimmy Stewart absolutely blew it out of the park in "Rope" though)


Edit from pictures: TOUCHÉ.

 

[evil ways]

Surprised nobody's said Will Smith yet. He practically wrote the book on acting as himself in every movie.

 

[SJRB]

DeNiro.

 

[pakkit]

Does Samuel L. Jackson ever NOT swear at a breakneck pace? Even his character in Django was consistently cursing.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

Alec Baldwin

I'm convinced he doesn't even attempt to act, he just merely reads the script.

Same here brah. Johnny Depp is someone who has become his roles since Edward Scissor Hands. George Clooney.

 

[Salsa]

But he's like the modern Jimmy Stewart, inadvertantly charismatic in everything he's in!

(Jimmy Stewart absolutely blew it out of the park in "Rope" though)


Edit from pictures: TOUCHE.

every role is obviously gonna have some of the actor coming through the cracks, but that doesnt mean he is playing himself.

 

[Camp Lo]

Surprised nobody's said Will Smith yet. He practically wrote the book on acting as himself in every movie.

Why would anyone say Will Smith? His range is fucking incredible. See Ali.

 

[Loofy]

Samuel Jackson

 

[vicissitudes]

Michael Cera.

 

[teruterubozu]

George Clooney is always the same dude.
I like him as an actor, but he never plays someone else.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

 

[TheOddOne]

this overrated hack

Eschaton pls.

 

[Ridli]

Michael Cera.

Yeah he never really stopped being George Michael.

 

[Decado]

As much as I like him...Jason Statham.

 

[Platy]

Jack Black.
Steve Harvey.
Tracy Morgan.

THIS !

How Jack black is NOT every single post is AMAZING.

There is only ONE MOVIE that he is not playing himself !
Dude does air guitar in EVERY SINGLE MOVIE HE HAS BEEN

Why would anyone say Will Smith? His range is fucking incredible. See Ali.

There is "action movie Will Smith" and "drama movie Will Smith". The drama one has a huge range, but the action one is the same role to the point of willsmithifing every action movie he is in

 

[Escape Goat]

Technically true, but these guys aren't hired to act. They're hired for their physicality.

 

[alterno69]

Jonah Hill
Seth Rogen

 

[mxgt]

Michelle Rodriguez is the same character in every movie

 

[The Technomancer]

you are pretty much fucking insane, sir

 

[Vilix]

Samuel Jackson

True. But I don't necesarily count this as a bad thing. And I'm not saying you do either. Tom Cruise on the other hand... Ugh.

 

[Xyphie]

Michelle Rodriguez plays the same character in every movie she's in.

 

[Fry]

Seth Rogen

Came to post this.

Not necessarily a bad thing in his case.

 

[SgtCobra]

this overrated hack

No way sir.
No. Way.


Steven Seagal.. Always Steven Seagal.

I don't think that counts because he isn't "himself" so much as a mary sue fanfic version of himself based on his delusional reality show.

Haha, well maybe you have a point, he's always the same character though. The tough in his movies : the guy who can beat up hundreds of people in a few days.
But yeah what I say doesn't count =

 

[meltingparappa]

Steven Segal.. Always Steven Segal.

I don't think that counts because he isn't "himself" so much as a mary sue fanfic version of himself based on his delusional reality show.

 

[ChocolateCupcakes]

this overrated hack

What? Because Flight is the same as say Training Day. Or Philadelphia is the same Inside Man.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Al Pacino

 

[Az987]

Later years Al Pacino.

 

[t-storm]

Thought Tom Cruise before I even clicked on the thread.

 

[Sobriquet]

THIS !

How Jack black is NOT every single post is AMAZING.

There is only ONE MOVIE that he is not playing himself !
Dude does air guitar in EVERY SINGLE MOVIE HE HAS BEEN

File under "always plays the same character." Jack Black is nothing like his persona. That's the case for most of the actors in this thread, though.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

When he's not stuck in the 60s, he's stuck being himself

 

[Bombadil]

All of these A list actors should take on roles where they play weak, sniveling losers who don't get the girl at the end, who don't save the world, who maybe get shot in the face halfway through, etc.

The reason why they all seem to play themselves in every film isn't because they actually play themselves. It's because they play characters who we sympathize with, that become the focus of the film, and end up succeeding.

I also don't like that most of them have white teeth in the films. Like in that film The Book of Eli, Denzel has white teeth. His teeth should be crummy.

And yeah, Tom Cruise keeps playing the same fucking guy. Jack Reacher, are you kidding me? Tom, you are not Jack Reacher. You are the guy whose face Jack Reacher needs to kick in five minutes into the film. Stop making movies where you're the hero. Remember Lestat, Tom? Interview with the Vampire? That was great. You were a tragic character. A villain.

And Myatt Daymin keeps making movies where his personal political beliefs start to shine through. We get it Myatt. Remember that movie where Myatt Daymin is a total asshole? Courage Under Fire? That was great. He was an anorexic twerp in that film. Go back to that.

You know who is a great actor? Gary Oldman. Gary Oldman has no problem taking small roles. He'll be the sleazy guy when you need him to be. He'll be the father-figure, the cold-hearted spy, the Russian radical, the drug dealer, the rocker, etc. Actually, Oldman plays the crook more often than he should so maybe he's got some thinking to do as well.

Case in point, too many of these A list actors stick to a certain range of character because they're only bankable as those types of characters.

With Keanu, I understand. But these other guys? Come on.

 

[Kak.efes]

Jonah Hill
Seth Rogen

I agree, but is Seth Rogen really an actor? I saw him in an interview recently, and I swear, I think he just plays himself in all the roles he's in.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

I agree, but is Seth Rogen really an actor? I saw him in an interview recently, and I swear, I think he just plays himself in all the roles he's in.

They just give him some weed and then film him.

 

[TabletopTictacs]

Still love the podgy little bastard though.

 

[crazy monkey]

salman khan.