I know that actors and actresses always claim that they fear being typecast because they want to stretch their emotional limits or explore their psyches through their characters or whatever nonsense they’re spouting now. Some actors and actresses can pull off a variety of characters (classic example: Meryl Streep), but unfortunately, most can’t. See, e.g., Tom Cruise (plays “Tom Cruise” in every movie), Meg Ryan (one-note), Julia Roberts (don’t try to feed me some bullshit line about her “amazing” portrayal of Erin Brockovich).
I’m not really that fussed about typecasting the Tom Cruises of the world – in fact, the fewer movies he is allowed to ruin, the better (see Valkyrie). No, I feel guilty about the actors and actresses who did such an amazing job in whichever performance of theirs that I saw first that I will forever remember them as that character. Biggest example for me – Lilly Ka–I mean Amanda Seyfried. Her delivery of “I’ve got a secret – a good one” from Veronica Mars is burned in my memory, but she was totally different – and equally great – as Karen the ditz in Mean Girls and as Sarah Henrickson, eldest child from a polygamous family, in Big Love. I dislike Catherine Hardwicke as a director because of the frantic overemoting she loves to capture on film, but I’d see her upcoming Red Riding Hood just because Lilly Kane is in the lead role.
I mean, Amanda Seyfried is in the lead role.
christinedepizan
