The 10 Most Typecast Actors of All Time

There are countless actors and actresses who get pigeonholed into one type of role for the entirety of their career. Check out the most typecast actors.

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Complex Original

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The best actors in film are often known as chameleons. They adapt to any role and play it to great acclaim without repeating themselves. Actors and actresses like Gary Oldman, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, and Daniel Day-Lewis are the best modern examples of artists who can play virtually any part at any time. But for every chameleon working in film today, there are countless actors and actresses who get pigeonholed into one type of role for the entirety of their career.

These actors recycle their performances over and over, and while they can achieve some success doing this, it ultimately weakens their legacy. Next to not working at all, or being known as one of the worst actors, being typecast is most actors' biggest fear.

In the new crime drama Killing Them Softly, Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini play mob-connected criminals yet again (a thieving poker game host and an alcoholic hit man, respectively), joining the film's more diversified star, Brad Pitt. Both men have repeatedly played psychotic gangsters or police officers during their careers, but they’re not even the most typecast actors. For those, see The 10 Most Typecast Actors of All Time.

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Written by Jason Serafino (serafinoj1)

10. Jennifer Aniston

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9. Michael Cera

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8. Christopher Lee

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7. Steve Buscemi

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6. Helena Bonham Carter

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5. Samuel L. Jackson

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4. Christopher Walken

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3. Peter Lorre

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2. Morgan Freeman

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1. John Wayne

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