Made For the Role — Typecasting By Voice
Some film characters stick with you long after you’ve left the cinema and have finished talking about it over a nice slice of pie. I know that I am still holding onto my “childhood” dream becoming Han Solo when I grow up.
Other times film characters are merely expressions of the actors who play them. Actors whose mannerisms are so strong that they will be forever doomed to rehash the same character over and over, like a musical group who seems to release the same exact album repeatedly (we’re looking at you Maroon 5).
Taking this theme to an even further degree, there are actors that, through no fault/attempt/effort of their own were just born to play a part. Their little quirks, and in particular their voices, lend them to extremely distinct roles.
Swearing BAMF
Honorable Mention
Pam Grier
Ian McShane
Winner
Samuel L. Jackson
One look at Samuel L. Jackson’s IMDb page yields a list that has more foul language than any Eddie Murphy stand up routine. SLJ’s distinctive, brassy voice is the perfect tone to rattle off swears without abandon. His voice is so well suited for cursing that the only reason most of us went to see Snakes on a Plane was to see Mr. Jackson perform the line included in this video. He is somehow able to take any character and inject his own sense of cool bad-assness, that the character instantly becomes a silver-screen version of himself. Perhaps this is most apparent in his voice-over work for Afro Samurai and Afro Samurai: Resurrection. Samuel L is the coolest blade-wielder since Sonny Chiba and easily smokes more cigarettes. Maybe that’s where he got his distinctive throaty resonance?
The Gangster
Honorable Mention
Joe Pesci
Al Pacino
Winner
Robert De Niro
Ever since his turn as John ‘Johnny Boy’ Civello, in Mean Streets Robert de Niro has been typecast. He has been typecast in an ever-increasing caricature of himself. His Brooklyn, New York Italian accent, squinty eyes and exaggerated faux-frown have become his trademark and he has employed them in over a dozen “different” roles. De Niro’s voice is unique but when it is combined with his look it becomes a highly imitable trademark that makes you think of a 1930’s New York gangster whenever you seen him.
The Leading Man
Honorable Mention
Denzel Washington
Sean Connery
Will Smith
Winner
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise is known for playing Tom Cruise in just about all of his films (Collateral and Magnolia being the two most notable exceptions). That is why I am curious as to why more people don’t talk about Cruise’s voice. It has this boyish, charming tonality that he seldom abandons except for when he is ineptly trying to rustle up an Irish brogue. His voice screams confidence, in a potentially cultish, religious sort of way, but confident nevertheless.
The Cowboy
Honorable Mention
Sam Elliot
Clint Eastwood
Winner
John Wayne
You may not have even seen The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, but chances are you identify the cowboy drawl with John Wayne spouting, “Whoa, take ‘er easy there, Pilgrim”. John Wayne may have tried to branch out and take on roles out of his comfort zone, like this one in The Conqueror where he played Genghis Khan. Is John Wayne really playing the Mongolian warrior or just a cowboy in horrible makeup?
The Creep
Honorable Mention
John Malcovich
Vincent Price
Jack Nicholson
Winner
Peter Lorre
Even if you don’t know who Peter Lorre is . . . well . . . you actually do know who he is! Despite having roles in huge movies like Casablanca, M, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Maltese Falcon, Lorre is much better known for his distinctive creepy voice than any of the roles he played. Several Looney Tunes characters’ voices were molded off of Lorre’s voice, and a host of other strange animated animals like Ren from Ren and Stimpy. Lorre’s strange accent remains a mainstay in media with creepy characters even today.
The Irreverent Weirdo
Honorable Mention
William Shatner
Jeff Goldblum
Nicholas Cage
Winner
Chistopher Walken
Walken may have the most distinctive voice in the world as well as the most distinctive irreverent weirdo voice on this list. His “New York” dialect is fashioned with a distinctive clip that makes him perfect for any role which requires a level of weirdness that can only be achieved by having a voice weirder than Eric Stolz’ face in Mask. Walken supposedly never turns down a role, which only ups the weirdness quotient on his career. Have you ever seen Balls of Fury?!
God
Honorable Mention
James Earl Jones
Winner
Morgan Freeman
If you have any doubts about this, you need to watch Cosmic Voyage in IMAX or the last scene of War of the Worlds. Freeman has an intimidating amount of narrator work on his resume and for good reason. He sounds like a combination of your wise old grandfather and God trapped in a human body.
The Sneaky Villain
Honorable Mention
Huge Weaving
Tim Roth
Winner
Alan Rickman
Listening to Alan Rickman slither around the Harry Potter series makes you wonder if the talented actor could play any other character. Rickman has played a variety of characters throughout his extensive career, but it is really only as the creepy villain that he remains memorable. Can you think of a film of his, offhand, where he isn’t the creepy villain? Hans Gruber in Die Hard, The Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Severus Snape in Harry Potter, Rickman’s silky smooth pipes are perfect for portraying underlying evil.
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(25 votes, average: 2.80 out of 4)
20 responses to Made For the Role — Typecasting By Voice
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James Spader would be my vote for the Creep. He does it so well, and his voice (that pompous “I’m better than you” sound it has) sells it. Like Rickman, do you remember anything he’s done where he wasn’t the biggest d***wad in the room?
Another obvious inclusion is Liam Neeson as the strong father figure:
In The A Team he is the older dignified leader of a group of childlike nutters who loves his team like a family. In Batman Begins he is Bruce Wayne’s mentor who takes him under his wing and raises him into manhood after he loses his parents. In Gangs Of New York he is the honourable father whose death inspires the path to vengeance that grounds the film. In Love Actually he is a widowed father trying to cope with raising his son against the odds. In Narnia he is Aslan, an allegory for Jesus, an avatar of God who is (depending on your beliefs) either the father of humanity or a continued projection of our childlike feelings to our parents once we’ve grown out of the nest. If you want someone to play the main characters dad, cast Neeson.
There is one role that comes to mind for Alan Rickman where he isn’t evil: Galaxy Quest as Alexander Dane.
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Alan Rickman:
Can you think of a film of his offhand where he isn’t a creepy villain?
Yes, Galaxy Quest. He played Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus. A somewhat arrogant, but ultimately nice character and not a creepy villain. Bottle Shock as well, he plays a pompous wine expert.
Another role for Alan Rickman where he isn’t a creepy villian—Sense and Sensibility. He plays a very stuffy, but sweet Colonel. You can’t help but feel sorry for him.
And women?
In further defense of Alan Rickman, he certainly didn’t play a creep in Sense and Sensibility – he was one of the good guys. Albeit in a stiff-upper-lip, jaw-wired-shut sort of way.
Also, how about Robert Downey Jr. as The Iconoclast, a hero who’s always breaking whatever mold he’s expected to fill and annoying even his most ardent supporters. Tony Stark, Charlie Chaplin, Sherlock Holmes … the list goes on.
You missed one on the “God” category: George Burns. He’s a very different god from Morgan Freeman, but he’s the first one I think of.
I take issue with your entry on Alan Rickman. While he, and certainly his voice, are wonderfully suited for villainy, he is equally as winning as likeable characters such as in Trul, Madly, Deeply, Love Actually, Michael Collins, Sense and Sensibility, and Something the Lord Made. And his voice proved equally suited to moroseness as to evil in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Steve Buscemi. He plays the creep & weirdo extremely well, granted he comes in behind Lorre & Walken, but I would put him over the other honorable mentions.
Somehow I think there should be a special Wildcard category for Gary Oldman.
Alan Rickman wasn’t evil in “Dogma”, “Love Actually”, or “Sense and Sensibility”. Gary Oldman, on the other hand…
Ok ok ok, I’ll admit that Alan Rickman probably has a more diverse acting portfolio than I spoke to on this list. Embarrassingly, I didn’t even make the connection between Rickman and Galaxy Quest, which IMHO is one of the most underrated films ever (Don’t I feel sheepish)! I will still defend my choice however, by rehashing that easily his most famous roles are of the sneaky villain. Hans, The Sheriff, and Severus are three of the most iconic villains ever and, while his other work may refute a dearth of range, these three roles basically define his career.
I would like to agree with everyone responding about Alan Rickman and add another movie in which he was very good and NOT a villain. When he played Ed in ” The January Man”. This was my introduction to him as an actor and I thought he was brilliant. When I saw him later in “Die Hard” I didn’t recognize him as being the same actor. Perhaps now his voice is a bit too distinctive but that would be based on the amount of movies that one has seen him in.
What about Steve Buscemi? Kinda creepy
Huge Weaving. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
How about Patrick Warburton for ‘The Idiot’. He’s got a great voice for that.
Tom Cruise isn’t always Tom Cruise. He certainly wasn’t in Eyes Wide Shut, as least that’s what I thought. I also thought he was a hoot in Tropic Thunder, but he was far from the leading man in that movie. In fact, most people don’t even know it’s him at all, until the see his name in the final credits and do a double take! I think he cusses more in TT than in just about all of his other movies combined.
Also, isn’t it spelled Stoltz? Then there is Hugo Weaving… Johnny Depp could be The Iconoclast, too.
Tom Cruise as THE leading man? That’s not even funny. And about God, that’s total typecasting. Personally, I thought Alanis Morisette did an amazing job in Dogma by NOT being all wise-and-beardy. Tons of actors missed, even just in America and England.
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