When I talk to actors about their favorite types of characters to play, I always get a multitude of answers.
However, there is always a common thread. Just about everyone likes to step outside of their comfort zone and play a character that goes against their nature and against their “type.”
It’s fun and provides variety, the spice of life.
What most actors fail to realize is that playing against type can actually be a death sentence to your acting career.
But, if you play your cards just right, it can quickly send your career skyrocketing to levels you never imagined.
So, while it’s a lot of fun and most actors pursue roles that go against type daily, you have to be sure to do a few key things so it doesn’t backfire on you.
If you want to be a professional actor and go to the next level in your career, this could be the thing that gets you to where you want to go faster than just about anything else.
Here’s why...
Playing against type allows you to showcase a wide range of your talent, within a single project, and it can be incredibly helpful if you want to break out of a character type and move into a new category.
For example, just a few years ago John Krasinski wouldn't even be in the conversation for action movies.
He was always cast as the “do gooder” type that was unlikely to ruffle any feathers.
He made a name for himself in that category and took the next steps, to move out of the “do gooder” category, very well.
After teaming up with Michael Bay on 13 hours, a military action film, he proved that he was able to play against type.
Actors who can do this convincingly are a favorite amongst top level directors and they typically have their pick of the best projects and most interesting characters.
CDs love casting actors against type because when they pull it off, they deliver incredible, Oscar worthy performances.
Why?
Because great characters are dynamic and to convincingly pull off going from one extreme to the other, your true nature has to come through at some point.
A jerk can't be a jerk 100% of the time. The character wouldn't evolve through the story if he were.
At some point he must show some vulnerability, compassion, or other emotions that change things up. John Krasinski was able to move into action movies, against type, convincingly because he tapcan tap into the “do gooder” nature on set to layer his characters.
For example, in the series Jack Ryan, he plays an intelligence analyst that is assigned to “desk duty.” When he is reluctantly pulled into the field, he often shows a lot of apprehension, second guessing every move, and even jumping at loud noises.
The first time, he even holds a weapon, the fear that he feels is palatable as he fumbles with it.
World Class actors layer their characters by including a small piece of their "type" that sits at the core and influences their character choices.
They then pull at that thread, when the scene calls for it.
So, when you pull at the thread that connects back to your true nature it's a powerful and moving experience for the audience because it's extremely authentic.
That’s the mark of a remarkable actor.
For those that are able to successfully pull off playing against type, what typically happens is that they find themselves playing in their new type for some time and start the process all over again.
A small percentage of those actors can slip into the next category because it’s a natural progression. They become the top 1% of the 1% of actors.
For example Don Cheadle has almost always played a character with an edge, but he never went fully in action hero mode until he was cast in the Avengers.
It made sense for him to go into the action category as Capt. Rhoades in the Avengers franchise. When you look at his career and body of work, he becomes the obvious choice, since he often plays characters that are the reluctant hero or the reluctant action takers.
Rhoades is a military man that doesn’t want to be one of the Avengers. He is satisfied with being a military liaison, until his hand is forced and he has no choice but to join the ranks of the Avengers.
A deep sense of patriotism and responsibility leads him there.
This is true in another of his iconic films, Hotel Rwanda. He plays a hotel manager that is thrust into the center of a civil war that he wants no part of. However, that same sense of responsibility that most of his characters display, he can’t sit idly by and takes action to protect people.
That film served as the bridge between playing characters with an edge and playing a full blown action hero.
It was a brilliant career move, and something that is almost always missing when actors try to play against type of move into a different category. Sometimes, they try to take too big a leap one time.
Most recently, you saw this with Kevin James. He’s very talented and he actually performed very well in the film “Becky.”
It goes completely against type for him and he did a phenomenal job in the movie. However, seeing him go from being “Paul Blart Mall Cop” to a murderous neonazi in one leap was too much of a shock.
Audiences often don’t know how to feel about the new you, when they have been accustomed to feeling a different set of emotions when watching you perform.
The same happened to Ed O’neill and he was even recast in a project when trying to make the leap from comedy to drama in the 90s, after wrapping Married With Children.
Of course most actors won’t have to worry about that until down the road.
The most immediate thing is to establish yourself in a category, master it and then move on to the next.
We’ll go into that in more detail next time.
For now, what I want you to consider is your starting point. If you want to stick with playing your type. Great! Go for it.
If you decide you want to start by playing against type, you now know just how powerful it can be and how to do so effectively.
No matter at what stage you are in your career, it can be a powerful next step.
Whether you have an extensive body of work to reference or whether you are just starting out, Casting Directors and industry decision makers will want to know that you can deliver on set.
Playing against type, can take a lot out of you so before making a decision they will want to look at your industry reputation to make sure you won’t drop the ball on set. I created this to help you be sure your reputation is in good shape.
If you’re on the fence about which way to go, with type or against type, try out both ways and see what you prefer.
The most important thing is to get out there and build relationships with Casting Directors and industry decision makers. They tend to have project “types” they cast for also, so it’s important for you to go deep into a given category.
Again, we’ll go deeper into this topic next. For now, remember that you have to be highly visible to the industry if you want them to cast you.
Give yourself every advantage possible to be successful. Ironically that goes against type for most actors since nearly everyone in the industry tells you that you have to “pay your dues.”
While there is some truth in that. It doesn’t mean that you have to make things harder on yourself than they have to be. Using things like this can make building your acting career easier and faster.
Use it to help your career get to the next level.
So what do you think grasshopper? Are you going to go with type or against type? Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email.
If you're undecided and want to bounce ideas, I’m happy to help with that as well because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott