Ticket 2 Ride

Stay in your lane or plow new ground? Play a familiar type of character and risk typecasting, or take a gamble? Actors who take very different roles, against their image or type, run the chance of not being accepted by audiences or risking their careers. Sometimes it’s an offer they can’t refuse, an opportunity to work with someone they admire, or simply what’s offered.

Leslie Nielsen took a role in a comedy. So did Arnold Schwarzenegger. Michael Keaton put on a cape. Sandra Bullock took a role in an action film driving a bus. Mike Myers as a love guru? That didn’t work out so well. John Travolta in a sci-fi film? That’s didn’t either. Alicia Silverstone, George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell in capes? How could that fail?

Let’s take a look at a few actors that took the risk, and the result.

Steve McQueen, The Thomas Crown Affair. McQueen didn’t play squeaky clean charters, usually. Here he plays a very refined and stylish thief. Not much action, or even dialogue in this film. McQueen in a tailored three-piece suite in a Rolls Royce. McQueen’s star was never brighter, he went on to make big and small films, until he lost his battle with cancer.

Kevin Costner, A Perfect World. An escaped murderer. Costner took a major career detour in Clint Eastwood’s film. Costner made his character unsympathetic, but interesting. Costner would occasionally play villains, like Mr. Brooks. Costner’s career hasn’t had successes and failures, but he’s survived and thrived.

Kurt Russell, Dark Blue. Russell, who enjoys played flawed characters, plays a very dirty cop, who robs and kills. His world is collapsing on top of him. Russell would go on to play the despicable stuntman who enjoys killing women with his car, until the table is turned on him. Russell, like Kris Kristofferson, has the ability to portray dark, soulless characters that are disarm with a chilling smile. Russell’s career hasn’t slowed down, now in his 70s, he works when he wants to.

Harrison Ford, Patriot Games. Ford took over the Jack Ryan role from Alec Baldwin and substantially changed the character from the books. Baldwin couldn’t come to terms and Ford offered much greater box office potential. Ford made a Jack Ryan sequel and continued his box office supremacy.

Johnny Depp, The Lone Ranger. This film actually lists writers in the credits! Watching Depp as Tonto was excruciatingly painful. Enough said. Depp’s career began to cool off.

Paul Newman, Road to Perdition. A crime boss in a violent film. Newman played the part with depth and sadness, his character knowing that some decisions were wrong. Newman liked flawed characters, but this was a major departure. Newman worked only when he wanted to and chose his roles.

Tom Hanks, Road to Perdition. Hanks also takes an unlikely role. A hit man who mourns the murder of his family, seeking revenge while staring down his own mortality. A difficult film to watch. Hanks didn’t play against type often; he didn’t expect giant hits every time and I doubt that was his thinking here.

James Garner, Twilight. Garner didn’t always play the warmest of characters, and in this case played the villain, who meets a violent end. He was very good in the role, but he still played more sympathetic characters going forward.

Sean Connery, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A paycheck. Connery’s last film, a project he didn’t understand or like. He walked through the role. Connery continued voice-over work, but he retired to play golf.

John Wayne, The Conqueror, playing Genghis Khan. Rumor has it that Wayne really wanted this part. I can’t think of a worse casting decision. He didn’t veer very far from his traditional roles in the future.

Humphrey Bogart, Sabrina. Refined, stylish and urbane. That’s Bogart’s character. He has the least flashy role in the film. Bogart would make a lot of films in the few years he had left.

Spencer Tracy, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Tracy plays a police official who tracks stolen money in a wild, physical comedy. His character decides to keep the recovered money instead of turning it into. Tracy lent star-power, but little else in this role. He was toward the end of his life and didn’t particularly look well. Tracy made a couple of more films before his death.

Henry Fonda, Firecreek. Fonda leads an outlaw gang that takes over a town. James Stewart is the reluctant sheriff who must take action. Fonda played Frank James in two earlier films, so he had precedence for being an outlaw, but he wasn’t totally bad. He would soon step into the role of a sadistic killer in Once Upon a Time in the West. Fonda made quite a few films in his remaining years and they were pretty diverse.

Charlton Heston, The Three Musketeers. Cast as Cardinal Richelieu, Heston seemed to revel in a villainous character out to increase his own power at the expense of the king. Heston rarely played villains, too bad, he was quite good. Heston was in the midst of a string of sci-fi and disaster films, and then slowed down making films to paint and work with the NRA.

James Caan, Chapter Two. Caan playing a role Neil Simon wrote about his own relationship with co-star Marsha Mason. Caan can play comedy (Freebie and the Bean), but not light comedy. He looks lost. Caan kept working, but not so many romantic lead type roles.

Gene Hackman, Loose Cannons. I don’t know how big the paycheck for Hackman to accept this terribly written film. Hackman could play comedy, if the part had substance. Here, he just looks lost, like he’s trying to find an exit. Hackman kept doing comedies, but they were better ones.

Meryl Streep, Falling in Love. I used to really like this film, but I’ve since reconsidered. Neither Streep or Robert De Niro have any spark or chemistry in this film. It’s like they are both in a deep trance. Streep went on to win another two dozen Academy Awards.

Geena Davis, Cutthroat Island. Gena Davis is a fine actor, but putting a $100M film on her shoulders as the star was a horrible expectation. The film was terrible and pirate movies were incredibly risky, especially for a female heroine. This bomb sank Carolco Pictures. Davis’ career never quite recovered from his bomb, which wasn’t her fault. Her marriage to the film’s director didn’t survive either.

Sofia Coppola, Godfather Part III. Coppola proved she is not an actress, but glad she transitioned to directing. Her daddy should have known better for casting her in the major role. Part III is forgettable. Coppola turned to directing and thrived.

Kate Capshaw, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Capshaw is a fine actor, but I didn’t see what her future husband (Steven Spielberg) saw in her for this important character. Chemistry with Ford. None. Capshaw worked selectively and married Spielberg.

Denise Richards, The World Is Not Enough. A nuclear scientist? Yeah, right. She earned her worst supporting actress Razzie. Frankly, the James Bond series was running out of steam. Her profile increased, but not her acting career. She makes a lot of money on OnlyFans website where she reported makes $2M a month.

Andie McDowell, Four Weddings and a Funeral. The lone American major character in the film. Not believable as suddenly realizing her true feelings for the Hugh Grant character. Maybe it’s her limited range, but next to Grant she’s a mannequin. McDowell had a string of high profile films, then switched over to television.

William Hurt, Michael. Hurt was a fine dramatic actor, but had limited romantic range. He wasn’t convincing as a man who stopped being self-absorbed and projected real caring about the Andie McDowell character. Everyone was miscast in this film. Hurt was an enigma. So much talent and missed opportunities. Remembered as a fine actor, less so by the women in his life.

Tom Cruise, Jack Reacher films. Cruise did an admirable job, particularly in the action scenes, but he didn’t fit the physical dimensions of the character. Long-time fans of the books had trouble accepting Cruise in the role. Cruise remains on top of the acting world.

Clint Eastwood, Paint Your Wagon. Nope. He can’t sing, the entire film was a disaster. Whatever happened to his Clint Eastwood fella?