Playing Against Type Quotes

It'll be interesting to see if I ever have to play a typical, bland romantic interest. I'm quirky, and playing it kind of straight and bland doesn't interest me a whole lot.

Am I being typecast as a horrible person? I don't know. I don't think so. But if it happens, I'd rather get to play that, because there's nothing fun about being sweet. Sweet can be so boring, so I'd be happy staying away from that.

I'm stunned that people keep asking me to play characters I didn't expect to play.

Even in comedy, I'm always the straight guy, which is okay because that's a skill. But it would be nice to get out of that box.

In other ways, you constantly have to change people's opinion of you as one thing, especially if you want to play different roles. You have to shatter that image sometimes. I've had to do it before with stage roles, to get roles. I'm drawn to kind of darker, misfit things. I would like to, especially in film, play against type and do some heavier stuff. I'm intrigued by projects that deal with problematic people and things.

I've always played nice guys, so I'd love to be someone that creates a bit of confrontation. I know that sounds bad, but as an actor, I want to explore different things.

I've always been cast in authority roles; I think because I have that presence... Comedically, I can play against that pretty well. I enjoy playing that arrogant ignorance. That's one of my favorite games to play in comedy.

There comes a point when you've exhausted your opportunities playing good guys. I've been around long enough, I think I'm entitled to explore a bit. But what I saw there was an opportunity to play a character different from what the audience's expectation was. A chance to take their crude experience of me - of my iconography, if you will - and turn it on its ear at an appropriate juncture in the film to be useful to the process of telling the story.

After many of years of getting cast in sweet, angelic roles, I'm finally getting to play closer to my real life as a horrible person.

If an actor or actress is recognizable, that changes our perception of them. Sometimes you can play against type, or you can just repeat what they've already done. It can be an obstacle; it's a very fine line.

You have to be brave and not always play likeable people. It's difficult, because there's a demand for the hero or heroine to be very likeable.

I don't know if I am cut out to playing a bad character or not - I really should give it a shot. I would like to play the voice of a baddie, but that's really just a cop-out!

I do like to play people I wouldn't want to spend five minutes in a room with.

I can be really silly, but I never get to do that. I'm always playing on-the-nose characters, professionals - lawyers, a serious news anchor, people with a really focused energy, which can become a cliched type.

I would love to just continue playing characters that break the mold. I like making interesting decisions when playing characters, so, taking something that would seem one way and then playing it a different way.