History Main / MetaCasting

Compare CastingGag (where the actor has a past history with the franchise or other actors), ActorAllusion (a nod to other roles they played), InkSuitActor, RealitySubtext and EnforcedMethodActing.

* George Clooney's character in ''UpInTheAir'' is a charming bachelor with no plans of marriage. The part was specifically written for him.

* ''Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star'' had the main character go for a role in a Rob Reiner film and he was considered perfect for the role in every regard except that he ever had a normal childhood. So he goes off to quickly get a normal childhood. Essentially he is working to invoke this trope InUniverse to get a role.

* JohnWayne in ''The Shootist'' playing an aging gunfighter dying of cancer in a world where he realises he's an anachronism.

* Robert Downey Jr. was cast as ''Film/IronMan'' not only because he is a good actor, but has had problems in the past with drug abuse. That added extra weight to a man who is struggling to redeem himself for past mistakes; a man who is also known for having problems with alcohol.

*** To say nothing of ''AScannerDarkly''.

** EVERYONE in ''AScannerDarkly''.

* ''Memento'' required a SmugSnake type character for the antagonist, so they hired Joe Pantoliano, whose career is virtually nothing but. [[spoiler: Except, of course, that his character is innocent of the crime he's killed for in the film's opening. The role relies heavily on his typecasting to make the audience assume he's the bad guy, when he's the closest thing the protagonist has to a real friend. Virtually anyone but a typecast actor would have given the audience room to doubt.]]

* In TheSookieStackhouseMysteries, Eric Northman is a 6'5" blond-haired, blue-eyed Swede. He is portrayed by the 6'5" blond-haired, blue-eyed Swedish Alexander Skarsgård in TrueBlood.

* ChristpherReeve in his role in ''{{Smallville}}'' as Virgil Swann. The past Superman is telling the current Superman where he came from and who he is. Often considered the CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the show.

* Dennis Farina usually plays cops and mobsters, which maybe isn't surprising considering he was a Chicago police officer for almost 20 years before taking up acting. His ''Law and Order'' character is even mentioned as previously being a Chicago cop.

* AdamWest (but of course) in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' as a washed-up actor who is frustrated that nobody can think of him as anything but his most famous role. Other actors might have been able to portray it better, but no one else could have given it that added level of irony. And then producer Bruce Timm playing the crazy fan in the episode (complete as an InkSuitActor) really hits it home.
** This has become such a thing for Mr. West that [[AdamWesting he has his own page about it.]]

** And his role in ''{{Smallville}}'' as Virgil Swann. The past Superman is telling the current Superman where he came from and who he is. Often considered the CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the show.
* In the third season of ''SlingsAndArrows'', William Hutt's character is enticed out of retirement to play at the New Burbage theater festival while dying of cancer. Hutt himself had several "retirements" from the Stratford Festival (on which New Burbage is based) and died of leukemia shortly after ''Slings And Arrows'' was filmed.

* In ''TheSimpsons [[TheMovie Movie]]'' the role of President Schwarzenegger was "played" by Rainier Wolfcastle, TheVerse's resident NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of ArnoldSchwarzenegger.

*** Yeah and we got Scandinavian double black belt DolphLungdren as Dragon in IV. Rocky LOVES this trope.
* ''{{Undeclared}}'' inverted this trope where the characters' personalities, and even their home city/country, were based on the actors they hired. The DVDCommentary would frequently point out that a recurring actor really did have that kind of slightly-off personality.

* Everyone's favorite goth girl, ''{{NCIS}}'' lab tech Abby Sciuto, has a lot in common with her actress, Pauley Perrette. Not just the tattoos, but the story Abby tells Kate in the first episode, about poking around in an old junkyard being the start of her forensics path, is actually straight out of Perette's life.
** In another example from the same show, Michael Weatherly plays Tony [=DiNozzo=], who comes from a rich family but has been cut off. This is actually true of Weatherly's own family, as his own father cut him off when he dropped out of college and became an actor. Various other bits of his real life history have been used as gags (including how his family made their money and that he was once engaged to Jessica Alba) and Tony's movie references became a character element after a few too many of his ad-libs were movie-based.
** Sean Murry is also almost as much of a geek as [=McGee=].

* In TheSookieStackhouseMysteries, Eric Northman is a 6'5" blond-haired, blue-eyed Swede. He is portrayed by the 6'5" blond-haired, blue-eyed Swedish Alexander Skarsgård in TrueBlood.

* Dennis Farina usually plays cops and mobsters, which maybe isn't surprising considering he was a Chicago police officer for almost 20 years before taking up acting. His ''Law and Order'' character is even mentioned as previously being a Chicago cop.
* On the other side of the law is RobertRodriguez-favorite DannyTrejo, a Mexican ex-con who got into acting after leaving his past behind. As a result of his past, he almost always plays TheBrute-type characters, like in {{Desperado}}, {{Predators}}, FromDuskTillDawn, and most recently, {{Machete}}.

* AdamWesting- Using an actors famous role in a form of self-comedy. ContractualPurity often results in formerly child-friendly actors behaving in very much "family unfriendly" behavior.

The use of Meta Casting is either taking an actor and crafting a role that utilizes their known history or after creating a character they choose an actor who matches the created personality. This often creates a resonance between the performance and the audience that makes the whole thing far more dynamic than it could have been in any other way. Compare closely to AdamWesting, where the actor cannot be known any other way but besides their famous roles. Instead of making fun of themselves Meta Casting instead refines the persona that had been created.

As an example, take an actor who is famous for having altercations with obnoxious tabloid reporters. Take that same actor and cast them in a role of a famous businessman who kills a reporter for harassing him constantly. In some cases the actual role is almost an {{expy}} of themselves, as in they're playing an ''actor'' with a suspiciously similar history.

In many cases this can be AndTheFandomRejoiced: the fans latch on to that resonance and appreciate it.

* ''Memento'' required a SmugSnake type character for the antagonist, so they hired Joe Pantoliano, whose career is virtually nothing but. [[spoiler: Except, of course, that his character is innocent of the crime he's killed for in the film's opening. The role relies heavily on his typecasting to make the audience assume he's the bad guy, when he's the closest thing the protagonist has to a real friend.]]

* R. Lee Ermey started as a consultant for ''FullMetalJacket'' and was eventually cast in the role of DrillSergeantNasty. He was a former Marine, after all.

* Robert Downey Jr. was cast as ''Film/IronMan'' not only because he is a good actor, but has had problems in the past with drug abuse. That added extra weight to a man who is struggling to redeem himself of past mistakes; a man who is also known for having problems with alcohol.

Compare CastingGag (where the actor has a past history with the franchise or other actors), ActorAllusion (a nod to other roles they played), InkSuitActor and EnforcedMethodActing.

** In another example from the same show, Michael Weatherly plays Tony [=DiNozzo=], who comes from a rich family but has been cut off. This is actually true of Weatherly's own family, as his own father cut him off when he dropped out of college and became an actor.
*** Tony wasn't cut off, though, it was in a Trust until he hit 40 or something and even then he had limited access to it. [[spoiler: of course, this changed in the last episode.]]