History TypeCasting / Actresses

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting. If you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's usually playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[Series/GilmoreGirls abusive/neglectful]] [[{{Series/ER}} mother]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use and has terrible taste in men. Her two most well-known recurring acting roles (that aren't voice-over work) are basically playing the same character.

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting. If you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's usually playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[Series/GilmoreGirls abusive/neglectful]] [[{{Series/ER mother}}]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use and has terrible taste in men. Her two most well-known recurring acting roles (that aren't voice-over work) are basically playing the same character.

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting. If you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's usually playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[Series/GilmoreGirls abusive/neglectful [[{{Series/ER mother}}]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use and has terrible taste in men. Her two most well-known recurring acting roles (that aren't voice-over work) are basically playing the same character.

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting. If you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's usually playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[Series/GilmoreGirls abusive/neglectful [[{{Series/ER}} mother]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use and has terrible taste in men. Her two most well-known recurring acting roles (that aren't voice-over work) are basically playing the same character.

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting. If you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's usually playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[Series/ER abusive/neglectful]] [[Series/GilmoreGirls mother]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use. Her two most well-known recurring acting roles (that aren't voice-over work) are basically playing the same character.

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting; if you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's most often playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[Series/EmergencyRoom abusive/neglectful]] [[Series/GilmoreGirls mother]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use. Her two most well-known recurring acting roles (that aren't voice-over work) are basically playing the same character.

* Kathleen Wilhoite has a very strange and idiosyncratic typecasting; if you've seen her on TV and recognize her, she's most often playing an [[Series/WithoutATrace unstable]], [[{{Series/ER abusive/neglectful}}]] [[Series/GilmoreGirls mother]] [[Series/CriminalMinds who]] [[Series/LawAndOrderSVU often]] struggles with substance use.

** Keira Knightley is giving Kate Winslet her a run for her money through ''Film/PrincessOfThieves'', ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'', ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''Film/{{Atonement}}'', ''Film/KingArthur'', ''Silk'', ''Film/TheDuchess'' and ''Film/AnnaKarenina''. Corset Keira anyone?

* Period Movie: A type of film which features Creator/KeiraKnightley wearing GorgeousPeriodDress and [[MsFanservice occasionally nude]]. She's the plucky main character and is most likely a little ahead of her time. She chose to tweak it slightly when ''Film/{{Atonement}}'' came around as she was approached to play the adult Briony, but chose to play Cecilia instead as she'd "had enough of coming-of-age ladies".
** Keira Knightley is giving Kate Winslet her a run for her money though "Princess of Thieves', "Pride and prejudice", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Atonement", "King Arthur", "Silk", "The Duchess" "Anna Karenina" Corset Keira anyone?

* Creator/JessicaBiel was worried enough about her typecasting as the "[[GirlNextDoor good girl]]" from ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' (which had cost her the lead role in ''Film/AmericanBeauty'') that she [[PublicExposure posed half-naked]] for ''Gear'' magazine (when she [[JailBait was seventeen!]]) in order to shake off that image and get out of her contract on the show. It worked.

-->'''[[http://dlisted.com/2009/08/03/hot-slut-of-the-week-lesley-anne-down/ Michael K.]]''': Lesley plays Jack Wagner's mom on the show even though sheÂ’s only 5 years older than his ass! Most actresses would shank a bitch over that, but Lesley is a true professional and thespian! ...On todayÂ’s episode, Jackie got attacked by a cougar on a photo shoot! A real-life cougar, not the kind that slobbers over young peen.

* Need a runaway, drug addict, hooker, hellraiser, or [[BrokenBird otherwise troubled young woman?]] Taryn ManningÂ’s your gal.

* Marianne Sägebrecht has made a career of being a BigBeautifulWoman romantic lead, with her having a nude scene in most of her roles.

-->'''[[http://dlisted.com/2009/08/03/hot-slut-of-the-week-lesley-anne-down/ Michael K.]]''': Lesley plays Jack Wagner's mom on the show even though she’s only 5 years older than his ass! Most actresses would shank a bitch over that, but Lesley is a true professional and thespian! ...On today’s episode, Jackie got attacked by a cougar on a photo shoot! A real-life cougar, not the kind that slobbers over young peen.

* Need a runaway, drug addict, hooker, hellraiser, or [[BrokenBird otherwise troubled young woman?]] Taryn Manning’s your gal.

* Marianne Sägebrecht has made a career of being a BigBeautifulWoman romantic lead, with her having a nude scene in most of her roles.

* Although her most popular role was as Elliot's mom in ''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'', the rest of Dee Wallace's acting career seems to subsist of that of the victim in various horror films, with ''Film/TheHowling'', ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977'', ''Film/{{Cujo}}'' and the remake of ''Film/{{Halloween|2007}}'' being amoung the most popular. Subverted in ''Film/TheFrighteners'', where she is portrayed as the victim only to [[spoiler: change gears halfway through the film to become the villain)]].

* Characters played by British actresses Creator/ImeldaStaunton and Pam Ferris are often of the JerkAss and/or SadistTeacher variety. See ''Film/HarryPotter'' and ''Film/{{Matilda}}'' for examples.

* Creator/AmyAcker tends to play scientists whenever Joss Whedon casts her - ''Series/{{Angel}}'', ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', with the exception of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', where she played a musician and had the show lasted long enough for her to appear, would have played an actor in ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. When she was cast in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', she played a computer hacker, which is somewhat simpler. Her characters also tend to be a bit on the crazy side.

* Jessica Biel was worried enough about her typecasting as the "[[GirlNextDoor good girl]]" from ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' (which had cost her the lead role in ''Film/AmericanBeauty'') that she [[PublicExposure posed half-naked]] for ''Gear'' magazine (when she [[JailBait was seventeen!]]) in order to shake off that image and get out of her contract on the show. It worked.

* Characters played by Mischa Barton usually tend to end up in relationships with other girls, at least briefly. The same is sometimes true for her [[Series/TheOC OC]] girlfriend Olivia Wilde.

* Courteney Cox has tended to play uber bitch characters, sometimes with a HiddenHeartOfGold, sometimes without. See: ''Film/{{Scream}}'', ''Dirt'', ''Cougar Town'', ''Tomboy'', and her role in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' as examples. Her most [[{{Series/Friends}} famous role]] was even Flanderised into this.
* Joan Crawford had to suffer greatly in whatever film she starred in. Especially if it was made during the 1930s or 40s.

-->'''[[http://dlisted.com/2009/08/03/hot-slut-of-the-week-lesley-anne-down/ Michael K.]]''': Lesley plays Jack Wagner’s mom on the show even though she’s only 5 years older than his ass! Most actresses would shank a bitch over that, but Lesley is a true professional and thespian! ...On today’s episode, Jackie got attacked by a cougar on a photo shoot! A real-life cougar, not the kind that slobbers over young peen.

* Myrna Loy was a classic example; she spent her early career stuck playing evil foreign [[TheVamp vamps]], and then when she [[Film/TheThinMan finally managed]] to get more high-profile parts, she became best known for playing wholesome mother-type roles.

* Kelly Preston seems to usually play the doting mother in family films (e.g. ''Film/JackFrost1998'', ''What a Girl Wants'', ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'', ''Film/SkyHigh2005'', ''Old Dogs'', and ''The Last Song'').

* Julie Walters is always the nanny or otherwise responsible for a [[Film/HarryPotter large group of kids]].

* Creator/ChloeMoretz is the precocious strange girl who is almost always WiseBeyondHerYears (''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'', ''Film/{{Hugo}}''), sometimes engages in TroublingUnchildhoodBehavior (''Film/KickAss'', ''Hick''), and is often somehow connected to the supernatural (''Film/LetMeIn'', ''Film/DarkShadows'', the 2013 ''Film/{{Carrie|2013}}'' and Emily the Strange adaptations).

* Whenever Creator/MarleeMatlin is on screen, the show centers around being deaf. Same goes for Shoshannah Stern.

* Creator/EllenPage is either The Troubled Teen or [[DeadpanSnarker The Smarty Teen]]. Or both. Not that there isn't a lot of range in [[Film/HardCandy those]] [[Film/{{Juno}} roles]]. With ''Film/{{Inception}}'', she breaks new ground playing the smarty college student which is just a bit older than a teenager. Her roles could also be a {{Tomboy}} in general.

* Creator/OctaviaSpencer's three [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]]-nominated roles have been black women working under white people in [[TheSixties 1960s America]]: Minny Jackson in ''Film/TheHelp'', Dorothy Vaughan in ''Film/HiddenFigures'', and Zelda Fuller in ''Film/TheShapeOfWater''. Outside of those, she's almost always the {{black best friend}}.

** In her first starring role as the titular hero/ine of ''Film/{{Orlando}}'', she's an {{Adorkable}} WideEyedIdealist GenderBender who becomes a CoolOldLady whose ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty. In ''Film/MichaelClayton'' she's a DirtyCoward PunchClockVillain.

* Creator/GlennClose doubled down on this one. In the early and mid-1980s, she was nominated for three Oscars playing nurturing, vaguely maternal women (''Film/TheNatural'', ''Film/TheBigChill'' and ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp''). Then, she took the ''Film/FatalAttraction'' part and [[PlayingAgainstType completely U-turned]], getting another Oscar nom as a murderously unhinged mistress. She couldn't get out of ''that'' stereotype for a while, ultimately playing Cruella de Vil in the live-action ''Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', until her recent Oscar nomination for a woman posing as a man.

* Silent movie star Theda Bara was known to play TheVamp, she would do interviews in curtained rooms and be as dramatic as her characters. Sadly she was stuck in the type, she did try to play more wholesome characters like Juliet but they weren't as successful. She did send up her Vamp persona in 2 comedies in the 20s but retired in 1926 Lord knows what Talking Pictures could have done.

* Silent movie star Theda Bara was known to play TheVamp. This didn't bode well for her once silent film fell out of fashion. She was one of the many actresses who fell out of fashion with studios because [[VocalDissonance her voice didn't fit her looks]].

* Creator/MorenaBaccarin's most prominent roles have been oddly specific as "Superhero's Girlfriend." Vanessa, Deadpool's LoveInterest in [[{{Film/Deadpool}} the film version]]. Leslie Thompkins, Jim Gordon's Love Interest in ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' (as well as the real-life fiance of Creator/BenMcKenzie). She's also played Talia al-Ghul (Love Interest to Franchise/{{Batman}}) and ComicBook/BlackCanary (Love Interest to ComicBook/GreenArrow) in several Franchise/{{DCAU}} productions.

** Marlee's role on ''Series/TheWestWing'' was mostly unrelated to being deaf. Sometimes (see also her roles in ''Walker'' [ever wanted to know the American sign language gesture for "Go fuck a pig!"?], ''The Linguini Incident'' and ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'').

* Amy Acker tends to play scientists whenever Joss Whedon casts her - ''Series/{{Angel}}'', ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', with the exception of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', where she played a musician and had the show lasted long enough for her to appear, would have played an actor in ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. When she was cast in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', she played a computer hacker, which is somewhat simpler. Her characters also tend to be a bit on the crazy side.