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1An UnbuiltTrope is where the TropeCodifier contains elements that its imitators did not -- and actually reads like a deconstruction of the trope it would eventually be. The same thing can happen for acting, with regards to TypeCasting.
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3Let's take a look at Alice -- a famous actress who is well and truly typecast as a ManicPixieDreamGirl. Everyone goes to see her movies to watch her liven up a brooding guy's life. Except what about her StarMakingRole? She's a Manic Pixie there -- but she doesn't get the guy, she has baggage of her own, and the movie is about making her grow up. So she was PlayingWithCharacterType before it even was her type.
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5Note that this differs from PlayingAgainstType in that the role has to be a) an early performance from the actor and b) is still within their type -- just with a lot of elements that make it seem like they're deconstructing or subverting the character they'd later be typecast as.
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7!!Examples:
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9[[AC:Films--Live-Action]]
10* Creator/DeborahKerr was stuck playing a lot of {{English Rose}}s and ProperLady types in her initial years in Hollywood. The film that got her the attention of Hollywood and led to typecasting? ''Film/BlackNarcissus'' - where she plays a nun who struggles to hold onto her purity and chastity while being tempted by the exotic scenery around her. Essentially it's a 1940s erotic film.
11* Creator/OliviaDeHavilland got stuck playing [[TheIngenue Ingenues]] and good girls after ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''. In that film itself, however, Melanie is significantly less naive than she appears. In fact, her Ingenue qualities are shown as empowering and strengthening to those around her - even the shallow and selfish Scarlett.
12* Creator/VivienLeigh is heavily associated with the SouthernBelle. But both her Belles are deconstructions of the character:
13** [[Film/GoneWithTheWind Scarlett O'Hara]] has been brought up to think of herself as decorative and nothing more. Once the war hits, she's forced to abandon her Belle qualities to save Tara.
14** [[Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire Blanche Dubois]], meanwhile, is in denial of the fact that she's getting on in years and still tries to act like a charming young lady, despite the SanitySlippage she's going through. Vivien was even cast because Elia Kazan's vision was Scarlett O'Hara losing her mind.
15* Creator/PeterCoyote found his niche playing asshole authority figures. In both ''{{Film/ET}}'' and ''Film/TheLegendOfBillieJean'', he's the ReasonableAuthorityFigure. Both were made before ''Jagged Edge'' typecast him as the former.
16* Creator/KateHudson plays a lot of {{Hard Drinking Party Girl}}s and is always [[EveryoneLovesBlondes a beautiful blonde]]. The role that typecast her as such - ''Film/AlmostFamous'' - shows that [[StepfordSmiler her quirky upbeat attitude hides her loneliness and hurt]], and she almost dies of an overdose because of it.
17* Creator/FelicityJones is associated with a lot of {{Brainy Brunette}}s and hyper-competent women of privilege. Her first major role was Ethel Hallow in ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'' - an AcademicAlphaBitch who's also a RichBitch to boot. It's implied that her high marks and vast knowledge come from having ridiculously high standards to live up to.
18* Creator/KeiraKnightley is known as Hollywood's favorite 'corset queen' in period dramas. Before getting cast in any of those, she played SpiritedYoungLady Elizabeth Swann in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' - who becomes an ActionSurvivor, and her lady-like qualities are PlayedForLaughs.
19* Creator/SaoirseRonan in her teen years became one of Hollywood's favorite {{Plucky Girl}}s and heroic Woobies. Her StarMakingRole was ''{{Film/Atonement}}'' - where she's a KnowNothingKnowItAll who ruins a bunch of lives because of her pluck. By the time she TookALevelInKindness and starts on her titular atonement, she's [[TimeShiftedActor played by Romola Garai]].
20* Creator/JohnnyDepp is best known as wacky eccentric oddballs. His first role as such ''Film/EdwardScissorhands'' is far more subdued than the campy OTT characters he would later portray. Edward is TheWoobie who is odd because he's grown up entirely alone with no friends at all - and he's desperate to fit into a society that doesn't want him.
21* Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter would likewise become known for dark nutcases.
22** The first such role she played in ''Film/FightClub'' is done for drama rather than comedy; Marla is a depressed alcoholic who goes to support groups because they're the only way she can feel anything. She's less a villain and more a tragic figure.
23** ''Film/MaryShelleysFrankenstein'' has her start out as a normal woman who [[spoiler: gets murdered by the monster and is resurrected. Upon discovering she CameBackWrong, she opts to kill herself rather than live as a freak]].
24* Creator/MillaJovovich became famous for ActionGirl roles in the ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries'', making her one of the biggest female action stars of the 2000s. However her ''first'' action role - ''Film/TheMessengerTheStoryOfJoanOfArc'' - deconstructs the concept of a NaiveEverygirl being thrust into a war zone. Jeanne suffers SanitySlippage after her first battle and is horrified at what she's taken part in.
25* Creator/AmyAdams was another actress who was stuck as {{Manic Pixie Dream Girl}}s and doe-eyed cuties for years. The two roles that brought her to the attention of Hollywood:
26** ''Film/{{Junebug}}'' has her as a WideEyedIdealist who appears to be in flat-out denial about how disinterested her husband is, and her only hope is that the birth of their child will revive their marriage. [[spoiler: She loses the baby]].
27** ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' has her playing a Franchise/DisneyPrincess forced into New York. While she does work a lot of magic with her sunny attitude, she also has to learn that life is not idealized like a fairy tale and ends the story having found firmer ground.
28** Another role made right after her breakout, ''Film/SunshineCleaning'', shows her as someone who's desperate to appear perfect and wholesome - when in reality she's sleeping with her (married!) high school boyfriend and can't accept her own flaws.
29* Creator/AudreyTautou got typecast as a ManicPixieDreamGirl after ''Film/{{Amelie}}''. But in that film herself, she plays a girl who is given reasons for her odd habits (namely trauma from her mother's death) and she's actually terrified of pursuing her own love interest. [[spoiler: They don't even share the screen until their LastMinuteHookUp]].
30* Before Creator/ChanningTatum became a meathead with the likes of ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' and ''Film/StepUp'', he played around with what would eventually become that image:
31** ''Film/AGuideToRecognizingYourSaints'' shows that he's a meathead because he's grown up in an abusive household and has never been shown any love or kindness. He ends up [[spoiler: going to prison for murder]].
32** ''Film/StopLoss'' has him playing a soldier who, faced with the end of his term, re-enlists because he has no idea how to readjust to civilian life and feels that he's just DumbMuscle and nothing else.
33* Creator/RufusSewell spent the early 2000s playing lots of villains in American films, and usually the RomanticFalseLead too. In his first American film ''Film/DarkCity'' he plays someone who's suspected of being a murderer but [[spoiler: was about to be implanted with a serial killer's personality]]. Also, there's friction between himself and his wife because she had an affair prior to the film's beginning. It's oddly prophetic of his roles in ''Film/AKnightsTale'' and ''Film/TheIllusionist2006''.
34* Creator/BradPitt became known for handsome, charming leading men early in his career. His first major role ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' has him appear charming - but then he steals all of Louise's savings after a one-night stand with Thelma. He's also an AffablyEvil robber.
35* Creator/BruceCampbell is best known for being a comedic badass, based off his work as Ash in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise. But in the first film in the series, Ash starts out as a normal guy who spends a lot of time getting trapped under bookcases and being something of a DistressedDude. Essentially he becomes an ActionSurvivor as opposed to a manly badass.
36* Creator/AnthonyPerkins got typecast as villains after playing Norman Bates in ''{{Film/Psycho}}''. But the thing with Norman was that he started out seeming like a sensitive young man - before being revealed as the major antagonist. [[ItWasHisSled But this twist is lost on modern audiences]].
37* Creator/BlakeLively was known for her MsFanservice and EveryoneLovesBlondes roles early in her career. ''Series/GossipGirl'' - which was her breakout role - has Serena trying to distance herself from the seedier parts of her past, and she's [[SoBeautifulItsACurse a frequent target of attack from other people because of her beauty and status]]. She begins the series as a FallenPrincess but morphs into Blake's usual typecasting around Season 3 or so.
38* Since his rise to the A-list, Creator/ChrisPratt is often featured as a ManChild 'lovable womanizer' archetype.
39** But the role that brought him to the A-list? ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' - where it's shown that Peter Quill's immaturity stems from having to watch his mother die of cancer at a young age, get abducted and grow up in a semi-abusive lifestyle. The franchise itself deconstructs the toxic masculinity in his character - whereas his later roles in ''Film/JurassicWorld'', ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven2016'' and ''{{Film/Passengers 2016}}'' just have him as the ManChild.
40** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' from the same year, the reason why his character Emmett a ManChild is that [[spoiler: he is playing a role in a story created by an ''actual child''.]]
41* Creator/EmilyBlunt is usually a JerkassWoobie or GoodBadGirl. Even when she's a villain, she's given lots of sympathetic qualities. Her debut film? ''Film/MySummerOfLove'' - where the sympathetic qualities (including a sister who died of anorexia) [[spoiler: are all lies made up by her]]. She also seems to love using her trauma [[ItAmusedMe just to toy with people]].
42* Creator/RitaMoreno usually played SpicyLatina roles, most famously in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. Her first role in ''Film/SoYoungSoBad'' addresses issues of growing up as a Latina in a white neighborhood - giving her severe mental health issues.
43* Creator/ChristopherMcDonald is mostly known for playing the platonic ideal of a [[SmugSnake smarmy jackass]] villain, as codified by his role as "Shooter" [=McGavin=] in ''Film/HappyGilmore''. It makes his early role as a genuine NiceGuy in ''Film/{{Breakin|1984}}'' seem very odd in retrospect.
44* Creator/RachelWeisz is frequently the BrainyBrunette and no-nonsense woman of science or some intelligent field. She first got famous as Evey in ''Film/TheMummy1999'' who, while knowledgeable and intelligent, is also highly impulsive, slightly bumbling and struggles to be taken seriously as an intellectual because of this. Notably in ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', Evey has matured and become much more competent - matching her with Rachel's new typecasting.
45* Creator/BruceWillis is famous for his wisecracking tough-guy characters, including the role that put him on the map, John [=McClane=] from ''Film/DieHard''. However, [=McClane=] comes off as a deconstruction of these characters: for all his wise-ass remarks, he's clearly terrified, and he's using his smartassery as a coping mechanism; meanwhile, he takes a serious beating over the course of the movie, and is clearly glad the ordeal's over at the end.
46* In the 2010s, Creator/EmmaRoberts was typecast in villainous {{Alpha|Bitch}} RichBitch roles, especially due to her work on Creator/RyanMurphy's shows. As such, her role as Jill in ''Film/Scream4'', which itself [[PlayingWithCharacterType played with]] her ''previous'' typecasting as a wholesome TeenIdol, doubles as this in hindsight. [[spoiler:She's secretly the villain, a BitchInSheepsClothing AttentionWhore who masterminded the killings as part of a plot to acquire FameThroughInfamy via EngineeredHeroics, and for audiences at the time who knew Roberts mainly as the GirlNextDoor from ''Series/{{Unfabulous}}'' and ''Film/{{Aquamarine}}'', it was as much a shock for them as it was for her older cousin Sidney. Given the above typecasting, however, viewers nowadays are likely to figure out that Jill's the killer long before her DramaticUnmask.]] Joe Reid, [[https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/25/20925479/scream-movies-characters-cast-ranked writing]] for ''Polygon'', referred to it as "the precise moment in time when [[spoiler:''Film/NancyDrew'' Emma Roberts evolved into ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' Emma Roberts]]."

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