When a movie is perfectly cast, it’s supposed to be a good thing.
Casting agents and directors search to the ends of the earth to find the right actor.
One that will fulfill a specific vision, and maybe, if they’re lucky, become the icon
of a franchise.
But all good things must come to an end.
And sometimes the actors become so synonymous with their roles, that it can be hard to see
them as anything else.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Famous Actors Who Can’t Escape Their Most Iconic Roles.
Mark Hamill Star Wars did amazing things for Mark Hamill’s
career.
His portrayal of Luke Skywalker is beloved by legions of people all over the world.
But after 1983, the actor was getting bored.
Being offered similar roles was frustrating for the Jedi, but he soon found his footing
behind the camera.
Hamill has done a ton of voice acting since.
Most notably as Batman’s Joker, both on television and in video games.
Working offscreen was a smart move, because as soon as viewers see his face, he becomes
Luke Skywalker again.
He can’t have hated the character too much, though.
Since he came back to the franchise for 2015’s The Force Awakens.
Robert Pattinson Robert Pattinson hated the Twilight franchise.
And says that while reading the script for the first time, he came out of the experience
feeling pretty apathetic about the whole thing.
In interviews, he made fun of the books, the author, and the loyal fans.
But he took the most jabs at his own character, Edward Cullen.
Maybe he thought that if he ragged on the material first, it wouldn’t hurt so badly
when the critics did.
Whatever the case, Pattinson has been struggling ever since to get the sparkles off his skin.
And if he can’t, the character he hates most will become the only one people remember.
If it hasn’t already.
Sean Connery For a lot of people, Sir Sean Connery was
the perfect James Bond.
And after many different versions of the character, the original remains the favorite today.
But according to the actor himself, the love is not mutual.
Connery has been vocal about the degree to which he despises the legendary British spy.
Even though it was the start of a long-lasting career in Hollywood, he thought the movies
quickly started to become parodies of themselves after Dr. No.
The actor started donating his Bond paychecks to charity.
Maybe as a way to compensate for all the negativity he thought the movies promoted.
Movies which are still beloved to this day.
Sharon Stone People will spend unspeakable amounts of money
to make themselves beautiful.
But for Sharon Stone, her appearance was an obstacle.
The actress’ career took off after the release of Basic Instinct in 1992.
Where she played the super-sexy Catherine.
But she quickly became frustrated at the roles she was being offered after that.
Sensing that filmmakers wanted to sculpt her into a generic sexy blonde archetype, she
started to look elsewhere.
And what she found was Martin Scorsese.
The legendary director chose Stone for the role of Ginger in 1995’s Casino.
And her career began a different trajectory.
The actress is now pretty iconic.
Too bad that wasn’t enough to save her from Catwoman.
Thomas F. Wilson You might not recognize his name, but you’ll
definitely recognize his face.
Thomas F. Wilson played mega-bully Biff Tannen in Back to the Future.
The actor believes his face is so recognizable, that he’s at the point where he carries
around flyers with answers to popular questions he gets asked.
So when excited Biff fans approach, they leave with a handout instead of a conversation.
After playing the same character four different ways, it’s easy to see why the actor is
sick of the attention.
He probably wants to spend some time in his own head for a change.
Which is hard to do with a pocket full of flyers.
Hayley Joel Osment If you’re a filmmaker looking to take your
horror film to the next level, put a child at the center of the plot.
Chances are, it will become exponentially more terrifying.
M. Night Shyamalan knows this, and with The Sixth Sense, he proved it.
When scary things happen to innocent kids, it makes the audience’s experience all the
more gut-wrenching.
As Cole Sears, a young Haley Joel Osment became the poster-child for one of the most over-quoted
lines of movie dialogue in existence.
(“i see dead people”) But after the film’s success, fans had difficulty separating the
actor from his breakout role.
And his career lost momentum.
Elijah Wood The Lord of the Rings series has been captivating
minds since the first book was released in 1954.
So it’s had quite some time to build a fanbase.
When adapting a book for the big screen, there’s a high probability that most of the existing
fans will still prefer the book.
It’s an uphill battle from the get-go, but when director Peter Jackson released his take
on the story in the early 2000’s, the response was definitely positive.
Audiences were wowed by the stunning visuals of the trilogy, but it’s real strength lies
is in the casting.
As a matter of fact, Elijah Wood was so perfect for the role of Frodo Baggins that he took
every far-flung role that came after it.
He figured that if he performed in all genres, then he couldn't be trapped by one.
Arnold Schwarzenegger For a lot of people on this list, their most
iconic role turned out to be the kiss of death.
And then there’s Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A man who’s not trying to shake his label at all.
James Cameron cast the Austrian bodybuilder as the Terminator in 1984, and he hasn’t
looked back since.
The actor has even reprised his role as the T-800 in most of the movies that followed.
For the most part, Schwarzenegger just goes with the badass cyborg image.
And it turns out the complaints he has about the franchise have mostly to do with Terminator
Salvation, a project he was not actually a part of.
John Travolta Depending on who you ask, disco was either
the golden age of music, or a stain on history.
Wherever you stand on the issue, you’ll have a hard time keeping your feet still while
watching Saturday Night Fever.
The 1977 ode to disco follows a young man who can tear it up on the dance floor.
And with original music by The Bee-Gees, the movie is an unforgettable one.
John Travolta stars as Tony, and audiences haven’t been able to forget his moves- nor
do they want to.
After Tony clears the other dancers off the floor he discos his little heart out.
The actor has danced a lot since, too.
Just not on a light-up floor.
Daniel Radcliffe JK Rowling has said it herself; Daniel Radcliffe
was the perfect Harry Potter.
Thats high praise coming from the person who created the character.
The boy who lived had some pretty big shoes to fill.
Holding your own in an ensemble cast made of Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and Ralph
Fiennes, is not something just any old muggle could do.
Unfortunately for Radcliffe, he did a little too well, and has had difficulty shedding
the label.
To try and avoid being typecast, the actor turned to plays, and landed a role that required
full-frontal nudity.
Which shocked a lot of people, since he was only 17 at the time.
All of this could have been avoided if polyjuice potion was real.
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any other famous actors who can’t escape their most iconic role?
Join the discussion in the comments below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more
videos like this one.