Actors who only play themselves

Lauren Bacall

I really like her a lot, but Julia Roberts is one of those, I think.

Will Smith. Definitely Julia Roberts, r2.

I like her, but Reese Witherspoon.

And they always get the most praise, just for playing a sober, boring version of themselves.

If you can't play character roles, then you can't act.

Suzanne Pleshette

KStew

Those are “movie stars,” not actors.

Will Smith as Will Smith as....

Clooney

Stallone

Harrison Ford - complete empty vessel.

The 'Great Kate' who was so great at playing herself. Always the hyper intelligent maverick fighting for the side of right !

Clooney only plays "The Voice of Reason."

Natasha Lyonne

Paul Lynde.

Jim Parsons.

Spencer Tracy

Jimmy Stewart

Cary Grant

Gary Cooper

John Wayne

JLO

Did someone call me?

Charlie Sheen

Zsa Zsa Gabor

Eva Gabor

Rooney Mara. She has the same blank stare and dead eyes in everything she's in. Awful!

Jennifer Aniston

Charo

Julie Andrews

Hayley Mills

Audrey Hepburn

Liam Neeson

(The first three, even when playing Americans, always sounded like someone from 'anotha lahnd.;)

Since I don't know any actors in real life, I don't know if they play themselves. But there are some who are the same in every single fucking movie:

DiCaprio (since The Beach, he used to be more versatile)

de Niro

Natalie Portman

Johnny Depp (I'd say he also used to be more versatile in his early years)

All those 'rom-com queens' (Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Drew Barrymore...)

They either play themselves OR they have one single 'on screen persona' that they switch on when the cameras are rolling.

Adam Sandler!! Holy fucking shit he's lucky.

Meg Ryan

Ellen Page

Diane Keaton plays the same neurotic character in every movie.

I still can't believe she got an Oscar nomination for SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Whether it's Elaine Benes, Christine Campbell or Selina Meyer, she's just playing herself. Truly a one trick pony despite all the hype.

Once you get past the incessant adolescent potty mouth, there was actually very little humor in "Veep."

Winona Ryder

Ben Affleck.

Jew Crew : Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco and Jonah Hill.

Woody Allen

[quote]Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Whether it's Elaine Benes, Christine Campbell or Selina Meyer, she's just playing herself. Truly a one trick pony despite all the hype.

She won an Emmy for every one of those roles (total 8).

Every. Single. One. Of. Them. It would be easier to name the actors who can turn out convincingly 2 different characters. Vivien Leigh. Alan Bates. Cate Blanchett. DDL. Mia Farrow. Jeff Bridges. End of the list. I honestly cannot think of any other.

The emporor of this category would be the late John Wayne. He made a long and enduring career out of fine-tuning his screen persona.

Whoops, "emperor."

Pauly Shore

Sylvester Stallone

Danny DeVito

Madonna, the one role she can play well, "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "Truth or Dare" being her best movies.

R44 what about EVITA?

Tom Cruise

Robert DeNiro. Al Pacino.

Meryl Streep

R48

Oh, but I LOVE her little voices, all of which sound like her character came from somewhere in Europia.

My Sister played two different characters in one movie. a bitch from hell twin and her ' angelic ' sister. She won an oscar for it. As if.. Two-faced bitch was in fact only playing herself OP

All of the top earners past and present.

R50 what movie was that?

R52

Didn't Bette Davis do a movie like that?

r32 Is that the film where her character chose Jack Nicholson's well worn jerk of a character that was dating her daughter over Keanu Reeves doctor charcter that worshipped the ground she walked on?

R55 Yes!

The other nominees were: Charlize Theron ("Monster"), Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider"), Naomi Watts ("21 Grams"), Samantha Morton ("In America").

Keaton seemed like filler. If they really wanted to award a comedy, they should've gone with Jamie Lee Curtis in "Freaky Friday." I remember some were predicting her and Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean") as the lightweight nominations in their respective categories. Only Depp got in.

Christopher Plummer

I have a problem with Plummer. I remember watching a movie on TV with him, young Redford and Natalie Wood some 20 odd years ago. Must have been an early 60s movie. And the guy looked OLD. what is he, 250 yrs old ?

I thought Plummer was brilliant in Delores Claiborne.

Bette Midler.

Juliette Lewis

R59, "Inside Daisy Clover".

R50, Olivia did NOT win an Oscar for "The Dark Mirror".

Matthew McConaughey

EXACTLY R64 !

It's the rare star who plays really different characters past the age of, say, 40. Producers and directors cast to actors' strengths. Walter Matthau was a very good actor, but at a certain point, he was cast to play "Walter Matthau."

Ciaran Hinds and Daniel Day Lewis are two leading men who still turn in something different every time.

R62 LOL! For the longest time my brother thought she was retarded because of her roles in CAPE FEAR, KALIFORNIA, and NATURAL BORN KILLERS.

[quote]Those are “movie stars,” not actors. —M.

That's right, bitches, I'm a movie star!

Madonna is a movie killer.

I love him, and his movies, but Keanu fits this description.

As a youthful 35 year old, I have no clue what you are talking about OP.

"I'm playing me again, Sam."

I love her, but Wanda Sykes is always just Wanda Sykes in roles.

R48

I've alway said this about her. Even though she's an amazing actress with a thousand very different roles, I always feel like I'm just watching Meryl Streep in front of a camera. Maybe that's the point.

Sandra Bullock owns this thread

George Burns

Bruce Willis

Tyne Daly. In dramas, I know where she'll pause in every sentence.

Some of these are terrible examples. Johnny Depp? Meryl Streep? They both are basically the definition of character actors who get lead parts.

Some are actors, some are movie stars- very few are both.

Judy Garland.

John Wayne and Walter Brennan definitely.

Listing actors you don't care for doesn't mean they always play themselves.

R61 did you never watch "The Rose"?.. give her a break, will ya'

Most of these actors who are perceived to be playing themselves are just playing the same character over and over. Their real personalities are probably nothing like their perceived persona.

Dudley Moore always played the same character, from 10 to Santa Claus The Movie, but he was an accidental Hollywood star. He quickly took over from George Segal in 10 and then was quite happy to wheel the same character out over and over, which is fair enough.

Bette Midler really does play the same notes in every role. It's amusing depending on the role, but it didn't work for something like Mama Rose in Gypsy, yet she was excellent in Hello, Dolly. It's best if she doesn't have to do too much dramatic work. She never convinces in drama.

Most anyone on a network series.

Actors who only play themselves - and grab our attention nonetheless - are called Stars.

Maybe Jack Nicholson.

Will from will and grace.

Bette is great in movies like Big Business. Disney was smart to grab her when she was in a career decline.

OP, remember the movie where Rachel loses her husband and goes to therapy ? EVERY BODY thought I would get an oscar for this one. And when Rachel tried to smuggle cocaïne in a camper with Jason Sudeikis ? Wasn't THAT fun !

Midler in "The Rose" was basically playing an extreme version of herself.

She herself admitted this on the set of her next (disastrous) film "Jinxed!" where she freaked out with substance abuse problems and would cry out to all and sundry, "I'M BECOMING THE ROSE! I'M BECOMING THE ROSE!"

She did very little in that film she didn't also do in her later comic films, especially the open jeering at people her character doesn't like. She's always the same to me, except in "The Rose" she was like her usual persona on opiates.

Some of the most famous and acclaimed actors have played characters that were very different on paper, but all had the same body language and mannerisms. It becomes really obvious when you watch several of their movies in a row. Compare DiCaprio's characters in, say, The Beach, The Aviator, The Departed and Shutter Island. Completely different people with differing backgrounds and inner conflicts. But still it feels like watching the same person on screen, because there's no versatility in the way certain emotions are expressed.

The funny thing about DiCaprio is that early on in his career he'd often play characters that were similar on paper, but did NOT feel like the same person over and over again, because they were subtle differences in the mannerisms/body language. He either lost the capability of transforming himself, or he was only ever able to pull it off within a narrow range of characters.

In genereal, I feel like many of the 'serious', Oscar winning type actors ARE capable of transforming themselves, but that transformation rarely ever feels natural. In most cases it looks and sounds forced, like a parody. Very few (if any) can drastically change their body language or way of speaking without it being obvious that they're acting.

R94 I suppose but when I think Bette, I think "camp humor" galore and The Rose seemed to have none of that. It was a longtime ago but that movie for me was impactful ,yet quite sad

Bette singing Stay with Me in concert years ago was one of the best performances I've ever heard, and I've seen pretty much everyone worth seeing.

r96, I think it would be different if you saw it again now.

R67 I honestly would not call Ciaran Hinds a leading man. Maybe in the UK.

Jennifer Hudson.

Because she cannot act.

R99 Who ???

Judy Tenuta

Larry David

Rutanya Alda

Drew Barrymore

Ruta Lee

Sean Connery. The same in every movie.

Shirley Temple

Now it's just random named no one 's ever heard. Ruta Lee ? Is that even a real person ? Rutanya Alda ???

Turn in your gay card, R109

Dani Robles

Alan Alda

Some actors spend their career perfecting a persona and are very successful at it. It may have nothing to do with their real life. Some of those listed here fall in this category.

Rula Lenska

Mason Reese

Reta Shaw

Oscar winner Mo'Nique. I love her, but her role in "Precious" was simply her playing a bitch version of herself.

Sally Ross

R17

In all fairness, to paraphrase the great writer Barbara Thorndyke: "he's limited"

Streisand

Even in period roles like "The Shootist", Bacall appeared like a modern day version of herself.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

James Garner

But who fucking cares!

R95 You sound like a failed actor who now teaches.

R95 I appreciate people who can analyse performances.

Katharine Hepburn owns this thread

I disagree about Katharine. She was one of the select group that was an actress and movie star. I was lucky enough to see her on stage (in a not very good play) and she wasn't "Kate" in the least.

Thelma Ritter

Mary Wickes

Elvia Allman

Maudie Prickett

Eleanor Audley

Norma Varden

Mary Treen

Amzie Strickland

Patsy Kelly

Kaye Ballard

Dlers !!! Somebody touched THELMA RITTERS !!!! DEATH BY GREASE FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRREEEEE

John Wayne in The Quiet Man and Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous each played against type.

Kevin Costner, monotone man.

Bill Frawley

My favorite Thelma Ritter performance is in TITANIC. she has the best lines in the film.

^ So what was Ritter's line in the film?

[quote]I still can't believe she got an Oscar nomination for SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE.

I mean, you're absolutely right of course, but I LOVED her in that!

scarlett johansson

I don't quite understand what this thread is getting at?

Robert Downey Jr

[quote]Sally Ross.

r118, you don't give Sally the credit she's due. Here at age fifty-six she proves you wrong!

Sally Ross like you've nevah seen her... with musical flavah!

Armie Hammer

Keanu Reeves

Octavia Spencer

I had a friend who once said this about Laura Linney. I defended the actress believing that her characterizations were distinct. I feel vindicated that she hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Jerry Seinfeld

Matthew Perry

Who r142?

R145, when a crew member asks her if she’s the Widener maid, she replied, “Well don’t look at me! I got so many maids that’s some of the maids are taking care of the maids!”.

You had to be there...

R144 How could you not know who she is? She is an excellent actress.

Josh Thomas

Charlize Theron, always some sassy yet vulnerable bitch.

Bob Newhart

Dabney Coleman

Burt Reynolds

Meg Ryan. She got on my nerves. The acting range of a gnat.

Pert Kelton

Samuel L. Jackson is always Samuel L. Jackson no matter the role he plays. The same performance even for his commercials. Which is a shame, I loved him in his early characters like Pulp Fiction.

R95, I *so* agree with and enjoyed your analysis of DiCaprio’s film career.

He was a real gem/find as a young actor (truly) and initially reminded me of some of the “classic” greats like Brando, Clift, and Dean, etc, Also like a young DeNiro.

He gave touching, sensitive, and always fresh, electric and surprising performances (especially for someone so young) in Gilbert Grape, This Boy’s Life, The Basketball Diaries, and Romeo + Juliet— just to name a few.

I think he really was gifted and had a special talent for acting and character creation on camera. (All while also being natural and charismatic—not an easy find).

He also purposely chose tough, interesting, and diverse roles—again, rare for an actor in his age group.

This all essentially stopped after “Titanic” (started with “The Beach” and “Man in the Iron Mask”) and hasn’t (really) improved since.

It’s like he has been in a state of emotional adolescence and detachment onscreen since then.

He never emotionally can go beyond “man child” type roles and is *never* convincing in anything that reads “real adult” and/or “mature”.

I recall Matt Damon commenting that actors generally never grow emotionally past the age when they become “mega famous”. All the development just freezes in time (with the majority he said).

He commented that their emotional maturity stops in their inner development when huge celebrity hits (Paraphrasing).

That made me think of DiCaprio (who hit “mega” fame with Titanic at what: 21 or 22?).

There were rumors at the time of Titanic that that level of sudden world wide fame freaked him out, was overwhelming, and he had some kind of emotional “breakdown” at that time that required treatment to set him right again.

I kind of believe it now because he is like a totally different (and much more guarded) actor onscreen from that point on. Like two different people in the pre-mega fame and post mega fame parts of his career.

It’s a shame, because he truly was unique and exciting as a screen presence at the beginning.

The only roles since then where I think he kind of shined and did engaging, solid work (was well cast and not his currently dull onscreen self) have been in “Catch Me if You Can” and “The Great Gatsby”.

Those were solid performances that he really seemed to bring emotional connection/vulnerability to.

But, again, those characters are both supposed to be ambitious “young men” with their whole lives ahead of them (which is right around the time period in his life that the real DiCaprio seemed to have stop maturing).

But he still has emotions he can access well in those two roles, so it really works for me in those movies.

I don’t enjoy him in anything else now and he is *so unbelievable* when having to to play a husband or father type (no real emotional connection to or believability with “his kids” or him being a “mature father” type in those roles (“Inception”, the bear movie, etc.)

Anyway, he was once a great natural talent and aside from a *very* few particular roles in recent times, he lost all that post-Titanic.

Hopefully he can find a way to get some of his initial talent/spark back someday and actually mature as an actor again, because he was once so naturally gifted and exciting as a young actor....

Samuel L. Jackson is always Samuel L. Jackson because he's one of the Magic Negroes.

BUMP!

Jean Harlow (tart with a heart)

True, R156, but I still admit that I really love Jean Harlow and her films!

Donald Trump

Ashley Jensen

R95 and R153 you are so right. But I think a big problem is the casting and the directors, you are cast as Leonardo DiCaprio and not the character in the movie. It is like the golden age of HW, you went to see the actor not the movie. Some of the olden stars were great actors, Cary Grant could act, but rarely was asked to do so. James Stewart could subvert the all decent guy persona (and Hitchcock did so) but the public preferred him as decent everyman. These days a name cannot carry a movie, but the studios have not really caught on; there are very few actors that can change the persona, an accent a new personality doesn't do. Generally those with theatre backgrounds manage to transform much better.

Why was Jean Harlow considered to be such a beauty when in reality she wasn’t? All you have to do is be blonde and white....

Babs Streisand. No wonder all the characters she's played come off as abrasive, shrill, greedy cunts.

Easier to answer this if the question is flipped -- which actors *don't* just play themselves over and over. There are so few these days.

Andie MacDowell

John Travolta

Tom Cruise

Cher

Dolly Parton

Humphrey Bogart

Although he has been fabulous in every film he's been in, my favorite actor has played the same role in every film. Guess you can't improve on perfection.

R168

I beg to differ.

All of the above