Michael Cera plays the Michael Cera role in every movie he’s in. So far.
Hard to blame the young actor for sticking to what works. Same goes for Ellen Page, who proved very “Juno-esque” in her first role after that hit film, “Smart People.”
But older, more versatile actors should know better.
Like Matthew Broderick. Ol’ Ferris himself works plenty these days, often in smaller, arthouse projects. That’s all well and good, but the roles he picks are often maddeningly consistent.
He’s a 40-something shlub, often donning bad glasses and worse fashions, and he’s meant to epitomize the clueless middle-aged male.
Consider him in “Finding Amanda,” “Then She Found Me” and “Marie and Bruce,” three of his more recent films. Same character, essentially. And there all variations on his terrific performance in “Election.”
He spun variations of that rumpled template in “Deck the Halls” and “The Stepford Wives,” too.
Let’s see him play a villain, or a charlatan, or anything else that can tap into another side of him.
And then there’s Famke Janssen, the leggy actress best known for playing Jean Grey/Phoenix in the “X-Men” films. Her last two roles, in “Taken” and “The Wackness,” both played up her chilly appeal. And Jean Grey wasn’t a charmer, either.
Let’s see Janssen play an earth mother type, or anything that doesn’t inspire terms like “aloof” or “icy.”
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for Famke Janssen see her indies like Turn the River (she plays a ragged hustler who plans to kidnap her son from his father), Love & Sex The Treatment, City of Industry etc,
T … thanks for the Janssen tips … I was referring to some of her more recent appearances, but it’s good to have instances that showcase her range.
I think in both cases these actors can be defined by their physicality. Janssen is crazy, perfectly beautiful … and that can be off putting sometimes. And Broderick looks like a middle aged guy — handsome but could lose a few pounds, his hair not always as crisp as it was in his 20s.
Famke Janssen: remember her sweet, amiable goofiness in “Deep Rising,” one of my favorite horror thrillers? She should try comedy.