Type of actor...

Has anyone else been depressed by the category they seem to have fallen into when it comes to the type of character they are usually cast as? I find that I always get the sappy romantic lead, when really I would much rather be a more funny, character actor, which I always thought I was. I mean, I'm happy I get cast, just depressed that it's always as the boring guy who's always in love with someone. Anyone else feel upset by where they fall?

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I'm only in high school, but I know what you mean....I guess I'm a bit of a suck up to the drama teachers so they think I'm this little angel, and only cast me as the shy, sweet, boring little darlings with pretty voices. I've never had a chance to do anything funny or interesting.

In musicals I don't always have a problem. I can play the ingenue and I can play the character, since I can sing Ingenue roles and character roles. It just depends which one I think I want to do, then I try harder to pick my song according to who I want to play.

note: I played Luisa in the Fantastiks
and The Witch in Into the Woods.

Though, at my school I would get pigioned holed because I could do accents and could sing. So when I was up for Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, I couldn't do it, because I was the only "singer" so I had to play the minsteral. When I was up for Hermia in Midsummer I got casts as a 'singing fairy', (truthfully i was better for the roles. I had the look of the characters and the ability to do it the best) Then I was up for a few 'Young Woman" roles in a drama called Machinal. I got casted as the mother ( even though I look young and very ingenue like) because I was the only person who could do a brooklyn accent properly. I looked more like a young woman, then one of girls playing my daughter. That show was cast wrong anyways. It was fustrating, but non the less I knew that love it too much to make a big deal out of it. I had fun, and I appreciate the shows for the growth and the sheer performance of it.

The only true type I fit into is the fact that I'm only 5'1. So I can't play things like Ulla in the Producers or Chracters who have to be tall.

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Updated On: 9/6/05 at 09:49 PM

However, I think the ones who complain about leads being plain, boring roles are ignoring many romantic leads that are very interesting and are fully of what you call "funny parts"...
Just think of shows as "Crazy for You", "She Loves Me", "Kiss me Kate", and I'm sure we can come up with many.

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Because I'm fat I always play an old lady, a role written as a male converted to female, or a man. Anything to desexualize the fat woman. I understand that's the way it works but it stinks. It's even odder for me because I have a high soprano voice. I'm really hoping Mr. Menken keeps Sister Mary Patrick a soprano so us younger bigger soprano gals have a role!:)

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You mention actors undergoing physical alteration to change their type. Frang Langhella immediately comes to mind. he was not in musical theater, as far as i know but began in film Diary of A mad Housewife. He was smoldering ,dangerous and had real matinee looks. he erupted in the lead role on stage as Dracula. he didn't have an ounce of fat and was sexual and hot that women in the audience were swooning and offering up their necks.
The next time i saw him, he was unrecognizable. i do not know ifit wasthe aging process or deliberate---but he was much heavier and balding.
he was most recently in match on Broadway and so brilliant as a character actor.

I'm always the hopeless damsel in distress. Rapunzel in Into the Woods, Chatherine in Pippin, Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz or anything little girl-ish.

I'd rather be a villian. :)

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I agree with phillyactor and lildogs too. Often times I see myself as a certain part but the casting director/production staff see otherwise. Also, you never know when someone is gonna see you as something completely different from what you normally play and you are given the chance to spread your wings a bit. For instance, in all way shapes and forms most everyone (including myself) see me as El Gallo in THE FANTASTICKS yet I was called back for Matt (The Boy). It totally blew my mind but it gave me a wonderful opportunity to dive into a part that I wouldn't normally go out for. I've worked with one director several times who only sees me as "the sexy heartthrob guy." I've learned this from working with him and I accept that. I may not get considered for parts I would love to play but I am given work with a great director and I always know what to expect.

A very important lesson in this business is knowing what you can and cannot do and knowing your type. That doesn't mean that you won't have the chance to play outside that type or that your type won't change. Just know who you are and where you fit and play up those advantages. I cannot tell you how many actors I know who think they are leading man material yet they are so the minor supporting character actor, at best.

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I think you misunderstood me, phillyactor, i was trying to tell them that many times, actors are unaware of what they really are type-wise. Just because you played certain roles in school doesn't mean that you will ever play that role again, regardless of how good you might have been. Looking like your headshot is entirely different than auditioning for Hamlet and getting cast as Polonius. My point is that many actors are unaware of how others see them.

As I always say, it's better to be type-cast than to be not cast at all.

Once again I am speaking of professional auditions. I find it very hard to believe Equity casting would cast a young man as an old man, with the wealth of aged talent thats available. Alot of times community theatre and semi-pro has to cast from the pool of talent they have, so the 30 year old gets the cliche hair white on the toothbrush throught the hair! DOnt forget those smile lines with the Rite-Aid eyebrow pencil!

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I also agree with PhillyActor and TouchMe to an extent. The professionalism factor has a LOT to do with how you are cast and seen in roles.

Generally, not to be negative, but if you are pretty/handsome, young and Caucasian you have a pretty good chance of getting cast in romantic leads in a professional setting. If you know you are hot, and have the talent to back it up, you should definitely go out for those kind of roles while you can, it will be your bread and butter. And even that is not guaranteed all the time. Most likely all the pretty talented people are cast in the ensemble of musical shows. So get used to that too.

Character actors....like myself, might have to wait a while before they can get work in the roles that they want to play. That's the reality. There are roles that I can play, and have realistically played despite my age, but there is/was a LOT of comepetition for it.

Audra is an excellent example of defying odds against your type. Who would have ever thought to have cast her as Clara in Passion, or the Beggar Woman in Sweeney? That was the biggest shock for me. Brian Stokes Mitchell is another example too. I am ALL about the breaking the color barrier and shooting for the roles that you want, but like it was mentioned before, you have to know your limits, and when not to overstay your welcome.

Do you really want to waste what little time, you have to audition, or even the chances of GETTING a decent audition with trying for a role that you know casting directors won't see you as? I can see if you are too young, but still the right type for a particular role, but if you know that you are the wrong ethnicity, or absolutely the wrong type, you DEFINITELY should not waste your time, and the people behind the table's time. And I am saying this from experience.

(steps off soapbox).

I have played roles that I might have been too young for, but those were for summer stock, and semi-professional theatres. I doubt I would be playing a 40 year old on Broadway. (I'm in my mid-20's.) So the level of professionalism is definitely a factor. I would do shows in stock or something that will give me the experience of playing these type of roles so that when you are the right age, you will have the experience.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,

The Balladeer

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lildogs brings up a good point, too...there are things you can do to change your look:

new hairstyles and colors

gain/lose weight

more/less time at the gym

diets to sculpt your body type

what you wear

voice lessons can age you or make your voice younger

So, don't assume is it totally out of your control...it is just 98% out of your control. =)

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