14 Actors That Are So Comfortable Playing One Type of Character It Just Became a Habit

It is common for us to link an actor or actress with a certain character. This may be because, once they were successful at playing a certain type of character, the roles they play later are often a sort of continuation of that same beloved persona they built.

Now I’ve Seen Everything reveals the recurring roles of some of Hollywood’s most famous actors who, even if they may not realize it, end up stepping into the same shoes over and over.

1. Keira Knightley: a noblewoman from another era

The image of a noble beauty in historical costume is firmly rooted for Keira Knightley. The actress is very often involved in film adaptations of classic works (Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina) and biographies of great women from past eras (Colette, The Duchess). Even in the fantasy film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Keira appeared in a fabulous, but generally familiar to the public image: a lady in a dress and a fluffy skirt.

2. Tom Hanks: a hard worker with a good heart

Most modern directors cast Tom Hanks exclusively in the roles of positive figures. As a rule, his characters have a good position at work and they’re very invested on it. Whether he’s a prison warden in The Green Mile, a Harvard professor in the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, or an airline captain in Sully, it’s always the same. His characters love their jobs with all their hearts, but are willing to risk it in the name of good.

3. Rachel McAdams: a passionate time traveler

More than once Rachel McAdams played a heroine whose lover traveled in time (The Time Traveler’s Wife, Midnight in Paris, About Time, Doctor Strange). If the universe of one of the films does not involve such fantastic moves, then the actress’s on-screen choice travels back in time through memory (The Vow, The Notebook), and the film itself is replete with flashbacks.

4. Christoph Waltz: an outrageously immoral guy

Christoph Waltz is an actor who is hard to remember as a hero. From European TV series (Rex: A Cop’s Best Friend) to Hollywood films (Inglourious Basterds, Water for Elephants, Django Unchained), in all his work, Waltz is a villain with moral qualities that plunge the viewer into a state of shock. His characters can be terrifying even when they smile.

5. Zooey Deschanel: a weirdo but cool girl

Zooey Deschanel has become hostage to an image called “the manic pixie dream girl”. This is an amazing female character, “out of this world”. You will never get bored with these girls, because they do not tolerate limits, love life and know how to enjoy it. We have seen the actress in this kind of roles in Yes Man and 500 Days with Summer. Even the teacher played by Deschanel in the movie Bridge to Terabithia is the same naughty girl.

6. Johnny Depp: a strange guy in makeup

Johnny Depp’s characters certainly have a lot of glitz. The actor is famous for his roles as guys with makeup and eccentric behavior. Almost all of his performances in Tim Burton’s films fall into this category, including the Mad Hatter, the legendary Jack Sparrow, the powerful wizard Grindelwald from J. K. Rowling’s universe, among many more.

7. Anne Hathaway: a simple girl who grows throughout the movie

Anne Hathaway became famous for her role as Mia in the film The Princess Diaries, an awkward teenager who becomes a lady. The image is so ingrained in the actress that in her filmography there are many tapes in which she plays again and again a simple girl who, on her way to success in her career or personal life, often transforms herself. Vivid examples are The Devil Wears Prada, One Day and Bride Wars. However, the actress’s roles in recent years have allowed her to show other facets of her talent.

8. Matt Damon: a dull but super smart guy

Matt Damon’s heroes often have outstanding intellectual abilities and a bad temper. They boycott school and get into fights (Good Will Hunting), cheat the rich (The Talented Mr. Ripley), outwit their bosses (The Informant!), and even find a reason to complain on an alien planet (Interstellar).

9. Emma Roberts: the mean girl

Emma Roberts tried on the image of a glamour girl in the 2000s in the movie Wild Child. And after playing an unscrupulous student of a witch school in the third season of American Horror Story, the creators were so inspired by her character that they decided to make a separate project with a similar heroine in the lead role. Thus appeared the series Scream Queens, where Emma got the maximum screen time to demonstrate all the facets of the main badass of an educational institution: brilliant, elegant but selfish. And seeing Emma’s performances in these projects, it is hard to believe that it is not a single character in the same movie.

10. Henry Cavill: a strong, handsome man who saves the world

Henry Cavill seems to love fighting evil. Of course, we’re talking about screen villains. The actor destroys monsters in The Witcher series, fights injustice in the comic book adaptations of Superman, and manages to take down a criminal organization as a CIA agent in the film The Man from U.N.C.L.E. And almost always his characters are a threat not only to enemies, but also to the hearts of women.

11. Anya Taylor-Joy: a weird girl

Thanks to her non-standard appearance, Anya Taylor-Joy has been able to play characters that may seem a bit strange to those around her. Together with a friend, Lily from Thoroughbred conceives a crime; Casey from the films Split and Glass is not accepted by peers, but finds a common language with a mentally ill person; and for Beth, from the acclaimed series The Queen’s Gambit, there is nothing more important than chess.

12. Channing Tatum: the guy next door

It would seem that Channing Tatum’s athletic build would be able to provide him with roles of all kinds of superheroes and secret agents, but often the actor plays the most ordinary subjects. As a rule, his character comes from a poor family, but it is to him that the heart of the protagonist, who is on a higher rung of the social ladder, belongs. We can see Channing playing this role in the films Step Up, The Vow and Dear John.

13. Emma Watson: a shy but sharp girl

After the landmark role of Hermione Granger in the actress’s career, she appeared in films of various genres, often playing a modest girl with a sharp mind and a strong character. Thus, Belle in Beauty and the Beast reads books and is not interested in marrying a boy whose attitude is primitive; the innocent victim Angela in the horror film Regression uses her intellect to force others to follow her own rules, and a flight attendant in the drama The Colony thinks up a whole plan to rescue a loved one from a strange commune.

14. Lily James: a lady of the first half of the twentieth century

Judging by the filmography of Lily James, if it continues in the same spirit, it will soon be able to compete with Keira Knightley in the number of roles of noble ladies of bygone eras. With directors who make films about the first half of the twentieth century, Lily is very successful. Among them we can find Downton Abbey, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Rebecca.

What other actors do you think tend to repeat a certain style of character?