Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting...

I started the thread in this area, because I'm sure this will talk about performers outside the Trek universe.

I saw Brent Spiner in a 'Criminal Intent' episode re-run last night or early morning(?) on TBS, USA, or TNT. I forget, since I was channel hopping.

His onscreen wife was his ID4 co-star, Margaret Colin; the plot had something to do with his shady daughter..

It's rare that an actor/actress associated with a franchise (be it Star Trek, James Bond, Superman, Star Wars, etc) is able to break away from being typecast and broaden their acting abilities, IMO...if they indeed do have acting abilities.

He was also good as the associate of Halle Berry's Dorothy Dandrige in Introducing Dorothy Dandrige..

Any performers you think were able to break away from a popular franchise and really show their acting chops?

Name(s) that I know will come up:

-Harrison Ford: Although, Ford hasn't been in too many strong films lately...

-Sean Connery: Ironically, 'Dr. Jones' father as well as the original James Bond... who plays 'Sean Connery' in pretty much all his films...i.e. he never has a different accent when portraying non-Scottish characters, but he is able to pull strong perfomances. Ex: 'Finding Forrester'...'The Untouchables'...

Any others?

Some example of actors/actresses who are typecast:

-Pretty everyone of the original Star Trek cast; interestingly, I don't think the nuTrek people will be typecast as many of them were known before their Trek roles.

-Mark Hamill

-Malcolm McDowall: Always the cookie-cutter villain...

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

I don't think Spiner will be accepting any android roles in the future.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Elisha Cook Jr. plays a great moronic patsy; so good he did it in a dozen noirs. Star Trek somewhat bucked that trend by having him play a smart person - a lawyer, no less.

Those are probably related, in fairness. The calm, scientific assurance that Spiner brought to Data makes him an ideal scientist type.

Just like someone might look at Nimoy's droll Spock and think, 'hey, he'd make a great psychatrist!' (a thought that crossed the mind of PKD in the piece my signature quotes, and also, perhaps, the guys who cast him as a psychatrist in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.)

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

I saw Anthony Montgomery on an episode of NCIS. He actually had lines and served the plot, so Enterprise hasn't typecast him.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

That's funny. I've seen every episode of NCIS and I never noticed he was on there.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Collateral Damage, S6, Ep.7: An on-base bank is robbed and a security guard is fatally shot. Anthony plays Marine Corporal George Linden, who gives Gibbs an accurate description of the getaway vehicle. (info from TV.com)

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

To tell you the truth, if anyone is typecast due to Enterprise, that's pretty bad.

In any event, I believe Linda Park has shown up on a couple of shows, as has Joelene Blalock. Scott Bakula has turned up in 'The Informant' with Matt Damon, and is currently on 'Men of a Certain Age'. I've seen Dominic Keating on commercials; but I haven't seen Conner Trinnear(?) since Enterprise...although, I've heard he was on one of the Stargate series...

So, the former cast aren't movie or television stars, but they're working...and they have chances for bigger projects.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Scott Bakula could never be typecast from Star Trek. He's stuck with Quantum Leap.

Of course, trying to fight Trek typecasting leads actors to make some pretty stupid choices just to be different, like when Patrick Stewart made Masterminds and Gunmen.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

I do agree with that....

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

The Superman franchise has always been pretty bad about type casting people. The 1950's Superman George Reeves is probably one of the best examples of type casting out there.

Reeves wanted to be a serious actor, and he finally landed a part in a World War II drama (I think it was "From Here to Eternity"). However, when test audiences saw the film, they died out laughing when they saw Reeves come on screen; there were people shouting out, "Hey, it's Superman!". Reportedly, it left Reeves devastated for the rest of his life.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Ed O'Neill had a supporting role in Flight of the Intruder but his scenes had to be reshot with another actor because test audiences couldn't get past "Al Bundy."

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

I could never separate Chris Reeve from his Superman role, although I thought it was cool to see him in other roles.

However, I do recall a review saying that he was upstaged by Morgan Freeman in 'Street Smart'...and he was a bit stiff in 'Deathtrap.'

Still, I recall him in a Merchant/Ivory production, which I thought was interesting...and I have heard good things about 'Somewhere in Time,' which I still want to see to this day...

As for Dean Cain? I haven't really seen him in anything huge...with the exception of 'Out of Time' starring Denzel Washington...(Although, to be fair, I don't think Cain can be typecast)...

I forget whether or not Kirk Alyn was typecast....

O'Neill comes off as a good actor. I recall he was in a cop drama some years ago opposite a younger actor....(I had to look it up on IMDB, to find out it was a 'Dragnet' remake that didn't go over to well; the actor who was the 'other' cop was Ethan Embrey)...

As for Katey Sagal, who was 'Peg' and is 'hot'...she was--as we all know--Leela on 'Futurama'...and Christina Applegate shows up every now and then in movies and shows...

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

^^

Ed O'Neill had a recurring role on The West Wing as Pennsylvania governor and presidential candidate Eric Baker. He continued The West Wing's "tradition" of casting comedy actors in serious roles... like John Goodman as Acting president.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

I thought Ed O'Neill was fantastic in Dutch. Great movie. Hard to find, too.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

That was a pretty good movie. The kid grew up to be O'Neill's costar in the new Dragnet show.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Malcolm McDowell turns up in L & O: Criminal Intent as well; interestingly, he is typecast. He portrays a racist, negative man...alt least in the episode I saw. I'm not sure if he was on any of the L & O series before. (Actually, it was a good story...but McDowell always seems to play a bad guy...lol)

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Ed O'Neil has been in quite a number of films since M...WC.

The problem isn't the actor, it's the audience and *THEIR* perception of confusing the actor with the character and *THEIR* refusal to see the actor as anything but one particular character.

 

Re: Brent Spiner in 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and typecasting..

Yep. She was on SVU a while back, she played one of the NYPD's techie types. Linky

Also starring Alan "Praetor Hiren" Dale as a judge.