Typecasting vs Transformation: Career Lessons from Hollywood

I like Chris Evans as an actor and it’s been fun watching him transform from the noble characters he normally plays in past movies, especially the high profile Captain America in the Marvel universe. I have enjoyed watching him play the bad guy in “Gray man”. As Lloyd Hansen, the character has no moral ethics, low impulse control and actively enjoys and engages in illegal torture. A character that is the exact opposite of hero Captain America and pretty much all his other previous roles. Other actors who exemplify this are Ed Norton, Daniel Radcliffe, Christian Bale who display an extremely wide range of movies, genres and characters. 

This is what I call the Transformation approach: or maybe better known as the generalist or polymath approach. Being good at a bunch of different things. Showing a wide range. 

The other approach is to play the exact same role in every movie and show. Otherwise known as typecasting. Defined: 1: to cast (an actor or actress) in a part calling for the same characteristics as those possessed by the performer. 2: to cast (an actor or actress) repeatedly in the same type of role.

Look at Robert Deniro, he plays the hardened tough gangster or just a general tough guy. Or Bruce Willis or Dwayne Johnson. I love these guys as they are hardworking and generally great people. But they literally play the same character in every single movie they are in. Also usually action/adventure movies. And don’t get me wrong, you can make an amazing living doing this.

Both paths work if you want Longevity. But personally I think the more interesting route is the transformation route. You have to push yourself on your range and experiences. Also it’s probably also just less boring and you probably do need to be challenging yourself all the time if you want to grow. 

With how quickly the world is changing, I think the typecast route aka specialization can still work. But it will be harder to stay relevant without developing a wider range of skills and experiences. 

I think about all the different iterations of my own career. I learned so much from every phase & iteration. And the knowledge and experience has become relevant and useful in some unexpected ways. To each their own path but I do think the future belongs to the generalist here. Frankly, life is just much more interesting with variety.