Actors Who Play The Same Role All The Time

Meagan Good

In a recent interview, Meagan Good says that she’s been so typecast that it’s gotten in the way of future work:

“There were a couple times where the director said ‘We really like you, but you’re a little bit too Hot.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, what do I need to do? Wear a turtleneck?’ And they’re like “Nah, it’s just something that you give off.”

“I believe that people, when they have a pre-conceived notion of who you are, and things you’ve done in the past, sometimes they forget that as an actor you’re able to shut off whatever you need to shut off, and you’re able to turn on whatever you need to turn on.”

Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah has been playing Queen Latifah since Living Single. But that’s alright with us. Queen Latifah’s strong characters have given the media a fresh perspective on black women.

Gabrielle Union

In Gabrielle’s own words, she’s always typecast as “a b**ch…the woman who doesn’t need a man.” We can’t think of the last time we saw her on screen without a giant chip on her shoulder that she’s just waiting for the right romantic love interest (usually Morris Chestnut) to remove.

Will Smith

Will Smith is head non-threatening black man in charge. In almost every movie he’s either a cop, an agent, a superhero or the last man on earth. And it’s up to him to save the earth or life as we know it. And he’s got just as much ego off screen. He knows what his star power is worth and he won’t take a penny less.

Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Lewis plays Gabrielle Union’s characters…20 years into the future. She’s the mother who dishes out real talk, often with a little bitterness on the side. And her characters spend most of their time meddling, because they rarely have a man around.

Donald Faison

Donald Faison has been playing the goofy best buddy since Clueless. We loved watching his bromance grow in Scrubs and he’s fun on The Exes. But we wonder if Donald has anything else in him. The antics may be starting to get a little old.

J. B. Smoove

Speaking of side kicks, J.B. Smoove is the wing man in every movie we see him in. He helped Larry David through his divorce in Curb Your Enthusiasm, made ‘Til Death more fun to watch, and helped the brothers through their struggles in Think Like a Man. And we know why they want to hang — everything’s more fun when J.B. is around.

Paula Patton

Hollywood has claimed Paula Patton as the official crossover chick. You can usually find her co-starring in blockbusters as the good girl with a heart of gold. Sometimes Hollywood has to approach interracial relationships one or two black actresses at a time.

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman is Hollywood’s favorite wise old black man. He’s given out advice in The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en and Million Dollar Baby. He was even God himself in Bruce Almighty. As far as typecasting goes, this isn’t the worst roles to be stuck in. But we’d still like to see Morgan branch out.

Tasha Smith

Tasha is the mad black woman. Every character she plays is the woman we all have to take a deep breath not to be sometimes. After watching her toxic on-screen relationships, single ladies can take heart in knowing that sometimes you’re better off on your own.

Lauren London

We love Lauren as the sweet, innocent around the way girl. Even if it was sort of hard to believe that “The Game”‘s Keira was a groupie and a 25-year-old virgin.

Samuel L. Jackson

When’s the last time you saw a movie with Sam Jackson where he didn’t say mothaf**ka at least one time? Not never. Samuel L. Jackson plays Samuel L. Jackson in every movie and we’re not mad at him. The Guinness Book of World Records just named him the highest grossing movie actor of all time.

Jackee Harry

Have ya’ll seen “The First Family”? Jackee is the same funny, flirtatious diva she’s always been. And she’s been playing that role since “227”…that’s pretty impressive. We don’t even think we want to see her in another role. Who doesn’t love Jackee?

John Witherspoon

“Bang, bang, bang!” Not only is John Witherspoon the same character in every role, he’s usually wearing the same clothes. But we love watching him coordinate and tell us not to go in the there for 35, 45 minutes…even if he’s been doing it longer than most of us have been alive.

Katt Williams

Katt is a pimp or a preacher in every movie that he’s in. And we understand the typecast. No one’s pimp hand is quite as strong as Katt’s. But we’d still love to see the brother branch out. Maybe he could learn something in real life by playing real characters.