Being seriously famous for one role can be worse than being typecast – you can get stuck as that character forever in people’s mind. Being called ‘Harry’ or ‘Phoebe’ on the street is one way to tell it’s happened – when fans can’t possibly see you in any other role other than in the one they know you for. It must be difficult to move on to other things, especially because you may never be recognized as any other characters, it can be hard to find a part that is suitable. Some have successfully moved on from their most famous roles and still manage to land work while others reveal that it was a struggle at first to shake off their character and they are still in the process of doing so.
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel believes he may never quite escape his role as ‘Harry Potter’ but he is prepared to work at it: “I’ve always said that it’s a long process, and in a way it may be a lifelong one. It’s about proving to people that I’m in this for the long haul, and that I wasn’t just looking to get as famous as I could for as long as I could and ride that out. I love almost every aspect of this industry and I want to be in it, and if I could drop dead on a film set at 80, that’s how I’d want to go.”
Emma Watson
Emma has tried her best to shake off her Hermoine character from Harry Potter by doing other things but often worries she’ll end up acting the same as her most famous character: ”I get to play a crazy LA valley girl, a biblical girl, an American high school girl, an 18th century period girl … getting to do lots of different things. But it’s always worrying: is all that’s going to come out Hermione?”
Jason Biggs
Jason doesn’t think he’ll ever get away from his role in ‘American Pie’, especially one scene in particular which he is most famous for:”I’ll never live down being the guy who f**ked a pie. I’ve lived almost more of my life being the ‘pie guy’ than I have not being that guy. But I’m proud of that scene and what it meant for my career, my personal life, my finances – everything. It took balls to do that scene.”
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow still gets called Phoebe on a regular basis and although she’s had plenty of film roles since Friends wrapped up, she knows she won’t ever shake off her character completely: “People still call me Phoebe and want to talk on the street. ‘Friends’ is still on TV all the time. I try not to notice the attention when I’m out. I usually create some imaginary lines depending on where I am. And I don’t look at the periphery, like blinkers. I can’t help it. I have always been like that.”
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa is best known for her part in ‘High School Musical’ so it was a struggle for her to move on to different things because people couldn’t see her in a different light: ”For a while I was kind of struggling and fighting for these roles that I just desperately wanted. It was hard and it was a struggle, but then again life is always a struggle. Having a career will always be a struggle. You’ll always have to fight for what you want. Definitely crossing over and being able to tackle these grittier parts was a challenge, but I feel like I’ve done it! It’s a whole new chapter!”
