TV Actors Are Their Characters?

Yes that sometimes happens to me as well. I guess thats why some actors don't want to star in TV shows for that very reason. Fans associate them with one character & refused to accept them as another. To me George Clooney will always be Dr. Ross. Even though I have seen him in many different movies playing different characters, I will always think of him as Dr. Ross. Can't help it LOL.

Yeah, I am the same way. If they have played a character that was really popular on a TV show, I always see them as that character and I hate to see them as any other charcacter. The same went for Fran Drescher's character on the Nanny, Nanny Fine. I could never watch her new TV series because to me she will always be the nanny LOL...

I guess Robs is right, that's why actors/actresses don't like to work on TV because they prefer to have a variety and usually when you work on a character on TV that becomes popular, people can't see you as anyone else and they tend to not watch them in other roles....

Typecasting is a problem for some actors. I have seen some actors lately and I keep thinking there is "whatever the TV character's name was" instead of the actor's name. Julia LD plays a similar character in her new TV show and it's not too much of a stretch to watch here in her new one for me - still ditzy. Juliana has been gone for ER for awhile and I'm willing to try out here new show - the trailer said she was a "House" in high heels and she might be fun. Maybe I'll approach it she went back to school during her absence haha. whit

I think it's easier when some time has passed between roles, so their former role isn't so recent in the memory. The only time I really had a hard time was when Richard Dean Anderson stopped playing Macgyver and went to star in Stargate. There were years between the series, but I was so used to him being Macgyver that I didn't even want to watch Stargate and see him playing someone else. It wasn't until a friend said that there was another character on the show that I'd like that I was willing to give it a chance. And, it still took me a few episodes to see RDA as Jack, instead of Macgyver. But, I don't think I've ever gone to the same extreme with any other actor.

You know I watched "New Adventures of Old Christine" last night and I felt the same way. This was the first time I really watched it. The character is so different than Elaine was. Its a pretty good show but its so hard to get used to seeing an old favorite in a new role...as you said they seem to become their characters.

I remember Juliana on ER, and I've seen her briefly on her new show. Five minutes after seeing her on that show and Nurse Carol was gone from my memory. She was the role she was playing.
Now usually I have the same problem you are speaking of. To me, Richard Dean Anderson on that sci-fi show was just McGyver in costume. I had no interest. Matthew Perry, formerly of Friends, is always going to be Chandler to me. The only actor I can honestly say I see the current character in, instead of the old one, is Booth on 'Bones'. David Boreanaz had his own show 'Angel', and he played the character of the same name. Then he went to 'Bones', I thought forget it, he's going to be a vampire still. But no, I see the FBI agent in him now. He managed to become something else. And that has got to be hard to do.

Tv shows are stories, and actors portrays the character of the person who was made to be on that show. I don't have the same syndrome as you. I go with the flow of the story and I like watching my favorite star portray a new identity or a new character.

no way~ i always think they arent the role that were acting like, since im pretty sure they arent like that.

Back in the day when I saw more dramas on t.v, especially soaps, I would have a hard time seeing my favorites as other characters.But these days I don't have any stars that I see as only one character.

Yup..... Julia Louis-Dreyfuss will always remain Elaine. I actually sometimes forget her actual name and calle Elaine. During the credit titles I remember her name is not really Elaine.


In India, when there was a general rise in viewership of daily soaps, people who played the central characters did not usually take any others in other serials. And so you tend to associate that person more to that character than that actor themselves. I still call them by those character's name than their actual names