10. Vivica A. Fox: Soul Food, Kill Bill, Two Can Play That Game, Set It Off, and a host of other chitin’ circuit flicks perfect for BET.
Always typecast as: Ghetto, street-smart homegirl with a sexy and sassy attitude!
She should “flip the script” as: An older, respectable church mother of the community with zero-sex appeal and a tendency to breakout into long, soul-stirring monologues. If Vivica ever wants Oscar gold, it’s time to hang up her hat as the deputy sheriff of “Cougar Town,” stop catering to the young “50 Cent” crowd and take on some 50-and-over kind of acting roles that doesn’t rely on soul-sista-swagga and saying anything that sounds like “Heyyyyyyy Gurrrrrl!”
9. Samuel L. Jackson: Pulp Fiction, Snakes On a Plane, A Time To Kill, The Negotiator, Jungle Fever, Mo Better Blues, Shaft, the Star Wars trilogy, and about 5,000 others roles; NOBODY works more than Samuel L. Jackson! (He might be part Jamaican and Mexican on his mama’s side.)
Always typecast as: The LOUDEST and baddest mutha-@$*!%# in the room!
He should “flip the script” as: A subtle, more nuanced role of a humble, much-put-upon old black man in the Jim Crow South. It is a travesty that Jackson doesn’t have an Oscar yet; I think the academy needs to see him as a broken character triumphing over trials and tribulations to see his depth as an actor. … Or they could’ve just been too scared to vote for him before!
8. Lucy Liu: Charlie’s Angels 1 and 2, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Mulan II, Chicago, Shanghai Noon, and several other flicks where she practices the ancient Chinese secret of … “Sly-Grin-Scowl.”
Always typecast as: Bad-ass Asian chick with a sexy but slightly psychotic glare.
She should “flip the script” as: Anything but an Asian woman, I suggest playing a white man OR a black woman for a change. (It was good enough for Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.) Lui has only slightly altered the character Ling she played on “Ally McBeal” into every part she’s done … as well as added some Kung-Fu fighting into her repertoire. Moving past her own ethnicity and on-screen sexuality would be good for Lucy, hell she could even do “The Tiger Woods” story, at least one third of the part wouldn’t be a stretch.
7. Jack Nicholson: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, Prizzi’s Honor, A Few Good Men, Batman, and a plethora of other movie roles that will keep coming — even if he’s wheelchair bound and on life support.
Always typecast as: Jack Nicholson
He should “flip the script” as: The valiant hero in a sci-fi flick willing to place his life over others for the greater good. Now I LOVE “wacky-jacky” and clearly he doesn’t need the money OR Oscars. He can keep sneering, face-muggin’ with the eyebrows and spittin’ out hilarious, cranky-old-man diatribes as long as Hollywood will let him; BUT it would be cool to see a change for once. Although I suspect neither you nor I can handle the truth, … I mean the change.
1. Morris Chestnut: Boyz n the Hood, The Best Man, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game, Breakin’ All the Rules, and pretty much anything with Gabrielle Union in it.
Always typecast as: Sexual chocolate man-candy.
He should “flip the script” as: A somewhat deformed and manipulative serial killer. I know playing a bad guy might seem like career suicide but it would give Chestnut a chance to evolve beyond the beefcake lover-man he plays in almost every movie; honestly I’ve seen kiddy pools that were deeper. Besides his fans are loyal, he could be Jack-The-Ripper and they’d be dreaming of him chopping them up … *sigh* but with love.
5. Gabrielle Union: Love & Basketball, Bring It On, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game, Deliver Us from Eva, and anything else with Morris Chestnut in it.
Always typecast as: The confident, hard-nosed but emotionally wounded career woman.
She should “flip the script” as: A geeky, slouchy, 30-ish virgin who has a crush on her co-worker, … um, who’s NOT Morris Chestnut.
I do think Gabby is talented but I would love to see her shed the pretty b–ch-factor and see what she’s really working with, not to mention a new cast to work with while we are at it. If I never see her in another urban romance ensemble, it will be too soon … unless it’s a documentary about “Hollywood Swingers.” (ouch!)
4. Jennifer Aniston: The Good Girl, Marley and Me, The Object Of My Affection, and a bunch of other chick-flick snoozers I’ll never see.
Always typecast as: The girl next door and America’s sweetheart No. 2 after Julia Roberts.
She should “flip the script” as: A sleazy prostitute with a foul mouth and a mean right hook! OK, we get it already: Aniston is just like her cute and lovable character Rachel on “Friends,” but lovable and cute doesn’t seem to translate well with audiences who are increasingly getting sick of the same-old-same old. I suggest channeling some of that hidden rage (that we KNOW she has) against Angelina Jolie for stealing HER man and unleashing the inner crazy b–ch inside for her next role!
She might even get Brad back … nah, I’m joking … that’s a wrap!
3. Will Ferrell: A Night at the Roxbury, Old School, Blades of Glory, and a bunch of other unintelligible frat-boy comedies that require consuming copious amounts of alcohol to enjoy.
Always typecast as: The goofy, man-child who is the latest in a long line of “SNL” alums to play goofy nitwits — from clumsy and goofy Chevy Chase to sarcastic and goofy Adam Sandler.
He should “flip the script” as: An adult with common sense above the fourth grade level. How long can Will Ferrell keep playing the same loser on screen … if you’ve seen one of his movies … you have seen too many.
OK, I’ll admit I kinda liked Blades Of Glory and Old School, but classics they are not. Well, I guess “stupid” pays well because he is one of the highest earning comedic actors on the scene. Who cares about Oscar gold when you are raking in enough of your own for a private Fort Knox …
2. Anthony Anderson: Hustle & Flow, My Baby’s Daddy, Barbershop, Scary Movie 3, Two Can Play That Game, and quite a few others that are primed and ready for the $1.99 bin at Walmart.
Always typecast as: The LOUD, obnoxious, easily frustrated chunky guy.
He should “flip the script” as: A quiet, humble gay man searching for the true meaning of life …
I’ve seen him in interviews and I know he has the savvy to pull off a deeper role or anything that’s a departure from his usual turn as a “sepia” Jackie Gleason.
Now that he’s considerably less “padded” these days, maybe there will be more roles available than the chunky, screaming guy that have been paying his mortgage. Although I can’t help but think even if he were a drag queen he’d still be frustrated and screaming at everyone around him about how slim and “FAB-U-LOUSsssssss” he was!
… And the No. 1 Typecast Actor-Stuck-In-A-Rut is (drum roll please)
Jenifer Lewis: Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns, Dead Presidents, Poetic Justice, Madea’s Family Reunion, The Princess and the Frog and several other films where she’s virtually anonymous to most moviegoers, even now some of you all are looking at her name thinking, “Who Dat?”
Always typecast as: The sassy, tell-it-like-tis’ mama to apparently EVERY actor in modern black cinema today.
She should “flip the script” as: A shy, sweet widower who slowly gets back in the dating game, and is NOT somebody’s mama.
For those who still can’t place-the-face, Lewis played Dean Davenport on “A Different World”; (who was like a mama, sort of). Lewis is a hard working, multitalented thespian without the name or visibility of other actresses of her caliber and experience. I think the right “cougar” affair with a younger, bad-boy star could put her out there … hmmmm, “Taming Bobby Brown” sound good? ALL those kids of his need a mama figure and practice DOES make perfect!
–written and illustrated by lena hopkins-jackson
