Following the announcement that Christopher Eccleston will step down from his role as Doctor Who even as the series earns another season, the BBC has put out this feature on typecasting. The usual suspects are represented, as they usually are: Sean Connery/Bond, Christopher Reeve/Superman, the sublime Alec Guinness grumpy about his association with Obi Wan Kenobi. Aside from a quarter-century old quote about Mary Poppins' orgasms, the real kicker in this article is the grace with which Christopher Lee recounts his boogie-man typecasting:

There are advantages to being typecast, however, as horror veteran Christopher Lee discovered after playing Dracula for the first time in 1958.
"I do not regret anything," he said.
Playing the Count gave him "a name, a fan club and a second-hand car, for all of which I was grateful".

That's class. Heck, Sir Alec Guinness was knighted for his acting--you would think he would have liked swinging a lightsaber around.

--
Posted by erik to HipSmart at 3/31/2005 10:33:18 AM