Can you like an actor/ actress if they play nasty roles ?

[ken123]

My late mother disliked Claire Trevor because she played unfaithul wives, tramps, mobsters dolls, dance hall girls, so often in her career. My mother also disliked Angela Lanbury because she often played the " other woman ", for example Capras' State of the Union. When, as a teenager, I started posting pin ups of Claire on my bedroom wall my mom changed her opinion of Clair, after watching a few episodes of Murder, She Wrote her opinion of Angela changed also.

[Professional Tourist]

Yes, I can like an actor/actress if he/she plays nasty roles. I like Angela Lansbury, Mercedes McCambridge, and of course Agnes Moorehead. Among actors I like John Cassavetes, Henry Daniell, and Joseph Cotten, who have all played their share of bad guys. So yes!

[Uncle Stevie]

This is a great question. I totaly agree that all of us are persuaded to dislike someone if they constantly play a dark role. I even choose my modern day theater movies based on my like or dislike of the star. I have been racking my brain to come up with turn offs from yesteryear and can only think of the movie rather than the actor. I think I was more influenced by some of the charactor actors rather than the leads. I always wanted the star to not get murdered. One person does stand out that frightened me. Richard Widmark was always playing a psycho murderer and he frightened me.


Uncle Stevie

[JackFavell]

Yes.

Unless it is Louis Calhern in Devil's Doorway.

[Lzcutter]

I adore him when he is a good guy, I adore him when he is an amoral guy and I adore him when he is a bad guy (and when he is bad, he is just plain mean and nasty like nobody else), I just plain adore (and always will), the wonderful Lee Marvin.

[srowley75]

Some I enjoy/like: George Sanders, David Hess, Martin Stephens, Miranda Richardson, Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Irons, Eduardo Ciannelli, Judith Anderson, and (naturally) Boris Karloff and Bette Davis.

[MichiganJ]

Alan Rickman, John Malkovich, Christopher Walken, Ian McShane, Sid Haig, etc.

[MissGoddess]

Now I can, but I realize that I used to hold certain roles against actors I now really like, namely, Robert Ryan, Richard Widmark and Ralph Meeker. They all played psychos or just plain unpleasant, and I disliked them. I now know it's because of their characters and I wasn't seeing past them. Ryan, especially, veered from loathsome to lovable in my world.

[ken123]

Now I can, but I realize that I used to hold certain roles against actors I now really like, namely, Robert Ryan, Richard Widmark and Ralph Meeker. They all played psychos or just plain unpleasant, and I disliked them. I now know it's because of their characters and I wasn't seeing past them. Ryan, especially, veered from loathsome to lovable in my world.

All Irishmen are extremely lovable.

[MissGoddess]

I can't disagree with that!

[ken123]

I can't disagree with that!

MissGoddess,
You show outstanding taste & intelligence.

[intothenitrate]

I was poking around the Mary Astor thread the other day and saw a lot of comments about the Ruth Chatterton part in Dodsworth. It seemed like she played it so well, it cost her a lot of affection. I just thought she was a hoot. That got me thinking of my own experience watching Fred MacMurray recently in The Caine Mutiny. I guess Fred's always been on the fence for me, but after seeing him in that role, his esteem on my personal fan-meter completely plummeted. It's funny how you can suspend your disbelief for some on-screen antics, but draw the line for others.

[Ann Harding]

I personally never like an actor (better) because he plays nice or nasty parts. I enjoy GOOD actors/actresses. In France, you don't get as much typecasting as you do in Hollywood. A good actor can play a good guy or a villain. I guess it's never entered my mind to confuse the actor and his parts. And yes, I love immensely the great Hollywood baddies: Richard Widmark, Basil Rathbone, etc.

[JackFavell]

I agree with Ann Harding, I LOVE a good baddie! However, I have found that there is at least one character that has influenced my liking of an actor. I saw Devil's Doorway in the last year, and I have to say that Louis Calhern's villain in that movie was so well done that I almost despise him on sight now. I am finding it very hard to separate him from that character, because it was such a powerful portrayal. I want to get beyond it, but he was so AWFUL, I just can't.

[MissGoddess]

Watching Brad Dexter in 99 River Street, I realized how sexy a villain can be to me.