Is there such a thing as "Plotcasting"?

The topic of some actors in the film industry being typecasted is one that has been around for some time, and there is no indication that the discussion will be letting up any time soon. For some, multiple roles in a similar capacity don’t demonstrate enough of an actor’s repertoire, while for others it is simply finding a niche and excelling in it.

 

Throughout the years, actors such as Morgan Freeman, Johnny Depp, Michelle Rodriquez, Jim Carrey and many others have all demonstrated that is it possible to have quite a successful career, even if you are branded as a typecast actor. While this has been going on for a while, a recent observation forced the thought into another category for actors, which prompted the query, is there such a thing as “plotcasting”?

 

 

What is Plotcasting?

 

The easiest way to respond to such a query – Liam Neeson. The Northern Ireland-born actor has managed to amass a successful career edging towards four decades in the industry, but of late he has been involved in quite a few movies that have one thing in common – the plot in one way or another involves kidnapping.

 

Neeson always seems to be involved in a kidnapping situation.

 

The release of Taken (2008) drew many movie lovers to the box office, as Neeson shone in his role as Bryan Mills. His daughter had been kidnapped on a trip to Europe, and with the use of the intelligence skills he developed while working for the CIA, he makes the journey to bring her home safe. In the process of rescuing his daughter, Mills killed quite a few Albanian mobsters, with the crime syndicate was not too happy about.

 

Though some considered the film unnecessary, knowledge of this disdain is what allowed individuals to return to theatres in 2012 for the release of Taken 2. In this production, Mills is back in Europe on a security job, where his daughter and ex-wife decide to surprise him. With the Albanians out for blood, they manage to track his whereabouts, and subsequently kidnap him and his ex-wife while they are out having lunch. They made an attempt to kidnap his daughter (again), but he saw them coming so he was able to warn her. After Mills is able to escape, he tracks the kidnappers all the way back to the source – Murad Krasniqi, the head of the crime family – where they make a truce to leave things as they are. Before Mills could get out of the room, however, Murad betrays him, so he is forced to end his life.

 

In the midst of those films, Neeson appeared in no less than five films, and among the lot there were more similarities. So much so that an article described Unknown as Taken with a bit of identity theft, The Grey as Taken with wolves, and Non-Stop as simply Taken on a plane.

 

Having appeared in those films, the producers may have spared little thought before contacting Neeson to star in the recently released production – A Walk Among The Tombstones. In this film, the actor plays Matthew Scudder, an ex-cop who works as an unlicensed private investigator. He is fired by a drug dealer to track down those who…you guessed it…kidnapped his wife. Unlike the other films, the wife is already dead before Neeson is brought into the picture, but he still uses his skills and expertise to track down the kidnappers for the husband.

 

Neeson in “The Grey”.

 

Just when fans might have thought that they had enough, reports surfaced that a Taken 3 was in the works, with Neeson of course set to reprise his role as Bryan Mills. Questions and doubts are already arising from the news, as movie lovers are curious as to who is next in line to be “taken”, with Neeson’s fans in particular somewhat tired of the actor appearing in such roles.

 

 

A Slight Difference

 

It should be noted that with all the films being referenced, typecasting in also evident. In the soon-to-be Taken trilogy, as well as in A Walk Among The Tombstones, Neeson plays a former member of a law enforcement agency who is now using the knowledge and skills he picked up to do some freelance work of his own. Having said that, the rationale behind the question is still the same, the similarity of the plots.

 

Freeman is always the “wise old man”, but The Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty, Dark Knight, (and all his other roles of a similar character) are of a different plot. The same can be said of the ever-eccentric Depp – Edward Scissorhands, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, The Lone Ranger, Alice in Wonderland – or the “badass Latina” Rodriquez – Fast and the Furious, Machete, while the roles are very much alike, the plot certainly are not.

 

So is there such a thing as plotcasting? That determination will be left up to you. What can be said, however, is that if Neeson – and any other actor who might find himself or herself in a similar scenario – continues along these lines, they may have a hard time consistently enticing movie lovers to watch them.

 

 

 

 

Is there such a thing as "Plotcasting"?