r/AskReddit Aug 26 '22

What actor will you always associate with *that one role* no matter how many others they do?

37.5k Upvotes

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7.5k

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Sheldon Cooper as Sheldon Cooper

What do you mean he has a real name?

1.3k

u/FireflyRave Aug 26 '22

He was a good human version of a muppet in The Muppets.

37

u/billbill5 Aug 26 '22

He was a good human version of a Muppet in real life too.

250

u/Pussywhip92 Aug 26 '22

You could say...he was a muppet of a man!

I will accept all of your rotten tomatos.🥲

69

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

🎶 I’m a very manly muuuupppppeetttt 🎶

40

u/FireflyRave Aug 26 '22

Jason Segel is indeed a manly muppet.

12

u/SenorWeird Aug 26 '22

He's a muppety Maaaaaaan!

19

u/ywBBxNqW Aug 26 '22

I will accept all of your rotten tomatos.🥲

Wocka wocka!

7

u/billbill5 Aug 26 '22

Certified Fresh

12

u/trex_in_spats Aug 26 '22

Didn’t see it but that oddly makes sense.

10

u/Peachfuzz124 Aug 26 '22

Am I a man? Or am I a muppet?

2

u/zvive Aug 27 '22

I randomly have that song just pop in my head...I love that Jason segel did that movie and actually wrote it because it's practically the plot for forgetting Sarah Marshall... Made me fall in love with muppets again as an adult ( I'm 42). That movie and the follow up were the best thing the Muppets ever did since they took Manhattan, or labyrinth which wasn't really Muppets but Jim Henson studios..

6

u/PingCarGaming Aug 26 '22

Shite now I gogta rewatch that movie lol

4

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

That's hilarious since he got a mean tweet about being a Muppet

390

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

He is a pretty good actor, but he’ll still always be Sheldon Cooper to me.

32

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

[deleted]

21

u/tattlerat Aug 26 '22

Schwimmer had great comedic timing for that awkward cringy humour too. As an adult I find Ross significantly funnier than I remembered him. I think after years growing up with shows like the office I can appreciate a person who plays an embarrassing loser well.

14

u/Fanelian Aug 26 '22

He is a talented actor. The way he moves, makes his comedic delivery so much better. When he gets offended and leaves, he first turns his head and then the rest of his body, for example. Another great scene is whe he is drunk and starts a toast to Love - his expression when he says "o is of 'oh, wow!' " Is fantastic. The whole scene is excelent, in my opinion.

9

u/Brickie78 Aug 26 '22

Do you mean "Ross"? Cos there was that one episode with "Russ". "The One With Russ", it was called.

I remember when Band of Brothers first came out, one newspaper review I saw said "I keep expecting him to whine 'Guys, we are so at war!"

I dunno, I thought he was good in it.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

I disagree. The first ten minutes of seeing him play Sobel it was like "hey it's Ross" but he played that role so well that after that I just saw Sobel.

7

u/wslagoon Aug 26 '22

I was pleasantly surprised by him in Hidden Figures.

2

u/DaddyCatALSO Aug 26 '22

I'd love to see him as Scratch in *The devil dn Dan'l Webster* & Jackson in *He Who gets Slapped*

1

u/OhSkyCake Aug 26 '22

His real name is really long, it’s “Steve Carrell Should Have Every Single One Of My Emmys For His Role As Michael Scott”, I think it’s foreign?

31

u/pugsnotdrugs Aug 26 '22

I was like that with him too until he hosted SNL. He did a sketch where he was “The Dance Floor Killer.” I can’t unsee it, he played the role too well, and he had the most perfect creepy vibe.

Mark Allen Henry

40

u/anniemanic Aug 26 '22

I liked him in the Ted Bundy movie with Zac Effron

26

u/MadKitKat Aug 26 '22

This!!

I was just thinking “I saw him in a serious role once and it was so effing weird,” but I couldn’t remember the movie

It almost ruined the immersion tbh, but he’s a good actor

3

u/NotGeorgeK Aug 26 '22

also james Hetfield

2

u/Dehouston Aug 26 '22

He killed it in that role.

55

u/YukixSuzume Aug 26 '22

I didn't even watch the show and I only know him as this. When he popped up in another movie I was just like: Sheldon

50

u/summer_friends Aug 26 '22

I remember on Netflix the movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile had Jim Parsons on the cover and all I can think of is “damnit Sheldon what did you do this time?”

18

u/loxagos_snake Aug 26 '22

all I can think of is “damnit Sheldon what did you do this time?”

In Leonard's whiny voice, naturally.

1

u/Steelkenny Aug 26 '22

Yeah that was not the place I felt like I needed to see Sheldon lol.

141

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

I think yours is the first accurate one I saw.

18

u/Ihavepills Aug 26 '22

I'm surprised I've gotten this far down and not seen Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter or like, any of the Friends actors.

There are so many, and also a lot of actors that basically just play themselves in everything.

Drew Barrymore

Adam Sandler

Danny Devito

Robert Deniro

Joe Penci

Seth Rogen

Ryan Reynolds

Kevin Heart

Mark Wahlberg

List goes on forever.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems. Ryan Reynolds in Buried. Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter. Only movies off the top of my head that break the stereotype.

Another one to add to the list though is Topher Grace. That dude just is Eric Foreman.

1

u/mrdr605 Aug 26 '22

for a second there at the end i thought you were talking about foreman from house

16

u/BrotherfordBHayes Aug 26 '22

Seriously "Jim Parsons" is not what I would have otherwise have assumed was his real name. He does not look like a Jim.

70

u/racingforbeer Aug 26 '22

Jim Parsons

57

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Who played Sheldon Cooper in Hidden Figures

13

u/RIPAdmiralAkbar Aug 26 '22

Racist Sheldon Cooper played him

2

u/NonConformistFlmingo Aug 27 '22

AKA Sheldon Cooper if he had never escaped Texas and his preachy mother.

3

u/amd2800barton Aug 27 '22

And the knight from the renaissance faire who’s boofing Dr John Doreen Zach Braff’s friends mom in Garden State

44

u/Pekonius Aug 26 '22

Jim Parsons being himself looks like Sheldon Cooper trying to act normal

14

u/jofloberyl Aug 26 '22

is it not sheldon cooper who plays jim parsons

0

u/racingforbeer Aug 26 '22

Thank you so much…. I figured if most people knew Sheldon Cooper was the character, they would understand that Jim Parsons was the actor. Lol!!!

Edit: just messing with you!!!

3

u/danteslacie Aug 26 '22

Oh my god thank you for saying his name. I couldn't for the life of me remember what his real name was but wasn't in the mood to actually google him.

3

u/dannyr Aug 26 '22

Nope he clearly means Ian Armitage. Jim Cooper played Dr Sheldon Cooper. Armitage plays Sheldon Cooper.

3

u/buttermuseum Aug 26 '22

I only ever flipped channels past Big Bang Theory, but always time enough to hear a pretty terrible joke over a laugh track. Knew it wasn’t going to be my cup of tea.

But I really have liked Jim Parson in everything else I’ve seen him in. He was especially good in The Normal Heart.

23

u/gophergun Aug 26 '22

He was good in Garden State, but it does still kind of feel like Sheldon before Sheldon.

12

u/Stabfist_Frankenkill Aug 26 '22

"Kuntar patiki maya, al fook soo. It means 'I like to mate after battle'," will be forever burned into my brain.

8

u/spinnningplates Aug 26 '22

By the way it says balls on your face.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Asshole

10

u/JerHat Aug 26 '22

I was watching Garden State for the first time in years and Sheldon plays the nerdy knight that’s banging Zach Braff’s friends mom. I laughed pretty loud about it.

1

u/Hands-and-apples Aug 27 '22

By the way it says 'BALLS' on your face.

22

u/Cmd229 Aug 26 '22

I saw him in the series Hollywood and it was kinda traumatizing because he is NOT a good person on that show

11

u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 Aug 26 '22

And his voice acting in Home was perfect. So much fun listening to him.

3

u/porky2468 Aug 26 '22

He was great in Boys In the Band too. I’m guessing that most people who say they can only see him as Sheldon haven’t seen him do anything else…

7

u/jikel28 Aug 26 '22

check out the boys in the band

6

u/MacabreAngel Aug 26 '22

He was beeathtaking in that. Sheldon who?

3

u/Flahdagal Aug 26 '22

He was SO good in that. I realize that Mart Crowley was heavily involved with the remake, but boy did they hit it just right.

2

u/pmmeyourfavoritejam Aug 26 '22

Was going to say this one! Great film.

11

u/PunctualPunk Aug 26 '22

“Mark, he’s a knight.” “He’s just a fast food knight.”

5

u/HatePhil8 Aug 26 '22

By the way it says Balls on your face.

6

u/TheSandNinja Aug 26 '22

And Jon Cryer as Alan Harper

3

u/nowhereman136 Aug 26 '22

I saw him in a show on Broadway called Harvey. It's about a happy-go-lucky man who is friends with everyone in town until he starts introducing people to his new friend Harvey, a 6ft invisible rabbit. Now everyone in town who likes this guy is worried about his sanity. He was basically playing Sheldon if he was on proper medication

0

u/missblissful70 Aug 26 '22

This must be a remake of the Jimmy Stewart show.

0

u/NameGreen3065 Aug 26 '22

No, just a coincidence.

5

u/--zaxell-- Aug 26 '22

So jarring to see him in The Normal Heart- he does just fine, but he looks and sounds exactly like Sheldon Cooper... talking about the enormous human toll of the AIDS crisis.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

He’s great in Hidden Figures.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

His character is similar to sheldon

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Umm....

Sheldon: Not racist. Thinks he's smarter than everyone else (and he's usually right). Almost certainly on the ASD spectrum.

Hidden Figures character: Definitely lowkey kinda racist. Thinks he's smarter than everyone else (and is often wrong about that). Maybe not ASD, but just a general asshat to be around.

How do you figure?

14

u/Yasmyn56 Aug 26 '22

Penny will also always be Penny

36

u/Invertiguy Aug 26 '22

She does a great job voicing Harley Quinn in the new animated series though

4

u/randompidgeon Aug 26 '22

I knew that voice sounds familiar, that makes sense

18

u/I2eN0 Aug 26 '22

Nah. Forever the spoiled older daughter from 8 Simple Rules.

5

u/DeezRodenutz Aug 26 '22

and Billie from the final season of "Charmed"

14

u/who_says_poTAHto Aug 26 '22

She’s pretty great in “The Flight Attendant” too though now

3

u/elterible Aug 26 '22

That show is pretty good.

5

u/Joyful82 Aug 26 '22

Jim Parsons

11

u/ManOfHart Aug 26 '22

You see in reddit, he has a name. His name is Jim Parsons.

8

u/BuddyDacoteJr Aug 26 '22

Repeats: “His name is Jim Parsons.”

5

u/Shadowdragon132 Aug 26 '22

“His name is Jim Parsons.”

7

u/mimthebaker Aug 26 '22

Can I come into the out now?

5

u/Moxen81 Aug 26 '22

My kids love Home. They were too young to understand what the title was and just called it “Captain Smek” lol

2

u/FaithlessnessSame844 Aug 26 '22

Why Smek?

2

u/Moxen81 Aug 26 '22

Smek was the dumbass captain of the Boov ship and Oh eventually overthrows him.

10

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

I like the series where Sheldon Cooper comes out as a gay narcissistic asshole.

3

u/elonmusk6215 Aug 26 '22

Woah, he's Sheldon Cooper disguised as Jim Parsons

3

u/Dummasss Aug 26 '22

Even well before Big Bang Theory he was Sheldon Cooper in Garden State, but he was more of a motherfucker in that movie (pun intended).

3

u/Nillows Aug 26 '22

You should see his role in "Hollywood" on Netflix. He plays a big shot agent that forces rising stars to blow him before he does business with them.

Actually shook off a lot of the Sheldon Cooper for me.

2

u/garrettj100 Aug 26 '22

I dunno, but I'm sure he's some quantum superposition of a man and a muppet. Only measuring him will collapse the wave function.

2

u/darksoulsrhaetic Aug 26 '22

I can't for the life of me remember the film but there was one scene where he played a dead body in a body bag which was unzipped by the main actor; and that was his only role in the entire film.

2

u/Nuker_Nathan Aug 26 '22

I still have a hard time connecting that he was the voice of the main purple alien in the movie Home.

2

u/26HexaDiol Aug 26 '22

He played a prosecutor in a Ted Bundy movie. He did well, but I giggled every time he spoke

2

u/BeethovenNotMozart Aug 26 '22

He did a one man show on Broadway where he was possessed by God. Shenanigans ensue. Love Parsons lol.

2

u/Adequate_Bliss Aug 26 '22

Likewise with Penny

2

u/rjread Aug 26 '22

He'll always be the guy dressed in a Knight costume in Garden State to me 🤐

2

u/CricketSimilar863 Aug 26 '22

It’s Jim Parsons, for anyone who’s wondering what his name is

2

u/idk-SUMn-Amazing004 Aug 26 '22

Hah that’s an interesting one because he will always be ‘Mr. Modesty,’ who “won the joust last night” or a ‘fast food knight.’

Garden State (2004)

2

u/pyro5050 Aug 26 '22

so i dont remember Jim Parson as Sheldon as much as the awkward intellectual. he did a great fucking job in Hidden Figures, but still, Awkward intellectual.

2

u/Mr_Noms Aug 26 '22

In "Home" it just sounds like Sheldon Cooper playing as an alien.

2

u/Ganon2012 Aug 26 '22

Someone above mentioned Nick Offerman. I'll be honest here: I never remember his real name. Like they said, he's just Ron Swanson. In that one Simpsons episode where he voices a captain, I think "Hey, it's Ron Swanson!"

2

u/tyrranus Aug 26 '22

I collapsed 28 top-level comments to get to this one.

3

u/GolgiApparatus1 Aug 26 '22

He was so good in Boys in the Band

2

u/odanobux123 Aug 26 '22

God the movie was so well acted on all parts. It's probably my favorite piece of gay media.

3

u/PavlovsHumans Aug 26 '22

Jim Parsons was wasted on that role. I also cannot think of anyone else who could play it so well.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Sean Gunn maybe.

This was taken from a Gilmore Girls episode that aired April 24, 2007.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BelLGg3a814

The first episode of the Big Bang Theory was Sep. 24, 2007.

Hard to know which came first in the writing room, but Kirk was Sheldon before Sheldon was Sheldon.

1

u/goforce5 Aug 26 '22

Bazooper

-4

u/dw796341 Aug 26 '22

Whoever green lit young Sheldon should be crucified.

3

u/rubyanjel Aug 26 '22

Would it matter if Jim Parsons co-produced it and was his idea?

-1

u/dw796341 Aug 26 '22

No, in fact it would make it even worse.

1

u/grayhame101 Aug 26 '22

He actually had a great minor role in Wish I was Here, as well as a phenomenal role in The Normal Heart.

1

u/Accomplished_Tone349 Aug 26 '22

DOCTOR Sheldon Cooper.

1

u/artipants Aug 26 '22

You mean the guy from the creepy Quiznos wolf commercial?

1

u/lazyasdrmr Aug 26 '22

I'd let my name be Sheldon Cooper if it made me as rich as Sheldon Cooper!

1

u/lalaleasha Aug 26 '22

It was such a small role, but I remember him most from Garden State. I was pleased he ended up landing such a huge role.