Can you name an actor who played a role a little too well? What I mean is, think of a character that was portrayed so believably that you will forever associate that character with its performer
Jamie Foxx may come to mind for his role as the late soul musician Ray Charles, or maybe you’re thinking of Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lector.
For me, it will always be Danny Glover as Mister in “The Color Purple.”
If you’ve never seen “The Color Purple,” good. Read the book, which is better; then see the movie. If you don’t read books, you should start.
Either way, Glover’s portrayal of an ignorant, abusive husband was so believable that I feel he deserved both an Oscar and a punch in the head simultaneously.
My point is, playing a character too well can become a curse when actors find it impossible to shake their on-screen persona.
For example, one of my favorite television shows is “To Catch a Predator.” It stars an adult actress pretending to be a 12-year-old in order to bait child predators into a home full of cameras and cops. If you have never seen the show, her famous catchphrase goes something like this:
“Oh hey! Come on in! I poured you some frozen lemonade. I’m going to go change into my swimsuit real quick … did you bring condoms?”
Once the guy says yes, game over.
This woman is the latest victim of what I refer to as The Danny Glover Curse. Imagine hitting on a woman in a nightclub, having her turn around, and then realizing it’s the little girl from “To Catch a Predator”. How horrifying. You would not think of her as an actress who likes to party on her day off. You would assume that you were being set up in an elaborate sting operation; and that Chris Hansen was waiting by the DJ booth with the County Sheriff, just waiting for a signal.
Even if you managed to look past her day job and started a relationship with this woman, could you imagine the stares you two would get while holding hands and walking down the street as a couple?
How long do you think it would be before someone punched you in the head, slammed you against the pavement and made a citizen’s arrest?
Not very long I suppose, especially in Texas.