#typecasting

Nothing defines the 1980s quite like a headline writer absolutely refusing to let a pun go to waste. Here we have Catherine Bach lamenting the struggle of being synonymous with cut-off denim while simultaneously rocking a red corset that looks like it was designed for a high-fashion barn dance. It’s a fascinating paradox: complaining about the "Hazzard" to one's serious acting career while sporting hair with enough volume to hide a CB radio. You have to respect the hustle, though, when your character's name literally becomes the dictionary definition for a specific cut of shorts, you've achieved a level of cultural immortality that Shakespeare could only dream of.

There’s so much talent that never gets real opportunities because studios keep cycling through the same small group of familiar faces. Casting someone who hasn’t already been everywhere would make the character feel more authentic and give a breakout chance to an actor who actually needs it.

Miles deserves to feel fresh, not like another case of typecasting the same few people over and over.

I began to do a full watch of Kathryn Hahn’s Filmography a few months back, as I went on I decided to start taking some notes on the typecastings I often saw, it’s been interesting actually, basically I’ve looked at sexuality, religion and parent-status. The list isn’t done yet so I won’t go too far into it

BUT

I’ve also been watching a decent chunk of Aubrey Plaza’s filmography when I realised how little of it I had seen.

So Kathryn is 51, Aubrey is 40 - yes there is a chunk of age difference between them but they are close to the same ‘playing age’ for a lot of things. They have done a similar amount of projects - IMDB has Aubrey in 98 and Kathryn in 85 but there are a bunch of credits which are for shorts that aren’t easy to find anymore for Aubrey.

Now I haven’t finished either of their Filmographies yet but I have watched a decent chunk of both and I’ve looked through them enough to be pretty sure I won’t find many more Mum roles for Aubrey in what I haven’t seen.

I don’t count voice work for this because it doesn’t really affect how an actress appears. I can absolutely see that Kathryn has the ‘Mum’ look though.

I have seen Aubrey play a Mum 6 times - two of which she is playing biologically female but is the ‘father.’

Kathryn has played a Mum 34 times..! Pretty sure Aubrey has also never played a visibly pregnant character and has only been pregnant on screen for one role.

It’s amazing to see how much this attests to their individual image both in terms of style and in terms of build - and no I don’t mean weight, I mean that Kathryn is just curvier generally. But it also probably has a lot to say about their early work and the things that created their image as an actor.

I bring a kind of Artful Dodger vibe to the club they just don’t appreciate.

You couldn't look into my eyes

And tell me that lie...only speak of love

When the lights are down

Your voice thick with lust

And nothing else. I didn't even try

Saying it back to go along with the act

No point kidding a kidder

Not content as an undercover lover

This one, that one, and the other...then me

Another baby to toss out with the bath water

Did you flatter yourself I believed you?

I blush for you now and not in the way

I once did; secondhand embarrassment

More intense than my former flattered flush

Deeper than your fleeting interest extended

I knew even then it was pretend

But I told myself I didn't mind at the time

Swallowing practiced prepackaged lines

That was then and now I have no desire

To entertain any more would-be playboys

Who at that only half-assedly try

I could've told you I loved you

But unlike you, I didn't want to lie

Batman: The Animated Series S1 Ep32 - "Beware the Gray Ghost