You So Crazy: Emily Mortimer
Typecasting. It’s something that happens way too often in Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio the vulnerable rebel. Hugh Grant the silly Brit who gets the girl. Reese Witherspoon the adorable blonde. Denzel Washington the detective. Michelle Rodriguez the tough chick. Alec Baldwin the dickhead. It must be hard to spread your wings in Hollywood, with studios likely wanting to go with proven commodities during the casting process.
“Hey, I’ve got it. Let’s get Keaunu Reeves. He’s already played the unlikely hero in sci-fi movies about a half dozen times. What’s one more? He’s proven and his acting isn’t strong enough that it will take away from the whizbang special effects. Plus, he’ll be cheaper, err, more cost effective I mean than Will Smith. People pay to see Keanu do sci-fi!”
Then again, not every actor can be Morgan Freeman. My favorite example of typecasting is when actors are cast as looney tunes, certified wackjobs over and over and over again. That’s why “You So Crazy” will be a new feature here at FlickSided. First up…
Emily Mortimer
Either she’s certifiably nutso or she’s one of the finest actresses working today. My guess is both. Just look at her eyes…
It’s like her right eye is saying, “yes, yes, I love the world, let me see more;” and her left eye is saying, “no, no, goodbye cruel world, I can’t bear to watch.” That look is even more exaggerated on screen. Let’s take a look at some of her roles…
Lovely & Amazing – She plays an actress — and what is crazier than an actress playing an actress? — who befriends stray dogs and gets all depressed when she’s rejected for a role.
Formula 51 – She plays an assassin who’s amassed huge gambling debts.
Match Point – “GIVE ME A BABY!”
Chaos Theory – “Get out of my house. Oh, and our daughter really isn’t yours you sterile bastard!”
Transsiberian – She plays a reformed wild child who goes cold turkey on the booze and marries a Goody Two-Shoes who’s obsessed with trains.
Redbelt – She plays a pill-popping lawyer who discharges a firearm in the middle of a martial arts studio.
Shutter Island – She plays a nurse who pretends to be the most insane mental patient in the asylum, Rachel Solando.
The Mortimer typecasting is progressively getting worse. It’s so bad at this point that the crazy chick (just a hunch) who plays crazy chicks is playing crazy chicks playing crazy chicks within her movies. She’s just showing off her unstoppable instability at this point. The only problem is that once you go wack you never go back, or at least that’s what they say. Fortunately for Mortimer, there will never be a shortage of cuckoo casting possibilities. After all, this is Hollywood we are talking about. Oh, and Emily, get the eff out of my dreams. You’re freaking me out with that half-opened devil eye, lady.
