Genres classify films into certain categories but what about actors? An actor may take part in various types of movies in the course of their career and in doing so will often earn a classification of his or her. There are different classifications that fit with certain actors like; impersonator actors, character actors, wild card actors and personality actors. In the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Liv Tyler, elf Arwen, Elija Wood, Frodo Baggins and Viggo Mortensen, Aragon are a few of which that are well worth mentioning.
Liv Tyler, actress and former child model plays the role of Arwen, the daughter of Elrod leader of the woodland elves. Liv is the daughter of Aerosmith’s lead singer, Steven Tyler and model Bebe Buell (Wikipedia.) She has had an impeccable career holding roles in several movies such as; The Leftovers a television drama series, 1998 Armageddon a science fiction disaster film, and The Incredible Hulk a superhero film featuring Marvel Comics, to name only a few. A character actor is one that is able to fit invisible into a wide variety of disparate characters, adapting to the needs of the script and director they work with. A personality actor on the other hand is one in which the actor at some level is playing their self (Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. 2014.) Tyler, I feel, fits both of these characterizations. In her role in Armageddon she plays the daughter and girlfriend of two men chosen to go into space to save the world. In this film her character was rooted in her own personality. The scene where she says goodbye to her boyfriend, Ben Aflac, she shows all the emotion and fears that one would attribute to most women in a position of saying goodbye. However, in Lord of the Rings, Tyler plays into the character aspect. She is an elvish princess in love with the heir to the throne, Aragon and chooses a mortal life in hopes of saving her beloved. She proves herself to be a versatile actress in her varying roles.
Elija Wood, American actor and film producer has also been in an array of movies. From the coming of age movie, All I Want, to horror movie in 1993 The Good Son, he has proven himself to be more of a character actor. Beginning in 1993 in Back to the Future II he has played a divers number of roles but until this trilogy he was mostly invisible to the public.
Sometimes an actor’s skill and techniques allow him or her to play in a variety of characters so well that it is difficult to typecast them. When an actor achieves this they are labeled as a wild card (Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs C. 2014.) Viggo Mortensen, American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter definitely fits the wild card characterization. He has starred in roles in movies of almost every genre, from crime dramas, westerns, apocalyptic dramas, fantasy horror, horror and fantasy. Playing in the critically acclaimed 1998 movie Psycho to trilogy of the Lord of the Rings it is difficult to classify him any other way.
Liv Tyler and Elija Wood may always be classified in this manner either because they are comfortable in playing these types of roles or because they could find it difficult to prove their abilities to fit other characterizations. Mortensen on the other hand will always be considered a wild card. His ability to play such a wide range of characters so well it is inevitable that he will continue down this road.
Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. (2014) Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego,CA, Bridgepoint Education Inc.
Middle Earth 