Is Sarah Typecast?

[white avenger]

I just noticed the thread about Sarah's new series, "Ringer," being in danger of cancellation. I've never watched the show, so I can't testify to the quality of the show, but I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, members here would join me in saying that Sarah's talent and professionalism would put her at the very least in the upper 25% of the actors on television today, so here's my question:

Since "Buffy" ended, Sarah's career has been lackluster to say the least. I realize that having a baby has taken up some of her time, and her bargain with Freddie about alternating years of working, but, still, she should have been able to find something notable by now. (Correct me here if I'm wrong, but I can't, for the life of me, think of a single thing that Sarah has made since "Buffy" that would qualify as being any kind of hit) So, is it just a string of bad luck, poor timing, and poor judgement that has held her back, or is it just that no one can associate the name "Sarah Michelle Geller" with anything that doesn't include wooden stakes and things that go bump in the night?

 

[FaithsFollower]

The fact that Ringer is in danger of cancellation is because people don't know a great show when they see one! 😛

But yeah. I see what you're saying. But then, while watching Ringer, I didn't see Buffy and it was refreshing to see SMG in a show without vampires.

It's like Friends. I still see certain peeps as their characters, mainly because I haven't seen them in anything besides Friends [Matthew Perry doesn't count; even when I was watching Mr. Sunshine he was still Chandler. Dude needs to do some serious drama].

 

[white avenger]

The fact that Ringer is in danger of cancellation is because people don't know a great show when they see one! 😛

I, and a lot of other people have said the same thing about "John Carter," (not to hijack my own thread, I'm just using that as another example) so I can totally agree with your statement, but that is my point. You don't see Buffy while watching "Ringer," but I would be willing to bet that a lot of people haven't bothered to even watch the show because they think, "It's that vampire girl again," and never gave it a chance.

 

[Jodast]

I think it is a mixture of typecasting, poor choices and unwillingness to 'play the game'. She was a big reason that BtVS was so successful and throughtout the seven seasons of the show she was never less than brilliant. Whether you liked her character or not, she was spot on every time without fail. The writers put her through her paces as an actor as well, everything from melodrama to mime with some singing and comedy in between. So we know that whatever you throw at her ,she is more than capable of doing it.

I think part of the problem is that she isn't great at choosing projects, at least from a commercial standpoint. A lot of the things she has done sound good from an intellectual standpoint 'Southland Tales', 'The Air I Breathe' 'The Wonderful Maladys' to name three, but as history shows, what sounds good during a pitch meeting and on the pages of a scrpit doesn't always translate well to the screen, especially not once studio execs, over-zealous agents and other outside interests become involved. Sarah is, by all accounts, very intelligent and I dare say that the things she chooses to do appeal to that side of her nature.

Remember that has been acting since she was four years old has done commercials, movies, soaps and had one TV show that went seven seasons and another that has gone at least one and possibly two. She made enough money during Buffy that as long as she has been sensible with her cash, she doesn't need to pick work based on its potential popularity and the paydays that come with it. Not to mention the cooby Doo money. She is a working actor, which is a status that a lot of people would be more than happy with.

She has people like us who believe that she is capable of stardom based on talent alone, but if that were the case Philip Seymour hoffman would be the most famous man on Earth. Sometimes you need to put yourself out there and court the media and pander to get the popular vote if you want superstardom. Nicki Minaj was has been a talented artist for quite a while, but it's only the last year or two since she started going out in public wearing the stuff that even Lady Gaga rejected that she has received the public attention that her fans felt she deserved.

To be honest though, I don't think Saraah wants superstardom, I think she wants to be a respected and more importantly, working actor.

Of course she might choose to do a third Scooby Doo movier and make this whole post null and void. 🙂

---------- Post added at 05:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:42 PM ----------

sorry about all the typos

 

[white avenger]

To be honest though, I don't think Sarah wants superstardom, I think she wants to be a respected and more importantly, working actor.

Of course she might choose to do a third Scooby Doo movie and make this whole post null and void. 🙂

Yeah, especially the "working" part. In her profession, remaining constantly in the public's eye and thoughts is at least as important as the money made or even the relative success, within reason, as the actual role itself. Unless her name is Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Robert Redford, or a very few others, 2 years out of the public's eye and an actor had better consider taking up another career, because no one remembers your name.

(And as for another "Scooby Doo" movie, I always saw Daphne, the way that Sarah played her, as almost a comical parody of Buffy)

 

[Taake]

Yeah, especially the "working" part. In her profession, remaining constantly in the public's eye and thoughts is at least as important as the money made or even the relative success, within reason, as the actual role itself. Unless her name is Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Robert Redford, or a very few others, 2 years out of the public's eye and an actor had better consider taking up another career, because no one remembers your name.

Well to be honest, remaining constantly in the public's eyes and thoughts is not all that it takes to be a successful actor, to my mind there are plenty of less famous successful actors/actresses who are known in the industry rather than to the public.

So for Sarah not being a "household name success" or whatever since Buffy I don't think says anything at all. What speaks to me is the quality of her work. ''Lesser'' actors are worth ten of the Angelina Jolies out there frolicking around on tabloid covers. The only thing they advertise is that if you do stupid or scandalous stuff in the public eye you'll get roles because people like talking trash about you. If you're a normal person, living a somewhat low key life, trying to do your job then you're boring, you're not making headlines, you're not remembered... it's not about acting or working, it's a sad social commentary if anything in my opinion and I'll go on watching all the movies made my 'lesser' famed actors because the highly-paid / greatly remembered actors are usually grossly overrated and not at all deserving of the so called "success" they supposedly have.