What of diversifying career plans? Nothing i enjoyed more than witnessing Jim Carrey performance in The Number 23 as opposed to the usual "Grinchy" comedies, for example. The acting prototype can express a multitude of characters which brings their true talent in focus. Willis the cop or a twelfth monkee, Eastwood the good or a foxy spying pilot... many try, a few succeed at braking the mold of fans expectations. By choice. Our perception does the rest.

Z, you're right. But there have been countless times where movie stars have tried to break out of the public's perception of them and failed. You mention Jim Carrey. I remember when Cable Guy came out. Even though the movie went on to eke out a profit and has even developed something of a cult following, there were howls everywhere at the darker version of Carrey [it still only rates a 50% on RT]. In fact many lead actors don't want to do unsympathetic roles, not even down-and-out types, an example of which I wrote about here. I think it's pretty rare to have an actor like Michael Douglas who can play good guys as well as embrace opportunities to play morally challenged characters all the way 'down' to outright villains.

Scott, Very much enjoying this series on "How to Write Photoplays" and glad it is available on Google Books as copies are near impossible (read: costly) to find. This will be the first book I read on my smartphone.

Meg, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. I'm fascinated by the idea of what we can discover is the same and different between how they approached writing movies nearly 100 years ago compared to today. What's interesting is how similar it is. More to come in the weeks ahead!