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Avatar List added by Grand Assault on 26 August 2008 06:04

Rent-an-actor

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People who added this item   Average listal rating (58 ratings) 5.6  
1. Gary Busey
Rent-a-henchman

Busey is invariably a psycho henchman that the protagonist has to overcome at some point. He's big, he's bad and he's usually immune to pain!

Notable examples:
Lethal Weapon
Under Siege
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (9 ratings) 6.6  
2. Al Leong
Rent-a-henchman

Always the lower tier of henchman, Al nevertheless guarantees to impress with his five seconds of fame when he runs on with a sub machine gun and gets instantly taken down in a hail of lead.

Notable examples:
Die Hard
Lethal Weapon
Beverly Hills Cop III
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (177 ratings) 6.1  
3. Danny Trejo
Rent-a-henchman

More often than not, Trejo is seen as a background latino gangbanger. Covered in tats and with a trademark handlebar moustache, he probably has killed people before in real life, so he pulls off the role with aplomb!

Notable examples
Con Air
Desperado
From Dusk till Dawn
Once upon a time in Mexico
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (167 ratings) 7.8  
4. Jeremy Irons
Rent-a-villain

Jeremy Irons is a legend, no question. Sadly he seems to get hired for his accent rather than his acting prowess.

Notable examples
Dungeons & Dragons
Die Hard: With a Vengeance
The Lion King
Time Machine
Appallosa
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (139 ratings) 7.3  
5. Dennis Hopper
Rent-a-villain

Dennis Hopper solves all of life's problems with Amyl Nitrate. If only it was that simple.

Notable examples
Speed
Super Mario Bros.
Waterworld
Land of the Dead
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (18 ratings) 6.6  
6. Tchéky Karyo
Rent-a-villain

Is he French? Is he Turkish? Who knows, the only thing for certain is that he's an unhinged loon who is usually in the wrong when he's playing someone on the right side of the law.

Notable examples
Bad Boys
Dobermann

People who added this item   Average listal rating (233 ratings) 6.3  
7. Ving Rhames
Rent-a-black toughguy

Ving Rhames is adept in complex and deep roles, such as nightclub bouncer and no-nonsense tough guys!

Notable examples
Striptease
Con Air
Dawn of the Dead
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (262 ratings) 6.6  
8. Michael Clarke Duncan
Rent-a-black toughguy

The superior black tough guy, whose build and stature ensure a greater class of villain. i.e, he's probably more expensive than Ving Rhames.

Notable examples
Sin City
Daredevil
Scorpion King
Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (51 ratings) 7  
9. James Spader
Rent-a-pervert

Salacious, slimy, sleazy and downright disgusting, Spader's your man if you want a sexual deviant who is governed by bizarre lusty fantasies.

Notable examples
Crash
Secretary
Sex, Lies and Videotapes
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (292 ratings) 7.4  
10. Jake Gyllenhaal
Rent-an-edgy teenager

He's so weird, he's so quirky, he even auditioned for the bag loving freak in American Beauty. We get the point, you're the flagship of the myspace generation!

Notable examples
Donnie Darko
The Day After Tomorrow
Bubble Boy
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (211 ratings) 6.3  
11. Brian Cox
Rent-an-ageing leader

If you want an old war veteran who seems to be tiptoeing around the idea of one last surge for power or moment of glory, look no further than the Coxster.

Notable examples
Troy
X2: X-Men United
The Bourne Supremacy
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (193 ratings) 5.5  
12. Rob Schneider
Rent-a-hapless sidekick

Need some comic relief? Maybe even a sidekick who borderlines on the retarded? Get his agent on the phone.

Notable examples
Home Alone 2
50 First Dates
Judge Dredd
Big Daddy
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (16 ratings) 4.6  
13. Reginald VelJohnson
Rent-a-cop

The huggable teddy-bear of a cop that would probably let even the most sinister of villains off with just a slapped wrist and a terse verbal warning. Things aren't quite all right on the home front though...

Notable examples
Die Hard
Die Hard 2
Turner and Hooch
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (322 ratings) 7  
14. Hugh Grant
Rent-a-fop

Infuriating, stuttering, inept, blabbering and generally useless at everything, look no further than Hugh for the archetypal lovestruck fool.

Notable examples
Love Actually
Notting Hill
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Micky Blue Eyes
Sense and Sensibility
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (15 ratings) 6  
15. Danny Dyer
Rent-a-cockney

Painting a disgraceful picture of Londoners everywhere. He's untalented and boring, the kid that managed to avoid being bullied at school by telling jokes. Gets any roles because his accent is oh so funny.

Notable examples
Severance
Human Traffic
The Football Factory
The Business
Outlaw
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (37 ratings) 5.9  
16. Ray Winstone
Rent-a-cockney

I still maintain that he ruins any film that he's in. Another larger than life East Londoner who 'dont take na shit of naawan'

Notable examples
King Arthur
Scum
Indiana Jones IV
Sexy Beast
Nil By Mouth
Quadrophenia
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (184 ratings) 7.3  
17. Jason Statham
Rent-a-cockney hardman

The all action hard man from London. God only knows how he always ends up working for American police forces or in European crime syndicates.

Notable examples
War
The Italian Job
Mean Machine
Snatch
Crank
...everything.

Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (550 ratings) 7.2  
18. Keira Knightley
Rent-a-period drama

Apparently there are still single women all over the world who live in Austen-ian fantasies. The heroine of choice in big screen adaptations of this frightful period is a woman so skeletal that she often fails to deliver even her own accent convincingly.

Notable examples
Pride and Prejudice
The Duchess
Atonement
Pirates of the Caribbean
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (11 ratings) 5  
19. Nathan Jones
Rent-a-man mountain

Jonesey is massive, there's no doubt about it. Where better to employ his talents than against pocket-sized Eastern Martial Arts specialists!

Notable examples
Troy
The Warrior King
Fearless
The Condemned
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (136 ratings) 5.9  
20. Eva Mendes
Rent-a-slag

Eva Mendes must be on speed-dial #1 when it comes to needing some naked totty with attitude. Almost always employed as a gangster's wife with an allergy to clothing.

Notable examples
Training Day
We Own The Night
2 Fast 2 Furious
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (136 ratings) 6  
21. Anna Faris
Rent-a-bimbo

Generic, petite, blonde, the classic traits of a bimbo. It kind of worked in the initial Scary Movie film, but to go on and build a career out of it? That's weak! She's not even hot!

Notable examples:
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Lost in Translation
House Bunny
Hot Chick
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (73 ratings) 4.5  
22. Carmen Electra
Rent-a-slag

If you want a slag that knows she's a slag though, look no further. She looks so fake these days that not even the next series of Terminator would be pleased to call her model a humanoid.

Notable examples:
Scary Movie
Starsky & Hutch
Epic Movie
Meet the Spartans
...everything
Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (68 ratings) 5.8  
23. Michelle Rodriguez
Rent-some-girlpower

Michelle is big and tough and she's out there to break up conventions and stick two fingers up at the sexist establishment and she's in your face and she'll kick your arse and anything a man can do she can do better and on and on and on...

Notable examples:
The Fast and the Furious
SWAT
Resident Evil
Girlfight

Grand Assault's rating:

People who added this item   Average listal rating (260 ratings) 6.7  
24. Jeff Goldblum
Rent-a-scientist

It doesn't matter what discipline, nor weather he is an anti-social loner or a wise-cracking, smug genius, Goldblum can play them all. At least he's not giving us a bad name, I wish real scientists were like him.

Notable examples:
Jurassic Park
The Fly
Independence Day
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Grand Assault's rating:



Comments

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 27 6:49
Christopher Walken and Malcolm McDowell are perfect Rent-a-Villains aswell.
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 27 8:14
I want to vote for this, but I'm still maybe angry at you so don't expect a vote till this evening at the earliest!
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 28 9:56
Love this list. Another good one is actually Kiera Knightly, who seems to specialize in the strong young woman roles.
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 30 21:47
Oh! That works, too. And I can think of at least one more of her movies that's true of. Very nice. :)
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 30 21:56
Another rent-a-villain - Jason Isaacs. Harry Potter, Patriot, Dragonheart, Peter Pan...
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 31 7:31
Malcolm McDowell - Rent-a-villain!!

I Spy
Star Trek: Generations
Tank Girl

Defo employed for his accent!
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Aug 31 7:57
If only he was in a single respectable film that someone might have watched this century!
Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago at Sep 12 10:25
Luke Goss: Rent-a-villain

The Man
Hellboy 2
Blade 2
Posted : 8 months, 1 week ago at Mar 14 19:35
I beg to differ. I love Jane Austen, but I refuse to ever accept Keira Knightley as Elizabeth. Never.
Posted : 3 months ago at Aug 21 19:15
You forgot 2 Weeks Notice for Hugh Grant's best example of this
Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago at Aug 30 22:50
I couldn't agree more with your list... very cool!
Posted : 1 week, 4 days ago at Nov 10 9:25
Malcolm McDowell, Luke Goss, Jason Isaacs, Christopher Walken, Terence Stamp! You could make a rent-a-villain list all by itself at this rate!

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Description

A bunch of actors who have seemed to make their living off of being typecast in certain roles. The list of typecast actors could go on forever, but these guys in particular seem to excel in their chosen roles and are quite contented with recognition that lies well down on the billing sheet.

I dare say that cult followings emerge as a result of such inspired repeat performances in different films.

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