Acting

Title: Sleepless in Seattle
Writer: Jeff Arch, Nora Ephron, David S. Ward,
Director: Nora Ephron
Major Actors: Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Film Release: 1993

Meg Ryan would best be suited for the personality actor. She typically chooses to play roles in romantic comedies. Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2011) state, "Actors with distinctive personalities that manage to click with audiences often wind up playing similar characters in film after film" (p. 3.4).
Often times Ryan's roles are very similar to her previous works. A young woman in search of love. Struggling in relationships, often times her career is heavily depicted in the film. In Sleepless in Seattle, her character Annie is a writer for a newspaper article and she decides to write a report on Sam Baldwin in hopes that they will meet and fall in love.

Rosie O'Donnell is also a personality actor. Her personality shines through in her films as well as in real life. She has been known for her daytime talk show and the personality on the talk show also resonates in her films. Sleepless in Seattle displays O'Donnell's role as Annie's best friend and co-worker. The girls hash and re-hash Annie's decision to pursue her gut instincts to search for Sam Baldwin who may be the man she is supposed to be with. Becky talks with Annie as the supportive, however, comical friend. O'Donnell uses her fun-loving nature and whit to keep the audience interested in the film.

Tom Hanks is best suited under the personality actor for his role in Sleepless in Seattle. His character roles are usually kind, caring, friendly, loving people. For example, in Sleepless in Seattle, Hanks plays a widow who struggles to get over the loss of his wife. His discussions on the radio reach the listeners of the show because he exposes his heart and soul to the world showing how vulnerable and passionate he his. Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2011) state, "Personality actors are at some level playing themselves"(p. 3.4). The audience wants to believe that Hanks is a kind, loving, and a vulnerable person in real life.

 However, I would not limit Tom Hanks to simply a personality actor as he has played a great many roles that show his flexibility in role playing making him a wild card actor. Some of his best roles are Forest in Forest Gump, Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Chuck Noland in Cast Away. And so for this reason, actors may be able to crossover into other categories of acting showing great skill in their work. Typically the audience will know what to expect from any given actor based on previous works. If the actor has played many different roles and has been able to draw in the crowd, then more than likely the movies that the actor chooses to play in will continue to do the same. With Hank's the audience is delivered a treat as he can surprise the audience with his many different acting skills.
 References
Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, Ca: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

To view examples of Hank's flexibility in role playing view the following movie clips:
Movieclips. (2000). Cast Away movieclip (2000)- I Have Made Fire![video file] Retrieved from
 http://movieclips.com/ucdJ-cast-away-movie-i-have-made-fire/

Movieclips. (1993). Sleepless in Seattle movieclip (1993)- Sam is Sleepless in Seattle. [video file]. Retrieved from http://movieclips.com/4wrsn-sleepless-in-seattle-movie-sam-is-sleepless-in-seattle/