Actors Who Will Always Be Known From One Project

Certain actors, like Daniel Day Lewis, can disappear into a variety of roles. Others find themselves on the flip side of that coin, literally defined by a singular role. This can be a blessing and a curse, since no acting gig lasts forever, and once you're Luke Skywalker, let's face it, you're always going to be Luke Skywalker. But that's not always bad. If you land one of these roles, you'll have a beloved fan base forever, and if you had a good agent, some lucrative back end money. Here's a list of actors who will always be known from one project.

From his mullet to his dad jeans to his to his mysterious first name, MacGyver is one of the most iconic characters ever. And Richard Dean Anderson is MacGyver. Forget Stargate: Atlantis and the fact that he did more episodes of those than he ever did of MacGyver. Did Stargate do a medieval dream episode in which whatever his not-MacGyver character's name got to team up with Merlin? Nope. Did he ever repair the Stargate in just the nick of time using only a paper clip, suntan lotion, and a turkey sandwich? We rest our case.

"Some people stand in the darkness..." If that didn't instantly snap Pamela Anderson into your brain, slo-mo jogging down the beach, barely fitting into her red swimsuit, then you sadly missed a golden age of nineties television. Her character, C.J. Parker, redefined a certain California aesthetic that models and actresses are still making careers out of. We would have included David Hasselhoff on this list for Baywatch as well, but he also starred in the equally iconic Knight Rider and has since become known simply as "The Hoff," a self parody of the highest order, a shapeless peg for which there is no definitive hole to place him in.

Despite the fact IMDb lists 280 acting credits to his name, Mark Hamill will always be known as Luke—wait, hang on, 280 credits? That means he's been in 276 non-Star Wars related film or television projects. Just to put that into perspective, Marlon Brando has 46 credits, which is less than a quarter of Mark Hamill's body of work and people still recognize him for being both Vito Corleone and Superman's dad. If But most people couldn't name one other character Mark Hamill has ever played, except of course for Bob Sheridan from the classic film, Laserhawk. Yep, that's right up there with Luke Skywalker.

Wedding Crashers marked a career pinnacle for Vince Vaughn, but it also sharply defined a comedic persona that he would milk every last drop out of until The Internship epically failed. That doesn't mean we still don't desperately want to hang out with Jeremy Ryan, co-owner of an emerging maple syrup conglomerate. Vince Vaughn got to play the coolest, fast-talking guy in the room for almost a decade. Unfortunately, and as proven by the dreadful second season of True Detective season, he never found a way to switch gears into another kind of character.

Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight is the stuff of legends and not just because Jared Leto's attempt in Suicide Squad looks like clown shoes by comparison. Ledger delivered such a dark and disturbing performance that some have blamed it for the self-medication that accidentally took his life. Regardless of whether that's true, Ledger earned a posthumous Oscar for the role, which was astounding because of how rare those are and for the fact that this was, after all, a Batman film. We're confident the Academy never considered Arnold Schwarzenegger for his portrayal of Mr. Freeze.

Do you think if Robert De Niro or Christopher Walken had made love to a dessert in The Deer Hunter anyone would ever talk about the Russian Roulette scene? Okay, of course they still would, because that scene is astounding, but neither of those guys are crappy, one-speed actors who never deserved the level of fame they got from a raunchy sex comedy with a ska soundtrack. It doesn't matter if Jason Biggs somehow gets 15 Oscar nominations. Now and forever, he's always going to be the dude that banged a pie in front of his dad.

Arguably the Farrelly brothers' best movie, There's Something About Mary is full of memorable scenes, but one in particular comes to mind and it's got a certain hairdo in it. Neither Diaz, nor this scene, are even remotely the best thing in the movie, and yet the image of her bangs sticking straight up in the air will probably one day become a commemorative stamp. And if it happens to also feature the phrase "Franks and beans!" we'll be in line for an entire book.

Beatrix Kiddo a.k.a The Bride, former member of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad—if you give a character that kind of handle, you better give her some serious badass qualities too. And you better cast the perfect woman to bring her to life. Quentin Tarantino wrote the part specifically for Uma, knowing that she'd also be able to exude the deadly confidence and athletic prowess necessary to plow through dozens of kung fu savvy henchmen. There once was a Mrs. Mia Wallace, and admittedly, she was pretty cool, but the memory of her has since been decapitated with a Hattori Hanzo blade.

There is no better example of becoming a victim of one's own success than Sacha Baron Cohen post-Borat. Though Cohen had already portrayed Borat and several other hilarious characters on the incredible Da Ali G Show, it wasn't until the feature film that frat boys and every guy who thinks he's the funniest person in the office would beat the character to death. The movie's popularity was so huge taht it made Cohen's band of incognito street comedy virtually impossible to pull off.

Like Sacha Baron Cohen, it's likely that R. Lee Ermey can't even fill up his gas tank without hearing lines of dialogue from his most famous role shouted at him. Unlike Cohen, he's probably constantly apologizing to whoever he's with for the absolute slew of vulgarity flying their way from complete strangers, because Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket, was possibly the most creatively profane human being on the planet. Spurning endless parodies and homages, Ermey would continue a long career playing some variety of hard-nosed badass, but that gold standard performance stands strong as one of the most memorable characters in film history.