# Acting a Role Out of Your Type



## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

Has there not been a thread that discussed this? I think there is a habit of people insisting that it is possible to stop acting like yourself. Some features can be emphasized to make one appear to be different, but I think that's about all. Even for voice over characters. I feel that despite much effort the character may tend to be the same as the actor. To me, someone's voice is very telling of their type (more specifically their tone, word choices and devices used). Are there any exceptions to my rule that you know of, whether voice over or not?

What do y'all think? Yes, I said y'all. Yes, it is awkward spelled out.


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## Helios (May 30, 2012)

Y'all is spelled perfectly, you've got no idea what you're talking about.
You can act like anything you want especially if it is necessary for your job (I've seen many introverts on here talking about how they become more extroverted for their jobs sometimes).


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## nujabes (May 18, 2012)

ENTP's can be chameleons and take on the role necessary in a situation, but if its not the role of an ENTP, its very draining. But I'm always being an ENTP.


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

FacelessBeauty said:


> Y'all is spelled perfectly, you've got no idea what you're talking about.
> You can act like anything you want especially if it is necessary for your job (I've seen many introverts on here talking about how they become more extroverted for their jobs sometimes).


 That first sentence threw me off. lol 

Yes, it is important for all to realize we are not hard-wired to act solely one way. That would be an unhealthy philosophy on life. However, we are ourselves and we can neither change that nor chose otherwise (though we can try convincingly). "Introversion," as far as personality goes, doesn't change, even if for employment's sake. Introversion and extroversion, in that regard, don't primarily have to do with dealing with people more than it's a product of one's primary awareness.

One could tell an introvert even if they acted like an extrovert. There are giveaways and subtle things to feel for. Pretenders give them off, too. Same likely goes for the other cognitive functions.


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

gingertonic said:


> ENTP's can be chameleons and take on the role necessary in a situation, but if its not the role of an ENTP, its very draining. But I'm always being an ENTP.


 Do you know of any ENTP characters?


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## Nomenclature (Aug 9, 2009)

I can change my voice a lot, singing or speaking. I switch between deep and forceful, gentle and airy, soft and cold but piercing, depending on who I'm around. Other people can call it fake, but just like how I'm not always aware that my tone comes off as angry, I generally can't help it.

As I'm fresh out of high school, the "me" around my peers, around my close friends, around my family, my public image, etc. all differ sharply. It's greatly for this reason that people have believed I could be any type I listed myself as (or that people will disagree no matter what my self-typing is). I have people guffawing at the idea of me being an extrovert and people thinking I'm one of those psychopathic quiet people. Chameleonism happens in a wide variety of types.

Taste in people's personal collages and scrapbooks (e.g. Tumblr) tends to be pretty consistent. Generally, people can't say why they like an image, only that they like it. Or, in my case, I can say why I like some things, but the common factor isn't as concrete. My Tumblr, though, screams Se everywhere.

While we're on the topic of image, I find that artists, performers, and writers tend to fall within three categories: the extremely outgoing, the extremely shy or introverted, and the bipolar clusterfucked hybrids. Creative work is exhibitionism of the mind or the heart, but much of it is exhibitionism in private.



Le9acyMuse said:


> One could tell an introvert even if they acted like an extrovert. There are giveaways and subtle things to feel for. Pretenders give them off, too. Same likely goes for the other cognitive functions.


What cues do you look for?


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## nujabes (May 18, 2012)

Le9acyMuse said:


> Do you know of any ENTP characters?


House, though he's not the best example for a socializer.
The guy from Psyche
Harvey Specter from Suits

We're not the most lovable type, though, so it doesn't make sense that we'd be a central/main character except in an antihero sense, like House


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

Nomenclature said:


> I can change my voice a lot, singing or speaking. I switch between deep and forceful, gentle and airy, soft and cold but piercing, depending on who I'm around. Other people can call it fake, but just like how I'm not always aware that my tone comes off as angry, I generally can't help it.
> 
> As I'm fresh out of high school, the "me" around my peers, around my close friends, around my family, my public image, etc. all differ sharply. It's greatly for this reason that people have believed I could be any type I listed myself as (or that people will disagree no matter what my self-typing is). I have people guffawing at the idea of me being an extrovert and people thinking I'm one of those psychopathic quiet people. Chameleonism happens in a wide variety of types.
> 
> ...


 So, your voice and character is inconsistent depending on whom you are socializing with? Is it as inconsistent as any person can be or on the verge of strange? I feel that any adaptation a person takes on will still be on-keel/consistent at its very root.

I am wet behind the ears at telling any cognitive function through someone's text, tastes and what not. I'd be the last to know. lol What does Se look like in images?

I follow you regarding the categories of artists. Pieces of themselves will be all over their works, so a trace may always be discoverable. The cues I look for are mannerisms, their view of their context with people (whether shown subtly or aloud), their intelligence with idealistic/physical application, their eye settings, their flow styling of ideas and deliberateness in expressing themselves. Something along those lines.


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## FreeSpirit (Jun 1, 2011)

gingertonic said:


> We're not the most lovable type, though, so it doesn't make sense that we'd be a central/main character except in an antihero sense, like House


Nonsense! I think Tyrion Lannister is an ENTP- you can't get more lovable than that.


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

gingertonic said:


> House, though he's not the best example for a socializer.
> The guy from Psyche
> Harvey Specter from Suits
> 
> We're not the most lovable type, though, so it doesn't make sense that we'd be a central/main character except in an antihero sense, like House


 Spent a little time looking at House. You opened a can of worms bringing him up with how people have constantly mulled that over. I get INTP, personally. Shawn from Psych does come off as ENTP. So does Harvey. I wouldn't be surprised if they were as such in real life. It'd figure into why they play their characters so well. Who knows, I may be surprised. I watched a James Roday (Shawn) interview and he is so painfully ENTP. lol I say that because it hit me in the face immediately.

By my opinion, they may _try_ to pass House off as an extrovert, but I just can't see him as one. Hugh Laurie may just be an introvert.


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

FreeSpirit said:


> Nonsense! I think Tyrion Lannister is an ENTP- you can't get more lovable than that.


 PETER DINKLAGE! That's the man with the plan. lol Love that guy. His character: ENTP, I'd agree. Dinklage in real life as well.


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## Nomenclature (Aug 9, 2009)

Le9acyMuse said:


> So, your voice and character is inconsistent depending on whom you are socializing with? Is it as inconsistent as any person can be or on the verge of strange? I feel that any adaptation a person takes on will still be on-keel/consistent at its very root.


I've had someone say to me, "what the hell? YOU'VE SHOCKED ME" at the senior all-night party because she had previously only known me in class, haha.

But yeah, that was why I noted that I'm just out of high school and orienting myself in relation to the world wasn't set yet back when I was type hopping. Regardless of adaptation, my information metabolism is constant. At the end of the day, that's all JCF really is-- the manner of processing information and interacting the world.

I think the key point for me is that in using Se, I'm extroverted not in the stereotypical sense of needing to talk to people, but needing stimulation and to take in information (in the vaguest sense of the word) from the outside world.



> I am wet behind the ears at telling any cognitive function through someone's text, tastes and what not. I'd be the last to know. lol


Damn, I'd need some examples to dissect first.


> What does Se look like in images?


This was my Tumblr archive when it wasn't smutty but still solid. I think I got typed ESFP 4w3 SX/SO from this one. Always some Se SX typing, but yes, I'd more seriously consider ESFP than ISFP. Fi dom is just no because building my ethical foundation isn't sacred to me.









But really, anything in self-expression implies something.


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

@_Nomenclature_ What's your opinion on an actor acting as someone who is of a different type than she/he is? I believe it may be possible but it would take some considerable edge and ability, for their original identities would always stay at the forefront with me.

I'm still having trouble assessing the images. I can say I'm at least not looking at dreamy imagery (NF?), or images steeped in the empathetic (F?). I'm guessing Sensation-based images is about experience or memory. Correct? It's just that these are things that you can optionally choose. And it depends on if one even likes art. Unless it is your art, I'm not certain how one's selections of it can yield their functions. I think I work with the NF functions, but I don't really go ape for the whimsical, surrealistic techniques. I can, but my Enneagram seems to have more say in what I attract to in this sense. Anyone has the floor to help me out.


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## Nomenclature (Aug 9, 2009)

Le9acyMuse said:


> @_Nomenclature_ What's your opinion on an actor acting as someone who is of a different type than she/he is? I believe it may be possible but it would take some considerable edge and ability, for their original identities would always stay at the forefront with me.


The underlined portion. It's said that Audrey Hepburn was an INFP. In an interview, she said the hardest role she tried to play was Holly Golightly, who was supposed to have been an ESFP and based on Marilyn Monroe. The character ended up giving off an ENFP vibe because that was Audrey's rendition of Holly.



> I'm guessing Sensation-based images is about experience or memory. Correct? It's just that these are things that you can optionally choose.


Experience, yes. Memory, not so much. I'd say that Fi or a Four-ish retrospection would be more correlated to memory than Sensing, but this is just speculation. There's also the difference between reblogging something because it looks cool, and because you on some level interpreted what the artist was trying to portray.

You can optionally choose certain things for a blog, but my friend was saying that it's worth asking WHY that person chose those things. You can always make a themed blog for a subcategory of things you like, but a personal blog where you're generally not that concerned about followers says a lot.

You can also optionally choose the color scheme and overall aesthetic, and those colors' connotations would change the "vibe" the viewer gets from the collage. This is before we even get into subject matter, but still. 

Turquoise, pink, and light grey (like how my blog used to be) together give off more of a bubbly, peppy vibe, in line with the ESFP typing. In socionics, this would've correlated to Fe.

Black, orange, red, and dark grey (as my blog is now) gives off a more brooding, expansive, and powerful vibe. In socionics, this would've correlated to Se. Actually, someone on t16t said I gave off a strong ESXp vibe as opposed to ESFj, partially because there's so much emphasis on image and power. I'd agree that my enneagram type has more say in what attracts me.

My aforementioned friend's blog has more whites, greys, and pastels. Lighter, more "airy," fitting to his 9 IxFx ('cause I don't really know him that well tbh) personality. Angel food cake is to his blog as devil food cake is to my blog.


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## Le9acyMuse (Mar 12, 2010)

Nomenclature said:


> The underlined portion. It's said that Audrey Hepburn was an INFP. In an interview, she said the hardest role she tried to play was Holly Golightly, who was supposed to have been an ESFP and based on Marilyn Monroe. The character ended up giving off an ENFP vibe because that was Audrey's rendition of Holly.
> 
> 
> Experience, yes. Memory, not so much. I'd say that Fi or a Four-ish retrospection would be more correlated to memory than Sensing, but this is just speculation. There's also the difference between reblogging something because it looks cool, and because you on some level interpreted what the artist was trying to portray.
> ...


 Then I wonder what actors and actresses have best metamorphosed into their character. No-one will be able to escape their "calling" or nature, but anyone who wears camouflage so naturally must have tremendous intelligence in acting.

If one looks at memory in the shades of pleasant or unpleasant, then I suppose it would be related more to Feeling, but memory is inherently about data more than emotions. I wonder if there is scientific evidence behind the colors people choose. Possibly. Are images and such the only means you've gone by having your type/functions identified? I fear it could be a slippery slope. My taste in art might not point me in the direction of my best fit type.


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## Master Mind (Aug 15, 2011)

I can act however I need to in order to achieve a current objective. Then I discard the role when it's no longer necessary.


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## Planisphere (Apr 24, 2012)

Can't forget Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis - I see him as an almost perfect example of an ENTP. In anime terms, either Konata or Haruhi Suzumiya seem like pretty good examples of Ne-dominant users, and I kind of see it interacting with Ti in the sense that they rarely complete their plans and end up finishing with a humorous, half-done project. But that's not always the case for xNTPs, I know - just fits the basic definition of them in general. (maybe Haruhi is ENFP; I don't remember too many examples of Ti in her case, but Konata could talk logic any day, even if it's humorous and odd!)

Have I ever acted a role out of my type? Since I used to role-play a ton, I can say for certain that I've RPed these types: ESTP, ESTJ, ENTJ, INTJ, INFJ, and ENFJ. Starting to play a character a little more like me, but he's far more narcissistic. I don't think these types are particularly too far out of my understanding though. Se seems a bit easier to understand than other functions, so I RPed the ESTP accordingly; I've had to use Te for years in the past to organize our stories and continuity, so ExTJs weren't as difficult either, especially with the all-too-familiar subconscious/inferior Si I've dealt with almost my entire life, and the Ti auxiliary/dominant I've had too; all these types have used at least one trait I'm particularly familiar with as their dominant/auxiliary functions.

Now have I actually acted out different types in real life? Actually, no. I tried playing the role of ENFP for a while, but it didn't work out; my Fi is too undeveloped and comes out awkwardly and bluntly. I finally decided to stick to Ne-Ti; I understand it best and can work with it better anyway. I had an ENTJ professor try and turn me into a miniature him, but even though I kept foiling his attempts, we seemed to get along for a long time anyway; probably not so much anymore, since I had to drop out of one of his classes due to his unreasonable policies, but I still respect him whether or not he knows it. I just can't play off my shadow Te like he can.


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## Sayonara (May 11, 2012)

I find it unbelievably easy to be all ditzy and fangirly when I'm online with my buds yukking it up, something I'm normally not much of. Actually I find it incredibly easy to act online in general. Not that I do it that much...mostly it's mild unless I'm rping.

Then I can go...absolutely nuts lol. I've rpd serious, and silly characters, males, females, intelligent, ditzy, etc.

I'm actually horrible at acting otherwise in rl. In real life, my facial expressions are a dead giveaway.


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## Brandon Rich (Aug 3, 2012)

Le9acyMuse said:


> Spent a little time looking at House. You opened a can of worms bringing him up with how people have constantly mulled that over. I get INTP, personally. Shawn from Psych does come off as ENTP. So does Harvey. I wouldn't be surprised if they were as such in real life. It'd figure into why they play their characters so well. Who knows, I may be surprised. I watched a James Roday (Shawn) interview and he is so painfully ENTP. lol I say that because it hit me in the face immediately.
> 
> By my opinion, they may _try_ to pass House off as an extrovert, but I just can't see him as one. Hugh Laurie may just be an introvert.


I have to disagree with your assessment of Shawn. By looking at his functions he clearly displays that his character is an Fi-Te combination. An ENTP is an Fe-Ti. Furthermore, the way that Shawn is very good at picking up on sensory detials means that he picks up a lot of sensory data. That would mean he has to have a high Se funciton (either dominant or auxillary). An Ne dominant personality (both mine and the ENTP) live in their heads and miss sensory details. When you realize that Shawn is a Se-Ni, Fi-Te you are left with only ESFP, ISFP, ENTJ, and INTJ. Since Shawn is playful he is clearly not a J leaving ISFP or ESFP. Both are very common acting personalities. In real life Lawson describes Shawn as being more of an introvert so a good analysis would show that James Roday is an ISFP playing an ESFP on the show. SP's tend to be impulsive, spontaneous, and rule breakers. All of which Shawn is.


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## QueenOfCats (Jan 28, 2011)

How does that work?


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## Chaerephon (Apr 28, 2013)

Most of us act whatever way we see best fit. Character is a choice. Whether you want it to be or not.


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