Basic Trope: The character is mean and nasty, but the actor behind that character is not.
- Straight: Evil Elliott is played by Bob, an all-loving actor who happily chats with fans and loves playing in the backyard with his kids.
- Exaggerated:
- God of Evil Elliott is a detestable villain, but Bob, who plays him, is so kind, and so liberal a charitable donor, it's almost scary.
- Jerkass God Elliott ends up destroying the world, but Bob literally saved the world, at the cost of his life.
- Downplayed: Fratbro Frank is a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk, but his actor Bob, being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, enjoys chatting with fans and spending time with his family.
- Justified:
- There's a difference between on-set and real life; just because a character is mean doesn't mean the actor is.
- Bob plays a lot of roles in the show across the whole mean-nice spectrum… Elliot just happens to be one of the meaner roles.
- Monster Façade
- Inverted: Nice Character, Mean Actor
- Subverted:
- Evil Elliott is played by an actor who is not mean, but also not very sociable.
- Evil Elliott's actor seems nice enough... but when he makes a convention appearance, he's not actually nice.
- Double Subverted:
- Parodied:
- Evil Elliott rapes the Love Interest to The Hero and brags about it, but off the set, Bob apologizes to Alice and buys her a nice dinner.
- Bob plays Heroic Comedic Sociopath characters frequently.
- Zig Zagged:
- Sometimes the actor in question is nice, sometimes he's mean.
- The actor in question is always a good person in real life, but he takes roles ranging from The Cape to Complete Monster.
- Averted:
- Evil Elliott is a cartoon character from a silent cartoon.
- Evil Elliott is played by an actor who is a complete Jerkass, and may be either morally upright despite his antisocial attitude or else just plain evil.
- Enforced:
- The director wanted the betrayal of Elliott to be extra-shocking so he cast an actor who was not only typecast for pacifists but also an incredibly nice philanthropist.
- Bob is kind of a Jerkass at heart, but he doesn't want to be blacklisted.
- Lampshaded: "He may be a villain on the set, but when the cameras are off, he's the nicest person I've ever met!"
- Invoked: Hoping to shake his image as a jerk, Bob starts being extra-nice off the set.
- Exploited: Bob is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who uses his reputation as a Mean Character, Nice Actor to deflect suspicion that he is just as amoral as his character, Evil Elliot.
- Defied:
- In order to maintain Evil Elliott's Big Bad image, the actor becomes a complete jerk.
- Bob is actually a sweet and sociable guy, but he's also serious method actor and the character he's playing is a real asshole.
- Discussed:
- "In real life, Bob would never act like Evil Elliott. He's just too nice."
- "Do you ever notice the people that play the villains are such nice guys?"
- Conversed: "It's really unnerving, seeing Bob change from a really nice guy to the monstrous Evil Elliott when he is being filmed. He does do the part well though."
- Implied: Bob has just landed the role of the Big Bad in Troper Pictures' latest Summer Blockbuster. Everybody at the studio beams at him as he passes by them.
- Deconstructed: Elliott's actor finds himself typecast into evil roles, and avoided by fans, who think he's really that bad in real life.
- Reconstructed: Evil Elliott is one of the most popular characters in the show (The Heavy and Evil Is Cool, after all), and his true nature shines through at conventions, where fans get to know and love the actual Bob.
- Played For Laughs: Bob in real life is nearly identical with Evil Elliot, except he saves his villainy for the show.
Back to Mean Character, Nice Actor
