Did he ever branch out beyond the typical role that was expected of him after Barney Fife? It seems that every character after Barney was a variation on Barney.
I think he would've been incredible playing a baddie. It would've been a lot of fun to suffer from cinematic cognitive dissonance watching him in such a role!
I think he's of the acting generation that was too familiar to his core audience and there wasn't any trend during his heyday to branch out like that.
shareGood point, BourbonKing.
shareTrue!
As Barney Fife, he went undercover a few times and tried to play a tough guy. It was always funny.
I doubt Hollywood ever considered casting him in a tough guy or baddie role.
And Don Knotts himself probably knew what worked for him. Why mess with success?
I suppose it all came down to financial guarantee. It would've been a risk to cast him in a role so far removed from Barney. It seems to be more of a modern thing for actors to run the gamut of roles as BourbonKing pointed out.
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