Throughout his career, Kurt Russell has gone to great lengths to avoid being typecast. He's appeared in everything from martial arts films like Big Trouble in Little China and horror movies like The Thing to massive blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He doesn't want to pigeonhole himself, and he actively tries to avoid playing similar roles.
"In Hollywood, a lotta times if you have something that's successful, the next 30 scripts you read are gonna be in that zone," Russell said in an interview with Whisky + Sunshine, adding, "So I disappointed a lotta people by saying, 'I get it. I get why you want me to do it. But, if you'll notice, I just did that. I don't wanna do that now. I passed that math test. I wanna go on to this English test now.'"
However, Russell had chosen to appear in a few sequels. Before he was a star, he played college student Dexter Riley in a trilogy of Disney films where he'd always wind up with some weird superpower, like invisibility, super strength, or computer-level intelligence. Later, he donned an eye patch to play Snake Plissken in Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., both of which were directed by John Carpenter. He also landed a role as Mr. Nobody in Furious 7, and then he reprised it in The Fate of the Furious. And after playing Santa Claus in The Christmas Chronicles, he came back to put on the classic red suit again for The Christmas Chronicles 2.
