Richard Dean Anderson took this role to ''break the image'' he'd established with MacGyver
Being typecast is one of the worst things to happen to an actor's career. Your entire existence is based on one character, and no matter what, that's who you are in the eyes of the industry, and sometimes fans, too. While many actors can't break out of this box they were forced into, a handful fight back by taking on completely different kinds of roles people never saw coming.
Before the world tried to make Richard Dean Anderson MacGyver forever, he quickly went in a different direction. "I run the risk of sounding like a Hollywood cliche, but I'm trying to expand my horizons, " Anderson told the Associated Press in 1992. He said this while discussing his "villain" role in a CBS movie titled Through the Eyes of a Killer, the second of two made-for-TV movies set in the same universe.
"When MacGyver was ready to run its course, I took a movie from CBS to break the image I had established with MacGyver. I played a cynical cop in 'The Eyes of a Stranger' with Justine Bateman," he added. He dyed his hair black and worked out daily, losing 14 pounds to ensure MacGyver was nowhere in his appearance.
Monday through Friday at 10 AM, Saturdays at 12 PM & 1 PM Eastern/Pacific
"To be honest, after seven years as the same character, you can get lazy. What I wanted to do after 'MacGyver' was change direction a little. I wanted to get into production."